Casinomeister has recently rogued Topspeed Poker. Apparently Topspeed has stopped paying out to players and has quit responding to emails. While I never promoted Topspeed Poker (or even heard of them) I will be adding them to my Poker Site Blacklist so no other unsuspecting players get tangled up with this rogue site.
The following sites are already on my Poker Site Blacklist...
Absolute Poker - guilty of insider cheating (super user account)
Ultimate Bet - sister site to AP and accused of similar cheating
USDBet - payment issues
Poker Dream - site closed and player accounts seized
**NEW** Topspeed Poker - non payment and no email response
Dynamic Gaming Systems/Futurebet: all rooms from these rogue networks are blacklisted...
OKUSA
Jungle Poker
RiverFlop Poker
myPokersite.com
Bubba's Poker
LuckyHog
G2G Poker
KingFish Poker
Panther Poker
PlayPokerPlus
Butcher Poker
Wingows Poker
10 Large Poker
OPT Room
BigJuicyOdds
Live For The Flop
Zero2Hero Poker
Q Poker
Full Bet
Vegas 24
Before you download and deposit at any poker room, check ThePokerkeep for our review/opinion. We only endorse rooms with "player friendly T&C's" and solid reputations for support and payouts.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Friday
I've been under the weather for a couple weeks so I apologize for the lack of posts.
Perspectives weekly
J Todd covers news from Antigua, Costa Rica and the US. He also covers the latest from PokerDream and Tusk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVxDwKzpvwM
Perspectives weekly
J Todd covers news from Antigua, Costa Rica and the US. He also covers the latest from PokerDream and Tusk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVxDwKzpvwM
Monday, March 24, 2008
Latest from PokerDream
This announcement is currently posted on the PD forum...
PokerDream Is Still Investigating the Recent Fraudulent Credit Card Activities and Massive Credit Card Chargebacks placed by players. Once the investigation is complete we will be posting all the players names along with the transactions they made.
Currently the only payout options we have available are Click2Pay, ePassporte and Moneybookers. If you wish to withdraw funds from your poker account. We suggest you make your request immediately.
PokerDream
03/22/2008 - UPDATE *****
We have compiled the list of players who charged back the money they deposited into the their player accounts. Download it here www.pokerdream.com/download/cb.pdf
What is a chargeback?
Anyone who uses a credit card can at ANY time call their credit card company or bank and state that the charges made on their card were not authorized by them. They do NOT need to give the credit card company or bank any other reasoning. The credit card company or bank will immediately take the funds back from the company which made the charges in our case PokerDream.
The players listed in this document deposited real money into their account, played games and in most cases lost to other legitimate players on the PokerDream network and in some cases did a player to player transfer. After our credit card account began to have these charge backs our credit card merchant CLOSED our account reversed a wire they had already sent to PokerDream and then decided to KEEP all the money in reserve as well. This caused the PokerDream network balances to go into a deficit and is the PARTIAL cause of the current situation.
After speaking with our company counsel we cannot give out any information regarding the players who used stolen credit cards until after the authorities have completed their investigation and they have given us the OK to post the information publicly.
ALSO we have tried to contact J TODD by phone today many times to discuss the current situation however we have been unable to reach him to discuss. We will keep trying.
In December 2007 as many of you are aware the PokerDream Network was taken over by new management. This new "management" began to make many many significant changes to the network. During the first 2 months of 2008 this new person put up a lot of great games many of which were Freerolls and Guaranteed Tournaments. This increased the players accounts by a large amount of free money. However the new person never funded the PokerDream network with the money to cover these free cash gifts to the players and never started his big marketing campaign to bring in new depositing players and at the end of February. Well using his own words. "He walked away."
More to come ....
As a side note:
Players are apparently receiving withdrawn funds at this time.
If you have money on account there, now is the time to get it out.
PokerDream Is Still Investigating the Recent Fraudulent Credit Card Activities and Massive Credit Card Chargebacks placed by players. Once the investigation is complete we will be posting all the players names along with the transactions they made.
Currently the only payout options we have available are Click2Pay, ePassporte and Moneybookers. If you wish to withdraw funds from your poker account. We suggest you make your request immediately.
PokerDream
03/22/2008 - UPDATE *****
We have compiled the list of players who charged back the money they deposited into the their player accounts. Download it here www.pokerdream.com/download/cb.pdf
What is a chargeback?
Anyone who uses a credit card can at ANY time call their credit card company or bank and state that the charges made on their card were not authorized by them. They do NOT need to give the credit card company or bank any other reasoning. The credit card company or bank will immediately take the funds back from the company which made the charges in our case PokerDream.
The players listed in this document deposited real money into their account, played games and in most cases lost to other legitimate players on the PokerDream network and in some cases did a player to player transfer. After our credit card account began to have these charge backs our credit card merchant CLOSED our account reversed a wire they had already sent to PokerDream and then decided to KEEP all the money in reserve as well. This caused the PokerDream network balances to go into a deficit and is the PARTIAL cause of the current situation.
After speaking with our company counsel we cannot give out any information regarding the players who used stolen credit cards until after the authorities have completed their investigation and they have given us the OK to post the information publicly.
ALSO we have tried to contact J TODD by phone today many times to discuss the current situation however we have been unable to reach him to discuss. We will keep trying.
In December 2007 as many of you are aware the PokerDream Network was taken over by new management. This new "management" began to make many many significant changes to the network. During the first 2 months of 2008 this new person put up a lot of great games many of which were Freerolls and Guaranteed Tournaments. This increased the players accounts by a large amount of free money. However the new person never funded the PokerDream network with the money to cover these free cash gifts to the players and never started his big marketing campaign to bring in new depositing players and at the end of February. Well using his own words. "He walked away."
More to come ....
As a side note:
Players are apparently receiving withdrawn funds at this time.
If you have money on account there, now is the time to get it out.
Friday, March 21, 2008
J Todd calls out John Dutchak
This week's Perspectives Weekly video focuses on PokerDream owner John Dutchak. J Todd doesn't pull his punches when he calls Dutchak out for scamming players, webmasters and partners out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
J Todd also announces some good news regarding the Tusk Entertainment situation.
View Perspectives Weekly - March 21 2008
J Todd also announces some good news regarding the Tusk Entertainment situation.
View Perspectives Weekly - March 21 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Bernt Erik Hansen Clears the Air About PokerDream
Bernt Erik Hansen posted on APCW forum today after being contacted by one of the skin owners. The following is a direct quote:
"My name is Bernt Erik Hansen and I was the investor behind PD. I was locked out of PD over 1 year ago by John after funding PD with over $ 300.000,- witch I have recit for. John after locked me out, acted as the one and only owner of PD. He has also stolen $ 46.000,- from Kim Ulriksen."
Hansen also left contact information so we could follow up with him.
Read more on the collapse of PokerDream in our archives.
"My name is Bernt Erik Hansen and I was the investor behind PD. I was locked out of PD over 1 year ago by John after funding PD with over $ 300.000,- witch I have recit for. John after locked me out, acted as the one and only owner of PD. He has also stolen $ 46.000,- from Kim Ulriksen."
Hansen also left contact information so we could follow up with him.
Read more on the collapse of PokerDream in our archives.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Introducing Betsson Poker
We're pleased to announce ThePokerkeep has partnered with Bettson Poker.
Betsson launched it’s poker room in July 2004. Betsson was then the very first partner of what was about to become the world’s largest poker network, Ongame. In addition to poker, Betsson also offer a wide variety of games such as a Sportsbook, Betting Exchange, Casino, Scratch Cards, Bingo and Trader. Betsson is listed on the OMX Nordic Stock Exchange in Stockholm, Sweden.
Betsson Poker of course focuses on Texas Hold'em but they also offer Omaha (Hi, Hi/Lo), 7 Card Stud (Hi, Hi/Lo) and 5 Card Draw. Omaha players always have a good selection of tables and games to choose from.
Betsson offers one weekly and one monthly cash back tournament with $2,000 guaranteed in the weekly tournament and $10,000 in the monthly tournament. You qualify to Cash Back weekly by gathering 200 player points a week and to VIP Monthly by gathering 1000 player points a month. Both goals are fairly easy to reach for a mid-level player and the amount of participants aren’t that high so there is quite a good value in these tournaments.
100% Bonus Offer!
The Pokerkeep has negotiated a special sign up deal with Betsson just to get our new partnership off on the right foot.
Sign up for a new player account and deposit a minimum of $10 and Betsson will credit your account with $1 for every 10 player points you accumulate. Use Bonus Code: POKERKEEP200 when signing up to qualify for this easy to clear bonus offer.
Betsson offers a wide variety of deposit and withdrawal options.
Visit the website for more details.
Betsson launched it’s poker room in July 2004. Betsson was then the very first partner of what was about to become the world’s largest poker network, Ongame. In addition to poker, Betsson also offer a wide variety of games such as a Sportsbook, Betting Exchange, Casino, Scratch Cards, Bingo and Trader. Betsson is listed on the OMX Nordic Stock Exchange in Stockholm, Sweden.
Betsson Poker of course focuses on Texas Hold'em but they also offer Omaha (Hi, Hi/Lo), 7 Card Stud (Hi, Hi/Lo) and 5 Card Draw. Omaha players always have a good selection of tables and games to choose from.
Betsson offers one weekly and one monthly cash back tournament with $2,000 guaranteed in the weekly tournament and $10,000 in the monthly tournament. You qualify to Cash Back weekly by gathering 200 player points a week and to VIP Monthly by gathering 1000 player points a month. Both goals are fairly easy to reach for a mid-level player and the amount of participants aren’t that high so there is quite a good value in these tournaments.
100% Bonus Offer!
The Pokerkeep has negotiated a special sign up deal with Betsson just to get our new partnership off on the right foot.
Sign up for a new player account and deposit a minimum of $10 and Betsson will credit your account with $1 for every 10 player points you accumulate. Use Bonus Code: POKERKEEP200 when signing up to qualify for this easy to clear bonus offer.
Betsson offers a wide variety of deposit and withdrawal options.
Visit the website for more details.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Recent News
European News
Sweden's Prosecution Authority has been ordered to halt prosecutions against Swedish media companies who accept advertising from Internet gambling sites. The decision follows an appeals court ruling that found Swedish lottery laws were possibly in contradiction with the European Court Pact.
PokerDream Update
In the weeks since the Poker Dream network's collapse many of the affected players and webmasters have been working hand in hand with Jay Todd and APCW to track down PokerDream's owners and our cash.
Thanks to Jay's "Perspectives Weekly" video and the publicity we've been able to generate, John Dutchak and Dave McCann have both come forward and contacted us.
John Dutchak is believed to be the owner/founder of PokerDream although he denies the claim and insists he was merely a software designer and programmer. We know for certain he was the front man and main contact person since the very beginning.
Dave McCann was apparently acting as host and administrator of the site for the final couple months but he claims the owners never paid him for his services. He also stated that he does not know who he was working for. Pretty weak story Dave...
Dutchak claims; "I was the lead software developer of the PokerDream site I am NOT the owner. The site was created in late 2005 and in 2006, the site is owned by 2 people from Norway named Bernt Erik Hansen and Jens Lausten. Bernt Erik is the majority owner."
So far, even though our investigation has progressed rapidly to this point, we are left with even more questions and very few answers.
We'll continue the search for the truth and as always, I'll keep you posted on our progress.
Sweden's Prosecution Authority has been ordered to halt prosecutions against Swedish media companies who accept advertising from Internet gambling sites. The decision follows an appeals court ruling that found Swedish lottery laws were possibly in contradiction with the European Court Pact.
PokerDream Update
In the weeks since the Poker Dream network's collapse many of the affected players and webmasters have been working hand in hand with Jay Todd and APCW to track down PokerDream's owners and our cash.
Thanks to Jay's "Perspectives Weekly" video and the publicity we've been able to generate, John Dutchak and Dave McCann have both come forward and contacted us.
John Dutchak is believed to be the owner/founder of PokerDream although he denies the claim and insists he was merely a software designer and programmer. We know for certain he was the front man and main contact person since the very beginning.
Dave McCann was apparently acting as host and administrator of the site for the final couple months but he claims the owners never paid him for his services. He also stated that he does not know who he was working for. Pretty weak story Dave...
Dutchak claims; "I was the lead software developer of the PokerDream site I am NOT the owner. The site was created in late 2005 and in 2006, the site is owned by 2 people from Norway named Bernt Erik Hansen and Jens Lausten. Bernt Erik is the majority owner."
So far, even though our investigation has progressed rapidly to this point, we are left with even more questions and very few answers.
We'll continue the search for the truth and as always, I'll keep you posted on our progress.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Perspectives Weekly - March 14
This week J Todd covers breaking news from the EU and the US plus he looks into the PokerDream situation and talks about the IMEGA ruling.
Join APCW today - stay informed!
Join APCW today - stay informed!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
"Animal Lovers" Charity Tournament this Weekend
Full Tilt Poker Pro Jennifer Harman Hosts International "Animal Lovers" Charity Online Poker Tournament Poker Pros Howard "The Professor" Lederer, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen and Others Join to Support the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) on March 16th
LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire - March 10, 2008) - On Sunday, March 16, at 9PM EDT, Team Full Tilt Pro Jennifer Harman will host the "Animal Lovers" charity poker tournament on FullTiltPoker.com. The $5 + $5 no-limit hold'em event will benefit the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) no-kill animal shelter in Las Vegas. The Nevada SPCA animal sanctuary is desperately in need of immediate funding and Harman is encouraging anyone to join her in the "Animal Lovers" fundraising effort.
Also participating in the "Animal Lovers" online event are professional snowboarder and world halfpipe champion Jeff Brushie (SMAKEbreak), Olympic medalist and two-time X-Games champion Ross Powers, professional snowboarder Kris Swierz (WheatSApuff), X-Games gold medalist and five-time wakeboard world champion Parks Bonifay (pbpbpb), X-Games and Gravity Games wakeboard medalist Shane Bonifay (jeanyes407), four-time X-Games wakeboard gold medalist Danny Harf (d9bigtime), and professional motocross champion Jimmy Button (BTNFLY) and friends.
Other Full Tilt Poker pros have also promised their support to Harman on March 16, by participating in the "Animal Lovers" online event at 9PM EDT, including recent Aussie Millions winner Howard "The Professor" Lederer and NBC National Heads Up Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Also slated to participate are John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Clonie Gowen, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham, Kristy Gazes, and dozens of other Full Tilt pros.
Go to FullTiltPoker.com and register today. New members should download the free software and enter referral code "ANIMALLOVERS" to ensure the Nevada SPCA no-kill animal shelter receives continued funding. Look for the "Animal Lovers" tournament located in the "tournaments" tab of the online lobby and register. The cost is $10 to enter. Fifty percent of all revenue will benefit the Nevada SPCA. The remaining money will be awarded to participants who qualify for cash prizes.
Harman, a professional poker player and member of Team Full Tilt, has been a Nevada SPCA friend and supporter for several years. She and husband Marco Traniello actively seek out potential homes and guardians for dozens of animals every year. Last Spring, the nation witnessed the Lied's Animal Shelter (located across town from the Nevada SPCA) euthanize nearly 1,000 animals. Though Nevada SPCA representatives fought against time to save the animals from eradication, they lacked the facilities and resources to house and protect the large number of victims.
Weeks later, the professional poker player hosted her own First Annual Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament in Las Vegas, a fundraiser that awarded the Nevada SPCA over $130,000. The funds allowed the no-kill animal shelter to expand their facilities and services, thus protecting hundreds more animals of several species.
"We're making a difference," said Harman about her efforts to support the Nevada SPCA. "The people at the Nevada SPCA are amazing. They have so much heart. Every penny counts and these fundraisers really work."
If you are unable to participate in the Full Tilt Poker "Animal Lovers" online $10 tournament on March 16 at 9PM EDT, you can still help the Nevada SPCA by visiting www.nevadaspca.org and making a private donation. For more information and ways to help the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, contact Nevada SPCA Executive Director Doug Duke at (702) 873-7722 or write the Nevada SPCA at nevadaspca@aol.com.
Professional poker player Jennifer Harman is an original member of FullTiltPoker.com's Team Full Tilt and is the only woman with two WSOP bracelets in open events. She took a year off due to a surgery to replace her kidney, and then returned to the poker circuit where she's finished fourth at the World Poker Tour Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, fifth in the inaugural Professional Poker Tour event, and second in the WSOP Circuit Championship Event at the Rio. During her time off, she wrote the Limit Hold'em chapter for Super System 2. When she's not playing in tournaments, Harman can be found at the Bellagio participating in the highest limit cash games in the world, or at FullTiltPoker.com. Harman is also one of the first professional poker players to become a member of PokerPlayersSocialNetwork.
About the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Nevada SPCA, a nonprofit organization, operates a no-kill animal sanctuary, promotes humane education, makes referrals for lower-cost spay/neuter and vaccination services, and challenges people to be the best possible guardians for the companion animals in their care.
Mark your calendar now:Sunday - March 16 - 9 pm ET
FullTilt Poker
32Red looks forward to excellent growth in 08
32Red plc has today reported results for a challenging 2007, recording a fall in net gaming revenue and widening losses as the company struggled with its now divested Betdirect business.
Net gaming revenue from continuing operations fell 2.5% to £10.2 million, resulting in an operating profit of £1.3 million. However the poor performance of the Betdirect business and the write-down of assets following its sale pushed the group's loss to £12.9 million for the year ended 31 December 2007.
The company's casino continued to deliver the strongest results with revenues climbing 7.6% to £9.0 million, representing 88% of total revenues from continuing operations. The number of active casino players increased 26.6% to 18,992, however average casino player yield fell by 14.9% to £474.
The poker segment continued to struggle, recording a 7.2% fall in net gaming revenues to £1.2 million, despite a 6.6% increase in active player numbers to 14,753.
The company said that following the sale of Betdirect late last year, the re-shaped business now has the ability and flexibility to expand into new gaming related products and territories, such as last months launch of a French language service and the upcoming launch of 32Red Bingo.
“The sale of Betdirect has refocused the group on its core products of Casino and Poker and has in 2008 returned the group to a cash positive position. Management are focused on building growth, expanding our product range and moving into new territories through the 32Red brand," said Chief Executive Ed Ware.
"We have seen a very encouraging start to 2008 with excellent growth at the 32Red Casino. We have surpassed several important milestones in the first few weeks of 2008 and look forward with confidence to an exciting year.”
Shares of 32Red plc remained unchanged this morning in London having recorded no trades since March 4th.
Monday, March 10, 2008
UltimateBet confirms abnormal play...
This story has been ongoing since early January and up until now there has been very little "official" response from UB on the investigation. The following statement is quoted directly from GamingIntelligenceGroup.com.
Following complaints from players, UltimateBet has confirmed that it has found evidence of ‘abnormal’ playing activity at its online poker site.UltimateBet and its licensing authority, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), were alerted on January 12th to allegations that a player with the online handle “NioNio” exhibited abnormally high winning statistics, resulting in accusations that the player had an unfair advantage during play.
The allegations also included reports of suspicious activity concerning the deletion of the NioNio account and other accounts that may have been related to the cheating.
UltimateBet says it immediately called in an independent third-party expert to review “hundreds of thousands of hand histories, all of which were promptly locked down and made available to the expert”.
The company went on to say: “The initial findings of our third-party expert confirm that the NioNio account’s winning statistics were indeed abnormal, and we have expanded the investigation to look into whether an unfair advantage existed, how such a scheme might have been perpetrated, and whether additional accounts beyond those of NioNio were involved.
“The investigation has proven to be extremely complex and, therefore, has been more extensive and taken much longer than initially expected. We continue to aggressively pursue the matter and will communicate the findings of our full investigation to our regulatory authority and to our customer base as soon as practicable.”
UltimateBet is owned by Tokwiro Enterprises enrg. and headed by the former Grand Chief of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Jo Norton. The company also owns AbsolutePoker.
Earlier this year the KGC fined AbsolutePoker $500,000 following an investigation into similar cheating allegations. In that case, the perpetrator(s) were found to have used a ‘backdoor’ in the poker software which enabled them to view other players ‘hole cards’.
The fact that Tokwiro Enterprises is again at the centre of cheating allegations will come as a significant blow to the company as well as the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, who’s investigation of AbsolutePoker was labelled a whitewash due to its lack of detail and limited financial penalty.
If these latest allegations are substantiated, the KGC will have little option but to impose a significant enough penalty to deter such activity in the future and to maintain its authority as a credible licensing jurisdiction.
Courtesy: Gaming Intelligence Group
Friday, March 7, 2008
APCW Perspectives Weekly - March 7th, 2008
The iMega vs the Department of Justice verdict is in! What will it mean for UIGEA? Also Party Gaming's CEO is stepping down, ReferBack gets an audit, and industry news from the US and Canada. The Pokerkeep gets a little free press this week too. We're 5 minutes and 48 seconds in, look for it... don't blink!
Carbon Poker - 10% Instant Bonus
Back by popular demand
Due to popular demand Carbonpoker's incredible 10% Instant Bonus*, up to $200 (Max Dep. $2,000), is back for a full 48hrs!
To take advantage of this great deal, simply enter the code REMARCH10 into the cashier when making any deposit between Friday 7 and Saturday the 8 of March, 2008.
The best part is once you've deposited and received your free cash, you
could win up to another $2,000 during our March Madness promotion.
- $1 per 100 comp points needed to withdraw bonus
- Cancels any outstanding bonus.
- Bonus not valid for Sidegame bets
- Coupon expires on withdrawal.
- One use only.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Ivey wins big and gives back to charity...
LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire - March 5, 2008) - On the heels of winning last week's L.A. Poker Classic and his first World Poker Tour (WPT) bracelet, and then placing third in this weekend's NBC National Heads Up Championship, the usually private and reserved poker professional Phil Ivey made a generous $50,000 donation to Empowered 2 Excel (E2E), a local Las Vegas Christian Academy.
Ivey also announced on Sunday that he intends to continue his grandfather's philanthropic legacy through The Budding Ivey Foundation, named in part after the late Leonard "Bud" Simmons. The Budding Ivey Foundation will be led by Ivey's close friend R. Winston Morgan, secretary LaTosha Perry, and Ivey's mother Pamela, who will serve as the foundation's treasurer. The foundation's non-profit status is currently pending. E2E is one of the many programs that will fall under the umbrella of The Budding Ivey Foundation.
"I've been given a lot of gifts," said Ivey from his Las Vegas home during a meeting with Budding Ivey Foundation representatives. "This foundation provides me an opportunity to give back."
[Read the complete story]Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Poker Dream Statement
Finally! PokerDream has released an official statement (posted on their forum) explaining what’s going on.
Apparently, they were victims of credit card fraud perpetrated by a group of players from Britain and Finland. They claim this group managed to credit accounts with over $30,000 in funds.
Poker Dream says the credit card companies seized the funds PD had in reserves. They are disputing the loss of their reserve funds with the credit card companies and are also speaking with investors in an attempt to secure additional funding to help them recover from the losses they incurred due to the fraud.
They close the statement with an assurance that they are working hard to resolve the loss with their investor group so they can carry on business as usual and payout all players.
True or not? It’s good to see someone from PD actually opening a dialogue. I still think they could have been much more forthcoming about things and rather than posting a statement on their forum, an email to all players, affiliates and operators would have been much more appropriate.
Apparently, they were victims of credit card fraud perpetrated by a group of players from Britain and Finland. They claim this group managed to credit accounts with over $30,000 in funds.
Poker Dream says the credit card companies seized the funds PD had in reserves. They are disputing the loss of their reserve funds with the credit card companies and are also speaking with investors in an attempt to secure additional funding to help them recover from the losses they incurred due to the fraud.
They close the statement with an assurance that they are working hard to resolve the loss with their investor group so they can carry on business as usual and payout all players.
True or not? It’s good to see someone from PD actually opening a dialogue. I still think they could have been much more forthcoming about things and rather than posting a statement on their forum, an email to all players, affiliates and operators would have been much more appropriate.
Ottawa is considering taking on the KGC with US style regulations
The Canadian federal government announced on Tuesday they’re considering new measures to stamp out internet gaming sites based on the Kahnewake reserve located near Montreal Quebec. This move will certainly spark a major conflict between the First Nations and Ottawa.
The government has long considered the nearly 400 poker and casino sites operating there to be illegal but has failed to act. Neither the federal or provincial governments have ever attempted to enforce the law against the Kahnewake Gaming Commission.
Minister of Justice, Rob Nicholson, has asked his officials to look into “whether the enforcement of the criminal code provisions could be assisted with other measures”. The measures could include restricting banks and credit cards from conducting transactions with illegal operators. Sounds like they’ve taken a page from the US government’s playbook...
Here’s the rub...
The Kahnewake Mohawks claim to be a sovereign nation so Canadian laws don’t apply to them. They cite section 35 of Canada’s Constitution which protects native culture. They claim that gaming is central to their culture as a means of settling disputes through competition instead of violence. Other Canadian native groups have announced plans to emulate the Kahnewake.
Great Canadian Gaming Corp, and others in the billion dollar horse racing industry say they pay $1 billion in taxes each year and carry huge expenses. They claim the gambling sites hosted within the MIT (Mohawk Internet Technologies) servers are parasites and poachers. The track owners want the government to force ISP’s to block the sites from Canadian access.
According to Chuck Barnett of MIT, Ottawa is a foreign government. He says Ottawa has no business regulating activity on Mohawk territory. “If I were a Canadian, I might instead be more interested in how explicit legislation could serve as the catalyst for a potential source of economic development, employment and revenue through taxation,” He said.
Michael Lipton, a Toronto lawyer specializing in gaming law agrees with Barnett. He stated that the horse racing industry has a monopoly on gambling in Canada. “I guess if I had a monopoly, I wouldn’t want anyone to compete against me either”, he said.
Lipton pointed to the current situation in the US. “They are completely bogged down on how to block the system”
Lipton acknowledged there have been some problems with fraud. He was referring to the Absolute Poker scandal. The Kahnewake Gaming Commission fined Absolute $500,000 in that case. He claimed that was the exception, most sites are transparent and credible.
Lipton proposes the government would be better off bringing the Kahnewake sites into the system and regulating them. He thinks regulation would help protect against money laundering and protect the public. It would also bring in tax revenues and provide Canada with a competitive edge within the gaming industry. “I think Ottawa should embrace this and recognize that people don’t want to be in a position where the government tells them what they can or can’t do in the peace of their own home,” he said.
One thing is for certain...
Whenever the Canadian government and the First Nations have gone to war over serious issues, blood has been shed. The Kahnewake won’t just roll over for Ottawa on this, there are hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.
I predict this will be a long and nasty fight.
The government has long considered the nearly 400 poker and casino sites operating there to be illegal but has failed to act. Neither the federal or provincial governments have ever attempted to enforce the law against the Kahnewake Gaming Commission.
Minister of Justice, Rob Nicholson, has asked his officials to look into “whether the enforcement of the criminal code provisions could be assisted with other measures”. The measures could include restricting banks and credit cards from conducting transactions with illegal operators. Sounds like they’ve taken a page from the US government’s playbook...
Here’s the rub...
The Kahnewake Mohawks claim to be a sovereign nation so Canadian laws don’t apply to them. They cite section 35 of Canada’s Constitution which protects native culture. They claim that gaming is central to their culture as a means of settling disputes through competition instead of violence. Other Canadian native groups have announced plans to emulate the Kahnewake.
Great Canadian Gaming Corp, and others in the billion dollar horse racing industry say they pay $1 billion in taxes each year and carry huge expenses. They claim the gambling sites hosted within the MIT (Mohawk Internet Technologies) servers are parasites and poachers. The track owners want the government to force ISP’s to block the sites from Canadian access.
According to Chuck Barnett of MIT, Ottawa is a foreign government. He says Ottawa has no business regulating activity on Mohawk territory. “If I were a Canadian, I might instead be more interested in how explicit legislation could serve as the catalyst for a potential source of economic development, employment and revenue through taxation,” He said.
Michael Lipton, a Toronto lawyer specializing in gaming law agrees with Barnett. He stated that the horse racing industry has a monopoly on gambling in Canada. “I guess if I had a monopoly, I wouldn’t want anyone to compete against me either”, he said.
Lipton pointed to the current situation in the US. “They are completely bogged down on how to block the system”
Lipton acknowledged there have been some problems with fraud. He was referring to the Absolute Poker scandal. The Kahnewake Gaming Commission fined Absolute $500,000 in that case. He claimed that was the exception, most sites are transparent and credible.
Lipton proposes the government would be better off bringing the Kahnewake sites into the system and regulating them. He thinks regulation would help protect against money laundering and protect the public. It would also bring in tax revenues and provide Canada with a competitive edge within the gaming industry. “I think Ottawa should embrace this and recognize that people don’t want to be in a position where the government tells them what they can or can’t do in the peace of their own home,” he said.
One thing is for certain...
Whenever the Canadian government and the First Nations have gone to war over serious issues, blood has been shed. The Kahnewake won’t just roll over for Ottawa on this, there are hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.
I predict this will be a long and nasty fight.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Writing new content - keeping me busy
I've been writing, writing, writing...
That's what happens when you take a few days off. My goal is to have 40 pages of quality content on The Pokerkeep by the end of March. Right now I have 21 pages online and 4 more ready to upload. That means I need 15 more by month's end. It doesn't sound like much does it? The problem is, I have to be in the mood to do the research. Since I'm mostly writing Poker Room Reviews at the moment, it's all about the research. Today, in 5 hours, I wrote 2 complete reviews and picked out some screen shots for a few rooms I've already covered. If I can do that every 2 days, I'll make my quota.
I also have a newsletter due out. Haven't even started it yet... but I do have the rough draft worked out in my mind. It won't take long to set it up and fine tune it. A subscribe link is available on my home page.
There are no new developments to report about PokerDream. The site is back online, not many playing, no word from support... I blacklisted them and removed their banners and links.
My good friend, poker pro and author, Sam O'Connor has just submitted his latest poker strategy article. This month he discusses Trapping and Avoiding Traps.
VC Poker has two awesome bonus offers running at the moment. They're offering $35 FREE, no catch, to new depositing players. For those who prefer to pick up bigger bonus money, VC Poker has a 300% new player welcome bonus. More details are posted on my home page - right hand column. I have to tell you, this is one of the most generous bonus offers I've ever seen.
That's what happens when you take a few days off. My goal is to have 40 pages of quality content on The Pokerkeep by the end of March. Right now I have 21 pages online and 4 more ready to upload. That means I need 15 more by month's end. It doesn't sound like much does it? The problem is, I have to be in the mood to do the research. Since I'm mostly writing Poker Room Reviews at the moment, it's all about the research. Today, in 5 hours, I wrote 2 complete reviews and picked out some screen shots for a few rooms I've already covered. If I can do that every 2 days, I'll make my quota.
I also have a newsletter due out. Haven't even started it yet... but I do have the rough draft worked out in my mind. It won't take long to set it up and fine tune it. A subscribe link is available on my home page.
There are no new developments to report about PokerDream. The site is back online, not many playing, no word from support... I blacklisted them and removed their banners and links.
My good friend, poker pro and author, Sam O'Connor has just submitted his latest poker strategy article. This month he discusses Trapping and Avoiding Traps.
VC Poker has two awesome bonus offers running at the moment. They're offering $35 FREE, no catch, to new depositing players. For those who prefer to pick up bigger bonus money, VC Poker has a 300% new player welcome bonus. More details are posted on my home page - right hand column. I have to tell you, this is one of the most generous bonus offers I've ever seen.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
APCW Perspectives Weekly
APCW Perspectives Weekly - February 29th, 2008
This week J Todd takes on Full Tilt Poker.
This week J Todd takes on Full Tilt Poker.
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