Author: John Mehaffey

The past month saw little movement in U.S. online poker payment processing times at offshore sites. Speeds declined slightly at some sites and stayed the same at others. The September payment processing report may be found here. Last month’s grades are in parenthesis. Bovada A (A+) Bovada is the largest U.S.-facing online poker site. It […]

Party Poker Rolls Out Player Protections Party Poker first announced player ecology improvements on October 1.  The first segment of this was instituted this week.  Party Poker now lumps all players waiting for a game and limit onto the same list.  The player that is first in line on the waitlist is issued the first […]

There are players in the U.S. that prefer to keep online poker unregulated. Some players that feel this way fear being ringfenced within small state borders, which would create insufficient player pools for a reasonable level of action. Others are concerned about payment processing and geolocation issues that plagued regulated U.S. online poker in its […]

PokerStars Approved in New Jersey PokerStars received approval on Wednesday to operate in New Jersey.  This process took more than two years.  Its license application was suspended due to legal issues surrounding PokerStars and its parent company when online gaming launched in New Jersey in 2013.  PokerStars was acquired by Amaya Gaming earlier this year […]

By John Mehaffey Partypoker announced today that it will roll out a software update in the coming weeks that will improve the recreational player experience.  The “Poker for the People” campaign hopes to level the playing field for all participants. “The ongoing development of sophisticated third party online poker tracking software such as HUDs, seating […]

Minted Poker was a member of the Everleaf Gaming Network. It was once a popular choice for U.S. players due to its high rakeback deals and rake chases. It also attracted international players for these same reasons. Everleaf Gaming dropped U.S. players without notice in February 2012, citing a cease and desist letter from the […]

PokerStars New Jersey Application Still Under Review David Rebuck, director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, told Global Gaming Business that the PokerStars licensing process was unique and long process.  It is still ongoing.  Rebuck cited 80 sworn interviews his office had given across six countries to describe how thorough the investigation is. […]

U.S. online poker sites continued to improve over the past month, with one exception. The fastest site on our list is testing a new withdrawal option in beta. Two sites added free withdrawal options. Unfortunately, the two slowest sites have showed little improvement in cashout speeds since last month. The August U.S. Online Poker Offshore […]

The cashout woes at Merge Gaming continue. The network’s cashier canceled all pending existing Skrill withdrawals on September 10, according to numerous player reports in poker forums. Merge Gaming skins include Carbon Poker, PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.ag. The canceled Skrill requests date back months. The oldest reported was from June. Skrill Requests Now Processed as Bank […]

MPN Will Permit Username Changes MPN announced this week that it will permit users to change their handle on the site.  A software update on September 22 will add this feature.  Players be able to make a change every 30 days.  It can be done sooner if a player gives 1,000 hands of real money […]