Many US players are already finding it difficult to deposit at Bodog and it has been that was for a few months now. Because of the way that the Bodog brand is structured it can be difficult to understand what exactly is happening. Essentially, there are different Bodog sites but to the player they all seem to be the same one.

The Bodog poker room is currently operated under license from BodogBrand by different entities. The entity that currently serves the US market will no longer have a license from Bodog from the end of the year, but they could go ahead and find another poker platform to continue to operate in America. It just won’t be Bodog.

As to how the change will be implemented the details are not clear right now.

The effect is still the same though; no more US Players will be allowed in the Bodog Poker room by the end of 2011.

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1. US Poker Site Seizures

Success in Poker games is all about knowing your limitations. Many amateurs start sensibly enough in low limit games, but a sudden run of success can be all it takes to think that making the move to higher limits and more dangerous waters is a good idea. Many sharks are attracted to the easy pickings to be had just a few levels up the bottom, and the higher the limit, the quicker you can lose significant cash when you find yourself out of your depth. Be realistic about your abilities – it’s much more fun to win a modest amount regularly than lose a small fortune over a just a few hands.

Always keep sight of the fact that it is overall winnings that determine your success in Poker Games, and not the number of hands won. Taking ten small pots means nothing if you sink it all back into an ill conceived bluff and get cleaned out by an experienced and determined player with a good hand. Knowing when to fold and when to stay in a hand are the keys to success, with ducking out early always the sensible option for beginners if your hand is mediocre and other players are raising aggressively. Don’t stay in a round just because you are eager to play after folding on several bad hands, to avoid being an observer. It’s the cards your dealt and the betting patterns of other players that should determine how you play, and nothing else.

This brings us on to the next point, which is to focus on rational play, and avoid becoming emotional. If you’ve already lost more than you ought to have staked, and are getting upset, never try and claw it back through playing more hands. This emotional or desperate behavior is known as playing ‘on tilt’, letting blind hope override rational decision making. Only stake what you can afford to lose, and when this is gone, leave the table. You can always come back another day, preferably after some sleep.

No related posts.

So far they have not changed that ‘temporary’ block and US players can not sign up with any room on the Merge Network right now. A statement from the network, one way or the other, would at least end the uncertainty.

It seems to be a trend at the moment for online poker rooms to not communicate with their players. Full Tilt has made no formal announcement to their large player base about the future of their poker room or, more importantly, the future of the players’ bankrolls that have been tied up in their mess.

Bodog, who ostensibly do accept American players seem to be not accepting the majority of players that try to sign up from the US, but again have made no formal statement about the matter.

It is not a good time for American players, and the lack of communication only leads to more doubt and suspicion.

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1. Everleaf and UPN merge
2. Merge Network Traffic Explosion
3. Doyles moves from Cake

Having operated in the American market for the last five years when many other poker rooms had pulled out, Poker Stars and FullTilt became the two biggest online card rooms thanks mainly to their US player base.

On Friday the 15th April the FBI seized the primary websites of Poker Stars, FullTilt, Absolute Poker and UB. The sites are no longer controlled by their owners, but the poker rooms are operating properly and players are still able to log in and play. Both Stars and Full Tilt have suspended cash game activity for their US players, while Absolute and UB currently are allowing all players to play.

It is still early, and most people involved will still be scrambling to find a way forward, but there has been a notable absence of statements by the poker rooms involved.

Of course, the fact that the FBI chose to act on a Friday didn’t help any.

This does not appear to be the end of online poker for Americans though, and a number of sites that accept players form the USA have not been indicted. Sites such as Bodog Poker, Doyles Room, Cake Poker, Poker Host and Carbon Poker are still operating freely and Americans can continue to play on those sites.

That may change as the consequences of this latest attack on online poker is digested by those rooms. Carbon Poker appears to be bullish in their response and are actively advertising that US players are welcome in their poker room.

Players from other countries have been affected by this attack too, as the poker rooms have had to move to new sites and have had to update their poker client software. Players may need to download and re-install their poker software. To do that you will need to go to the new web address for the poker room. These new addresses are;

FullTiltPoker.co.uk
PokerStars.eu
AbsolutePoker.eu
UBPoker.eu

Your existing login information should work just fine, and all your account information will be in your account when you log in.

Bodog Poker could be the biggest online poker site if they continue accepting American players.

Aside from the online poker room, Bodog also has an online casino and a sportsbook.

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That’s good news for players though as at least you can now download the Doyles room software, which many players were unable to do for the last month.

The Yatahay poker network has been around for ten years and is home to the first 3D poker room, True Poker.

The loss of the Doyles room players from the Cake network, following closely on the loss of three main poker rooms late last year does not bode well for Cake and should see their traffic ranking fall from it’s already low 25th position.

Existing players will have their account balances moved to the new software, so no worries there. Players will have to download and install the new software and they should be good to go.

You can get the software directly from the Doyles Room site or simply try to start the existing Doyles software on your PC and it should download automatically.

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1. Merge Network Traffic Explosion
2. US Poker Site Seizures
3. Everleaf and UPN merge

One addition worth noting is the new ‘Knockout tournaments’ where every player has a ‘bounty’ on their head. So even if you don’t place in the money in the tournament you can still come out a winner if you take out enough of the other players.

This is not a new concept of course, as it has been available on Carbon Poker for quite a while, but it is new to Poker Stars.

Other improvements are focused on fixing some of the problems that they were experiencing at the heads-up tables, and as these are specific to that game, you won’t care unless you are a heads-up player, in which case you will probably appreciate the changes.

Another great addition to their tournament line up is the ‘Special Multi Event Satellites’. Simply put, if you make the pay in one of these special satellites, you can choose from the main events on offer. So, instead of playing a satellite to one specific main event, and then finding for whatever reason that you cannot play in that main event, now you can have a choice of main events from just one satellite.

Three have also been a number of cosmetic changes, such as an increased lobby size, and improvements to the various poker table skins too.

All in all, these are some good changes, and are definitely worth checking out.

PokerStars Bonus Information

Last year Poker Stars updated their initial deposit bonus, which was long overdue, and increased the maximum amount available to a reasonable amount of $600 at 100% deposit match.

A great feature of this bonus that should be noted is that you can make up to three deposits in order to avail of the full bonus amount. For example, say you sign up for Poker Stars and deposit $50 just to see how you like the room. Then you find you do like, it so you reload another $500. In this scenario on a different poker site, you would get a deposit bonus of $50 and that would be all.

But with the new Stars bonus in the same scenario you would be entitled to a bonus amount of $550. Worth noting.

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1. US Poker Site Seizures

These poker sites include SportsBook Poker and PlayersOnly Poker. The resultant increase in traffic on the Merge Network is expected to be huge – possibly up to six times the current level – and is predicted to propel the Merge Network into the top 10 of online poker sites by next year.

Currently Merge is ranked 20th in the list of poker rooms by player numbers, with Cake being 10th on the same list. The loss to the Cake network of these rooms will probably be as significant as the gain Merge expects.

Both Cake and Merge take American players, so all else being equal the transition should go smoothly for most existing players.

In order to ensure the success of the transition, there are a number of excellent promotions being offered by Merge skins right now, and these should be taken advantage of by all smart players.

Poker Host is one room on the Merge network that hopes to benefit by the increased players at the network, and they have a number of promotions right now that are geared to make them stand out from competing skins.

Aside from their larger than usual poker deposit bonus of up to $2,000 at 200% deposit match, Poker Host players can also cash in on the current freeroll extravaganza being run as part of the change over preparations.

Related posts:

1. Everleaf and UPN merge
2. Is Merge accepting Americans?
3. Doyles moves from Cake

The new larger network is still called Everleaf so I guess you could say that the UPN was taken over by Everleaf.  The details don’t matter too much.  No players, or their bankrolls, were hurt in the making of that merger, so all is good.

The new larger network is still very small compared to the top ten poker sites, with still only a couple of hundred players at peak times.  Hopefully the increased player base and assumed cost savings will be enough to keep Everleaf Gamings doors open for another while.

In the current economic climate smaller poker rooms and networks are coming under a lot of financial pressure and the economies of scale that a larger player base can bring must be most welcome.

Everleaf Gaming sites accept American players which should be a big boost, but the software is still being reported as quite buggy by a number of dissatisfied players and, until that gets sorted out, the network will most likely not flourish.

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2. Is Merge accepting Americans?
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