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Not So Instapoker 7/31 Edition

by , Jul 31, 2008 | 8:06 am

Comments (6)

BJ’s had a hearty welcome to the Pokerati team, and I haven’t done any posts in a while, so here’s a few recent stories making news, while I’m wondering what Darus Suharto’s doing right now…

The last woman standing at this year’s WSOP Main Event, Tiffany Michelle, officially becomes part of Team UB.

For those of you waiting for checks from Bodog, you may be waiting even longer for that money now that the Fed has taken $24 million of the site’s money.

Speaking of the government, four pro-UIGEA Representatives ask the Federal Reserve and US Treasury for clarification as to what is”illegal Internet gambling”

The FSN/WPT alliance gets a bit stronger in September, with a TV series tied into the WPT’s subscription based site ClubWPT.com


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6 Comments to “Not So Instapoker 7/31 Edition”


  1. Ed     says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 10:09am

    “For those of you waiting for checks from Bodog, you may be waiting even longer for that money now that the Fed has taken $24 million of the site’s money.”

    Yeah I am beginning to think my near $1k bankroll is turning into play money at this point. I will keep playing and having fun but do not expect to see any of it anytime soon.


  2. BJ Nemeth     says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 10:21am

    Tiffany Michelle’s UltimateBet deal was always a matter of “when” rather than “if” — we all knew it was coming. And good luck getting Fed Chief Bernanke to provide any guidance on the UIGEA. Like he needs *that* problem right now.

    I find the news between Fox Sports and the WPT to be pretty interesting. Several companies have started these “poker clubs,” subscription-based sites that allow players to battle for real-money prizes under sweepstakes rules, making them legal in the United States. (But definitely less interesting.) I imagine there are more, but the only two I know about are Club WPT and Card Player’s Spade Club.

    The WPT/Fox Sports announcement sounds like it will put WPT Club winners directly at a special televised final table. (It’s reminiscent of Mansion Poker and the Poker Dome show, but that version of “speed poker” made it much more like a game show than actual poker.) If the FSN show offers a decent prizepool and a decent blind structure, they may be able to attract a lot of players (hopefully new to online poker) to Club WPT.

    So I’ll be keeping my eye on the FSN show planned for Club WPT players.


  3. Kevin Mathers     says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 10:41am

    I’d guess that the WPT Club shows would take place at Hollywood Park or Morongo Casino, that’s where previous FSN made for TV tournaments have taken place.

    Clububt.com I believe uses the same software as ClubWPT and SpadeClub. Fleetstreetgames.com who made the controversial “Poker is a crime” video, found at http://fleetstreetgames.com/media/ is another subscription site.


  4. BJ Nemeth     says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 11:09am

    @Kevin: I’m assuming that none of the subscription sites are doing particularly well, but I have nothing to back that up. Do the online tracking sites show any numbers for them? (Number of players, number of games, etc.)


  5. Kevin Mathers     says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 11:17am

    I check out the WPTE messageboard over at Yahoo (http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/mb/WPTE) from time to time and there’s usually a mention of how Club WPT is doing. They’re also doing a conference call next week and there should be an update on the subscription figures during the call.


  6. BJ Nemeth     says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 1:40pm

    Is there any poker forum/website/conference call/freeroll where the ubiquitous Kevin Mathers *doesn’t* make an appearance?

    You’re the hardest working person in the business … who isn’t in the business. Some day I hope you get rich off your writing. (But after I do.)