The rebirth of online poker in the U.S.
The worldwide phenomenon of online poker is about to enter a new stage as gaming industry titans quietly prepare for its legalization in the United States. The largest and most lucrative market for online poker players is poised to set the framework for the future of the industry. A lot is happening behind the scenes.
Casino companies know how big the industry had become at its peak and how quickly it grew. The largest online poker site, Pokerstars, celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2011 with a huge schedule of tournaments capped off by a $10,000,000 guaranteed prize pool Main Event. The overall prize pool for the series was down significantly from the year before mostly due to the lack of U.S. based players.
April 15th 2011, or “Black Friday” as it became known amongst online poker players, saw the shutdown of the largest poker sites: Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Absolute Poker. Overnight, millions of players in the U.S. were cut off.
Online poker in the U.S. basically went dark. Players were unwilling to sign up to smaller, even riskier, sites that were still “open” to U.S. players. Player accounts at Full Tilt were supposed to safely house deposits estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars when the site was shut down – money that will never be seen again. Players will be eager to play, however security will be the number one concern.
There is momentum building behind the legalization of online poker in the United States. The Justice Department released a 13 page legal opinion in September 2011 which clarified a decades old federal law which prohibited interstate gambling. Some in the gaming industry view this as an early move to legalize interstate online poker.
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), an advocacy group in favor of legalizing online poker, is pushing for federal controls over licensing and regulation of poker websites to better protect players and avoid conflicting and potentially confusing state laws.
In response to the Justice Department ruling the PPA had this to say:
“This will provide policy makers at both the state and federal level with the legal confidence to move forward with licensing and regulation of online poker and other non-sporting activity within their respective jurisdictions. However, it is our hope that our federal policy makers see this as an incentive to move quickly to enact federal licensing and regulation before various states produce a mix of individual state schemes that may not be the best model to serve consumers.”
Read the rest of the PPA press release here:
2012 is shaping up to be an extremely active year for the industry. Beyond just reading the latest headlines, poker players—from hobbyists and those seeking entertainment to professionals—need to get involved. The time is right for players to band together and become a force in shaping the future of the industry. Poker sites are nothing without members—they should have to work hard to attract and keep those members.
ameripoker.com is dedicated to finding ways to ensure that the voice of poker players is heard by the new poker sites that are currently under development. The competition for loyal customers who: 1) generate income for the site; and 2) keep valuable funds on deposit; will be fierce. Players should not underestimate the leverage that they have in dealing with these new sites once the gold rush is on…probably starting in 2013.