Gambling Games

Happy to be back in my office today after a fantastic trip to my native England. I got to catch up with many good friends as well as a large part of my family. Of course, I have been following the recent poker news – and starting today I’ll be addressing this and the effects for both US and Non-US based fans of tournaments, SNGs and satellites.

First up I’d like to express my personal sympathy for those US-based players who have had either their livelihood or hobby severely curtailed. There is a human cost here which poker webmasters should not forget in their rush to be the one to refer US players to the next available site. There are still options available for play, and I hope that future legislation and / or new market leaders will fill the gap as quickly as possible.

Much discussion on the ramifications, both long and short-term are being posted online. I’m no legal expert, so instead here are some of the best available links.

- www.billrini.com , Bill has several excellent articles on his blog… you might want to work backwards through them starting Friday!
– http://calvinayre.com/2011/04/18/legal/i-nelson-rose-poker-indictments-revisiting-prohibition/This link is an interview with I. Nelson Rose, one of gambling laws sharpest minds, his views are interesting! Note: There is also a summary of developments at Calvin Ayre’s site.
– http://craakker.blogspot.com/ One of my favorite blogs … CrAAKKer combines entertaining stories with some incisive legal analysis – worthy of any poker fan’s bookmarks.

US Players – What To Do Now?

Well, US based players currently have the following choice: Play at one of the smaller sites which are still open to the US, or wait and see how things work out.

Those sites (links to my reviews) are: Carbon Poker (Merge Network), Bodog, Cake Poker and possibly Absolute / UB (though they are not currently allowing US Play).

Of those open right now I would rate Carbon as a clear pick, they have been growing recently and have enough volume to run enough SNGs and tournaments to keep the lower to mid-level players happy. Lets be honest, those players who are joining now are likely to be the pros / grinders who need a new home to maintain their income stream, this will result in the games becoming a little tougher – at least for a short while. However, this is a great network, and while it wont replace Stars is definitely worth checking out. I can even offer a free $11 SNG entry + 200% welcome bonus with my bonus code = SNGPLANET

Non-US Players – What To Do Now?

Some good news, the games just got generally softer! Not because the recently departed US players were naturally better at poker… simply that the balance in the US was tipped towards more ‘serious’ players, since the average Joe either thought poker was illegal – or could not be bothered to jump through hoops to deposit.

The decision of whether to withdraw your bankroll from Stars / Tilt / UB / AP is an individual one… determined by your own liquidity and attitude to risk. I’ll be keeping some cash in those sites, though this will be enough to play a few games and no more. After all, I’m supposed to be reviewing the games and trying out different strategies, right!

There are many sites out there which are licensed, regulated and even traded publicly on stock markets. Sites such as Titan, Party and OnGame were always ‘softer’ compared to the US-facing sites… they were less appealing to grinders and often better known by fun / hobby players. I often play on Stars / Tilt myself for the game selection and software – however always enjoyed Titan’s tables more when it came to benefiting from the fish.

If you have not checked them out then, once again, I have an special offer arranged. This is a free $20 in cash deposited within 48 hours, you’ll need to deposit at least $25 to qualify for this and use bonus code = SNGPLANET, readers still get their 100% match bonus too – click this link to check out Titan Poker now.

Coming Later This Week:

As this week goes on I’m going to delve deeper into the SNGs and Tournaments at the new US sites and look at the effect on the non-US ones too. It will take a while to settle down of course… in the meantime I’ll try and provide some factual info alongside my humble opinion to get readers to the best available games.

Similar Posts:

• Top US Poker Room – Carbon Poker Special Promotions
• Top US Poker Room – Carbon Poker Special Promotions
• Reload Bonus at Poker Stars!
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• Poker Tournament Promos / Events Roundup

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