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U.S. Online Poker Legalization and Regulation Update

by Wicked Chops Entity on 8.14.2011 in Poker News | no comments

Online poker regulatory movement looks to get back on track in the coming months.

After some quiet time, we’re reading and hearing more chatter recently about online poker regulation in the U.S. America.

First, the PPA–who we’ve been very critical of in the past–has done a great job recently in tailoring their language more around the financial benefits of online poker regulation. Their latest efforts are focused on outreach to the Congressional Debt Committee and how online poker regulation (specifically, the Barton Bill) would have a positive impact deficit reduction. Read more about it here and take action by voicing your opinions to the reps here.

Regulatory = revenue discussion isn’t just happening at the Fed level, but at the State as well. The New York Times wrote about the latest efforts in D.C., Iowa, and other states looking at online gaming as a revenue stream for their struggling local economies. The State-push is something that Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) in their recent joint letter tried to put the kibosh on, asking for the DoJ to remind States that online gambling is considered illegal at the Federal level (presumably so they can then regulate it at the Federal level).

Meanwhile, Sen. Harry Reid has made public and private statements again about Federal online poker regulation being a priority. Our sources confirm that online poker regulation is something Reid is expressing as a priority this year, and one of his biggest backers, Caesars Entertainment, spent $821,000 in lobbying for it in Q2 of 2011. Our sources also believe that if online poker is regulated, and this is no shocker, that it’ll be the big Nevada casinos who will get a head-start on the competition and receive the first licenses. However, we expect that to be expanded to Indian reservations as well, as their protests played at least a small in the stalling of the Reid BillTM back in December.

Ultimately, how will this all shake out? Well, you know.

Tagged as: Harry Reid, Online Poker, online poker regulation, Poker News

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Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi Gets Breeders’ Cup Sponsorship

by Wicked Chops Entity on 8.6.2011 in Poker News | no comments

Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi is the male Shannon Elizabeth when it comes to sponsorships: Absolute Poker, Planet Hollywood, all the shit on his shirt above, Deliverance, Full Tilt, and now the Breeders' Cup.

Interesting move in the player sponsorship arena.

It was announced on Friday that Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi landed a sponsorship deal with the Breeders’ Cup.

The press release stated that, “The forming of this partnership will help introduce Breeders’ Cup wagering and the liquidity of the two-day event to the poker world.” 

Says VP of media and entertainment Peter Rotondo:

“We believe that there is a strong cross-over between poker and horse racing, which has not yet been realized. We’re thrilled to have a relationship with ‘The Grinder’ which will allow for one of poker’s superstars to reach out to the poker world and educate them about the Breeders’ Cup and the over $160 million in liquidity during our two-day event.”

Smart move by the Breeders’ Cup, as we agree with the cross-over appeal. However, they should’ve patched up some of the final 27 at the 2011 WSOP Main Event if they really wanted big exposure leading up to the November 4-5 Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, given the timing of when those episodes would air. More bang for the buck. Maybe next year.

Read more here.

Tagged as: Breeders Cup, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Online Poker, Poker News

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The Full Tilt Poker Communication Void

by Wicked Chops Entity on 8.3.2011 in Poker News | no comments

Maybe Tilt is thinking of the most brilliant communications strategy of all time right now to reengage their customers. Or maybe they're not.

Hear that sound coming from Full Tilt Poker? No? Ok, neither do we.

Seems like the only thing we’ve heard from Full Tilt lately (or at least our multiple sources) is that the company has made concerted efforts to plug the information leaks regarding potential acquisitions. Maybe this helps them close their potential acquisition deal, maybe it doesn’t.

But where plugging the leaks regarding sensitive company information makes sense, what doesn’t is being completely tight-lipped to employees and customers about their current and future accounts.

Simply put, Full Tilt is dropping the ball in epic fashion when it comes to their crisis management communications strategy.

When it comes to consumer confidence and your company, silence is not golden–and the communication void left by Full Tilt–assuming they close on their White Knight deal– may end up being their long-term downfall.

Multiple sources have told us that when The Events of 4/15TM happened, PokerStars cracked open its disaster plan for just such a scenario. They knew how they’d approach paying their customers back, and knew how’d they’d communicate to them. It was implemented quickly and effectively. PokerStars paid their U.S. American players over 75 days ago. Their reputation was salvaged, and confidence in their brand to the rest of the non-U.S. world was saved.

Every day Full Tilt does not have its gaming license, it’s another day of lost revenues. It’s another day the value of the company drops. It’s another day that customers flock to Party Poker and 888. But every day that Tilt does not effectively communicate to its European base, it’s another day they may never get those customers back. It’s another day those customers may say, “Screw it, we like the customer experience better on Party.” And that may eventually impact how quickly–or whether or not– U.S. players get their money back.

It’s all basic Crisis Management 101. Here’s how Tilt should’ve treated life after the 4/15 crisis:

[click to continue…]

Tagged as: Black Friday, featured, Full Tilt Poker, Online Poker

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Bodog Announces It’s Out of U.S. Market

by Wicked Chops Entity on 7.26.2011 in Poker News | 1 comment

Bodog pulled out of the U.S. market to avoid being taken to the mattresses by the DoJ.

While everyone is focused on the Full Tilt Poker hearings in Alderney, Bodog drops a bomb: they’re pulling their brand from the U.S. market.

From the official announcement:

“Following recent news that Bodog UK has been granted a gambling license by the UK Gambling Commission, we are pleased to announce further developments to the Bodog brand going forward.

As highlighted last week, Bodog UK’s CEO, Patrik Selin believes the trust and credibility that having a UK license brings to the brand will benefit customers and allow him to attract the best talent in the industry to work with him.

However, in order to ensure the brand’s expansion is not affected by negative perceptions, both in the UK and elsewhere in emerging markets such as Asia, where Bodog88 is already successful, a decision has been made to withdraw the Bodog brand from the US market at the end of 2011. As a result, the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group’s (MMGG) brand licensing agreement will be allowed to expire on 31 December, following which US residents will no longer be able to access bodog.eu or any other Bodog branded website. We understand that MMGG will launch under its own brand in 2012, licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. All Bodog.eu clients’ funds will remain safe and they will have the option to switch to a new MMGG brand should they wish but MMGG confirms it’s business as usual…”

In reality, the announcement is only surprising in how steadfastly Bodog has believed over the years that it can successfully operate in the U.S. market. However, with increasing payment processing difficulties since The Events of 4/15TM and continued DoJ crackdown, we’ve anticipated the gradual departure of all U.S. facing sites over the course of the next year-plus. Just bound to happen.

Read more about the withdrawal on CalvinAyre.com here.

Tagged as: Black Friday, bodog, featured, Online Poker, Poker News

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Full Tilt Poker Shut Down: Alderney Suspends Gaming License

by Wicked Chops Entity on 6.29.2011 in Poker News | 9 comments

Well, this is more than just a little bit of maintenance...

We had heard the whispers for weeks, but didn’t think that the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) had the teeth (or balls) to do it. But they did.

Full Tilt Poker is down. The AGCC has suspended its gaming license.

As of right now, players across the world cannot access the Full Tilt Poker platform/software. They’re completely shut out. Tilt is completely shut down.

From the AGCC release:

The decision to suspend these licenses follows a special investigation prompted by the indictments unsealed by US Attorney General’s Office in the Southern District of New York on 15 April 2011, during which grounds were found to indicate that these licensees and their business associates were operating contrary to Alderney legislation. The nature of the findings necessitated the taking of immediate action in the public interest.

Read the release in full here.

Alderney licenses a number of major gaming sites, including PKR, Golden Palace, and Paddy Power. Over the past few weeks, those partner sites (though not necessarily the ones we just listed) had been applying pressure on the AGCC to suspend Tilt’s license, especially as the state of the company’s books and financial shortfall in U.S. player funds became widely known within European industry circles.

The biggest question now is: do the AGCC’s actions completely torpedo Tilt’s chances on raising the capital they seek in order to pay back U.S. players and continue operations? Or does this finally force Tilt management’s hand (i.e. Ray Bitar and Howard Lederer) to finally accept one of the more-than-reasonable deals (i.e. Phil Ivey’s White KnightTM, among others) to sell the Tilt asset (which is, specifically, the platform and the players) so U.S. players can get paid back while Eureopean operations can reasonably continue. Although, the price of that asset is considerably lower than it was just weeks ago based on the AGCC shut down.

Just how bad is it for Tilt? The AGCC isn’t even offering a chance for Tilt to appeal this decision. Tilt and the AGCC won’t meet until July 26th. So Tilt is potentially completely shut down until then, barring some unexpected/unlikely development. And, as noted in the above paragraph, Tilt’s value has just effectively been given The Sisters vs Andy Dufresne treatment. So potential deals like the Jack Binion one (overblown, not likely to have happened) or the Phil Ivey White Knight one (which Bitar and Lederer so egregiously rejected it caused Ivey to sue the company) are, if not kaput, worth a lot less money and a lot more equity to the potential buyer than just a few weeks ago.

Wow. Just wow.

Game. Over.

UPDATE: From multiple sources, statement from Isle of Man regarding / reaffirming validity of PokerStars’ license coming soon.

Here’s the link. Key line is: “PokerStars continues to demonstrate compliance with its license conditions in the Isle of Man. PokerStars continues to offer withdrawals to any players who wish to withdraw their funds, including players in the USA to whom PokerStars does not currently offer real-money gaming.”

UPDATE II: PokerStars’ statement, a big ol’ eff you to Tilt, basically. Link.

Tagged as: Alderney Gambling Control Commission, Black Friday, featured, Full Tilt Poker, Online Poker, Poker News

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