The short stack is all-in, and wins a reasonable pot. This hand was played on PokerStars, November 25, 2012. The short stack finished 2,149th of 21,648 runners winning 26c.
In April 2011, on-line poker changed for good when the American authorities declared it a de facto criminal conspiracy. The FBI and the Department Of Justice seized the domains of some of the biggest players, and the game was in the doldrums. Now, nearly three years on, what is the state of play?
The short stack is all-in, and wins a reasonable pot. This hand was played on PokerStars, November 25, 2012. The short stack finished 2,149th of 21,648 runners winning 26c.
Two well-established sites have died: Absolute Poker was wound up, and although its sister site UltimateBet took longer to die, that too is now long gone. Not all the changes that have happened recently have been on account of Black Friday, and not all have been for the worse.
Hollywood Poker, billed as the site where the stars come to play, has gone. A change that is definitely for the worse is Ladbrokes. This was originally on its own dedicated network with unique games, including pot limit razz. Labrokes has now joined the iPoker Network along with Betfair, William Hill and a host of others.
The really big sites have had mixed fortunes. Party Poker has revamped its site and introduced a loyalty scheme that is so complex you need a PhD in mathematics to understand it. Full Tilt was in the doldrums for a long time with rumours circulating about a new owner. Eventually it did reappear with one – PokerStars – not the original suspect. The site has been scaled down but has not changed its software. Which leaves us with PokerStars, now the biggest site by far, boasting the widest variety of games and an excellent set of ongoing promotions for both new players and regulars whether they play tournaments, sit and go’s or cash games.
This month, PokerStars staged a world record attempt for the biggest tournament ever: 230,000 entries for a $1 no limit hold ’em spectacular. It failed, only 211,619 players entered, but the site already holds the world record with 225,000 registrations.
If not everything in the garden is rosy, on-line poker has survived and will continue to thrive in spite of the necessary shake out. However, in the United States, the country that gave the world poker, the battle rages on as people with strange agendas continue to wage war against the on-line game. If you are an American player and have not already done so, you might consider joining the Poker Players Alliance. Finally, if you are not a poker player, here is the best advice you will ever have about the game. Don’t learn!
[The above article was first published February 27, 2014. I uploaded two screengrabs and the website added a third, but only the main one has survived.]
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