18. No person who is resident in Malta, France and USA may open an account, play, or in any other way participate in the ELG offerings and/or services.

While Everleaf Gaming did not accept players from Malta, the addition of France and USA into that terms is new and was added just today.  This change of terms was brought on by an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  This investigation led to the seizure of one of Everleaf Gaming’s U.S. facing payment processors.  The funds held by the payment processor were also seized.

The voice of Minted Poker known as Neil stated that the Everleaf Gaming Network was hit with a cease and desist demand from U.S. authorities.  After a discussion with the Lottery and Gaming Authority, the organization that licenses Everleaf Gaming in Malta, it was agreed that Everleaf Gaming would leave the U.S. market.  It is not known at this time how U.S. players will be paid, how long the process will take, or when U.S. players will be banned from the network.  As of now, U.S. players are continuing to play for real money at Everleaf Gaming Network tables.

Minted Poker assured all players outside the U.S. that it was business as usual and that player funds were ring fenced.  It was also noted that once U.S. players were removed from the network, the entire network would convert to Euros as their only currency.

Everleaf Gaming is expected to make an announcement in the next 12-24 hours that should give players more details about cashouts and when U.S. play will be suspended on the network.  We will continue to monitor the situation and will post updates as they become available.

Other U.S. Poker Rooms Licensed by LGA

Everleaf Gaming is leaving the U.S. in part due to the suggestion of the LGA, who licenses and stores the servers for Everleaf Gaming.  Merge Gaming also holds a license issued by the LGA.  Merge Gaming is a different scenario than Everleaf Gaming though because Merge Gaming’s servers are located on the Kahnawake reservation in Canada which is the home of their primary licensor.  While this may be an interesting next few days, there is no reason to believe that there is any immediate concern about Merge Gaming.

]]> http://www.parttimepoker.com/everleaf-gaming-network-leaving-us-market/feed 0 http://www.parttimepoker.com/hnr-29-everleaf-out-of-u-s-wpt-update http://www.parttimepoker.com/hnr-29-everleaf-out-of-u-s-wpt-update#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:28:59 +0000 Michael Jones http://www.parttimepoker.com/?p=9552 The Everleaf poker network is leaving the U.S. market, and an update from the World Poker Tour Venice. It’s all in today’s edition of the PTP Hit and Run.

Everleaf out of U.S., Merge next?: While things were looking up for U.S. online poker players for a while, things took a turn on Thursday. The Everleaf network is leaving the U.S. market because of pressure for the United States government. And it seems like skins on the Merge network could be next, although that hasn’t been confirmed. Get more here.

WPT update: The World Poker Tour Venice is down to a final table, with a lot of Italians apparently still left. Details here. Andrea Dato made his second straight final table at this event.

Quick hitters:
–Mike Matusow doesn’t owe any money to Full Tilt Poker? That’s what the Mouth says.
–Tatjana Pasalic is looking for another female pro to join her at bodog. We’re all for it, if she’s as hot as Tatjana. Or even if she’s not.
–The judge in the case against two men charged in online poker’s Black Friday cases isn’t dismissing the charges. More here.
–More on PokerStars’ license to operate in Belgium.
–There definitely weren’t enough poker player of the year awards. So the Global Poker Index added a new one.
–More tax on gaming in Nevada? Say it ain’t so.
–Here’s a World Poker Tour interview with Doyle Brunson from the cutting room floor:

–In not shocking news, Isildur1 is experiencing big swings on the virtual felt.
–ESPN writes in depth about the growth of Jonathan Duhamel since he became the WSOP main event champ.

The network owners have today sought legal advice and also met with the LGA, the Maltese Licensing Authority, who have advised them that due to the nature of the threat and the current climate, the network needs to withdraw its services from U.S. customers.

Unlike the cases with Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars, by honoring the Cease and Desist order there seems to be no threat of a shutdown and there should be an orderly and quick cashout of U.S. Players with the assistance of the U.S. Government.

There are also unconfirmed rumors that the Merge Network which includes the largest U.S. facing site, Carbon Poker, may also be contemplating a move to voluntarily leave the U.S. market as several Merge skins have acquired licenses from Malta. Time will tell if Merge decides to follow suit.

Part Time Poker expects to have more in-depth information soon, so stay tuned as we update and post more news on the latest round of attacks against pokersites still serving the U.S. market.

PokerStars, the largest online poker site in the world, was granted a ” Casino de Namur A+ license” by the European country. The site will have the domain of www.pokerstars.be.

According to Mr. Etienne Marique, Chairman of the Belgian Gaming Commission:

“This is an important step forward for the regulation of online gambling. Not only is the legal framework offering the possibility for operators to offer their online games of chance, but from an economical point of view gambling operators are given opportunities in Belgium. And all this in an environment that protects players more than illegal websites do – for example, excluded players cannot play at licensed websites and an average hourly loss is applicable to each player.”

Belgium is the most recent country to join the world of state-regulated online poker, joining the likes of France and Italy, where PokerStars also operates under the regulatory bodies of those commissions.

According to a release from PokerStars, Belgian players are able to play in all PokerStars international tournaments, including the Sunday Million, World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), as well as cash games.

Guy Templer, PokerStars’ Head of Business Development, said this about the announcement:

“PokerStars is proud to be among the first fully-licensed operators in Belgium. We are delighted to be able to offer a locally licensed product to Belgian players through our partnership with Circus Groupe. This furthers our goal to obtain licences in all newly-regulated markets and we look forward to working with the Circus Groupe and Gaming Board.”

WPT Venice: The World Poker Tour Venice is through day 2, and James Akenhead was the biggest name left, until he was eliminated in 14th place. Get a report of day 2 here, and get live updates from day 3 here.

Duhamel writes: The 2010 World Series of Poker champ, Jonathan Duhamel, has been in the news a lot of late. First, he was allegedly robbed and beaten in his home in Canada. Then he headed to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and started owning. He doesn’t talk about the robbery in a blog post here, but he does talk about how he got from world champ to where he is now.

WSOP record holder passes: Russian pro Nikolay Evdakov, who set the record for most cashes at a single World Series of Poker with 10 in 2008, died at the age of 47. More here.

Regulation roundup: Online poker is officially dead in the U.S. capital, as Washington, D.C., repealed a law allowing online poker.

Are the opponents of online poker starting to craft a new message? According to Pokerati, the seeds of a new offensive against regulation in the United States are being sown.

In more tangible news, PokerStars was granted a full license to operate in Belgium. In the U.S., a legislative committee in New Jersey moved forward on a mobile gaming bill.

Quick hitters:
–Tony Dunst blogs about money — how it’s a tool to him and many poker pros, but it’s something different to people who don’t play poker.
–Team PokerStars Online pro Tyler “frosty012″ Frost blogs about his 2011.
–Betfair is hosting an online charity poker event to support pro Thor Hansen, who is battling cancer.
–Are you in the U.S. and need to pay taxes on your online winnings from last year? Here’s a primer.
–An update on the Card Player player of the year.
–A man was killed at a poker game in Texas.

Thanks to the glamorizing affect of television, many people assume poker players are all much richer than they actually are. As many players know, two of the questions you’ll get the most often when you tell people you play for a living is “What’s the most you’ve ever won?” and “What’s the most you’ve ever lost?” When you answer the question about how much you’ve lost you’ll often get the same response from a non-gambler no matter the quantity you just gave, be it $500 or $100,000: “I could never lose that much gambling! Why with that kind of money, I could buy XYZ…”

The distorting affect a career of poker has on money is clear. Over time, you begin to treat it much more like a tool to be used towards the accumulation of more money, and only sometimes a currency to be used for the purchase of goods and services. But the bulk of your time spent thinking about money is either in the game or shooting the shit with fellow players, and that continually reinforces the idea that money is simply that ‘thing you use to play poker’. For many, it becomes more video game score than indication of net worth.

The social consequence is that you have to be mindful of how you speak about money when in the company of non-industry friends. If you start bluntly discussing swings and the way you allocate your money using figures, many may believe you’re trying to show off or being rude when you’re simply speaking in a way that’s become habit. I try to tread the line between honesty and discretion by saying little but allowing people to ask anything they want about playing for a living, though often leading in with “Do you mind if I speak in fairly exact figures? It’s how we talk about it in the industry.” It manages to communicate that we’re just a little desensitized, not money-obsessed jackasses.

Tony Dunst is a professional poker player and Host of WPT’s Raw Deal.

Full Tilt update: The possible sale of Full Tilt Poker to Groupe Bernard Tapie continues to twist in the wind. A story here rounds up all the latest news, including the fact that GBT has found a more dire financial situation for FTP than it originally thought. That is in addition to the millions allegedly owed by a number of poker pros.

EPT winner:Vadzim “VadziMoney” Kursevich took down the European Poker Tour Deauville main event for €875,000. Get a full report on the final table here.

Meanwhile, Luca Pagano reached his seventh EPT final table, a record. More here.

More with the winner:

And a recap of everything that went down in Deauville:

WPT Venice: Former November Niner Filippo Candio is the chip leader after day one of the World Poker Tour event. More here, and you can check out live updates here.

Mobile clients: It looks like it’s getting easier and easier to do online gaming on a mobile device. First up, 888 has rolled out a beta test of its client on Android; more here. And, in related news, 888 saw revenues go up nearly 60%.

And Betfair is rolling out a mobile wagering app. More here.

Quick hitters:
–Gus Hansen lost about a $2 million pot in Macau. Details from his blog here.
–Jason Mercier is taking on a prop bet against Remko Rinkema in a best of seven sports competition. We’re betting on Mercier.
–Two of the men charged during online poker’s Black Friday are seeking dismissals of their cases, based on the Department of Justice’s memo on the applications of the Wire Act.
–The U.K. took a step toward online gaming licensing and regulation with the introduction of the Offshore Gambling (Licensing) Bill. Story here.
–Isildur1 gets pwnt.
–The latest Sunday Million from PokerStars:

–The Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final Carnival of Poker is set for later this month. Details here.

EPT: There are just four players left at the European Poker Tour Deauville main event. Get live updates here. PokerStars pro Luca Pagano went out in seventh place.

If you are playing catch up, here’s a look at who started at the final table:

Blom blogs: Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom wrote a blog post over at PokerStars’ blog, recounting his victory in the super high roller event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. You can read what he had to say here.

Quick hitters:
– Andrew “Foucault” Brokos reviews Easy Game by Andrew Seidman. Read it here.
–Lock Poker continues to sign pros like they are going out of style. The latest is Pedro ‘pls3betme’ Maia.
–Part two of an interview with PokerStars pro Celina Lin:

–Julian “soydelmillo” Menendez took down to Sunday majors.
–A roundup of all the poker podcasts of the week.
–The World Poker Tour Venice is getting started.

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Full Tilt update: Laurent Tapie, the head of Groupe Bernard Tapie, did an interview in which he talked about the group’s attempted purchase of Full Tilt Poker and the outstanding player debts owed. He confirmed that $16.5 million is owed by 19 poker pros. He also confirmed that if those debts are not paid, it may hold up the sale of Full Tilt. According to the interview, if the owed money is not paid, “GBT will have to make up the shortfall, generating an additional cost to the overall operation that GBT is not willing to take on, especially as the financial position of Full Tilt, as it appears following the audit, is actually worse than expected.” Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein and Erick Lindgren are among those who apparently owe money, according to various reports in the past week.

EPT: The European Poker Tour Deauville is at a final table, and PokerStars pro Luca Pagano is among the players still alive. Full report here, get updates and chip counts here.

Meanwhile, the EPT Grand Final will be held in Monaco starting in April. More details here. A 100K Euro super-high roller event will be part of the festivities.

Rewind: Check out the best poker videos of the week, including a look at the WSOP schedule for 2012, a new PokerStars commercial, and poker in dominoes.

75 billion: That’s a lot of poker hands. Read about who won some money when the milestone hand was dealt at PokerStars here.

Romney against online poker: Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney isn’t a fan of legalized online gaming and poker. So, if you’re basing your vote for president on the future of regulated online poker in the U.S., you probably want to stick with Barack Obama.

Quick hitters:
–Daniel Negreanu blogs about just about everything under the sun, including his poker account getting hacked, and the Full Tilt situation.
–The In and Out List for the week.
–Pop star Robbie Williams put his name on a free-play poker site.
–Subject: Poker is closing up shop.
–Sam Trickett talks about the high-stakes cash game at the Aussie Millions.
–PokerNews.com takes a look at whether the WSOP’s November Nine should continue in the future.
–A bill that would have allowed resort casinos in Florida hit a roadblock. Meanwhile, online poker regulation is back on the table in Iowa.