The Nightly Turbo: FTP Contacts U.S. Customers, PartyPoker Traffic Surges, and More
Looking for the day's top poker stories? You've come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we're covering an email sent by Full Tilt Poker to U.S. customers, PartyPoker's climb up the online poker traffic rankings, and more.
In Case You Missed It
The PokerStars European Poker Tour Sanremo Main Event played down to a final table on Wednesday. Take a look at the right remaining players in our EPT Sanremo recap.
The EPT Sanremo €10,000 High Roller is running alongside the Main Event this week. Chad Holloway takes a look at the biggest hands from both events.
Tom Dwan has spoken with many media outlets in the past week. In his most recent interview with PokerTube, Dwan discussed a handful of topics including live tournament stops, Macau, and his return to online poker.
Jason Mercier reclaimed the top spot in the Global Poker Index rankings this week. But is Phil Hellmuth making a strong push for No. 1? Mickey Doft breaks down the biggest movers in this week's GPI rankings.
Jason Somerville and October Niner Russell Thomas joined the PokerNews Podcast crew this week. The duo discussed Thomas' preparation for the WSOP Main Event final table and the film Somerville is making about it.
Cylus Watson is a professional poker player who went deep in the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event. This week, he joined the Strategy With Kristy podcast to discuss a critical hand he played against Greg Merson, as well an eight-bet shove he made in the PokerStars WCOOP Main Event.
FTP Updates U.S. Customers
Full Tilt Poker sent an e-mail to U.S. customers on Thursday, informing players that their funds will be handled by the Department of Justice via a remission process. The e-mail also notifies U.S. players that they will not be allowed to play real money games when the site reopens on Nov. 6, but play chip games will be offered following the relaunch.
While the message doesn't offer much new information for players who have been following the story since Black Friday, it may shed some light for customers that aren't in the know. Here's the full text of the e-mail, provided by PokerNews' Chad Holloway:
As a player on Full Tilt Poker, you may be aware of the recent settlement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice (the "DOJ").
Full Tilt Poker will not offer real money online poker in the U.S. until it is permissible to do so under relevant law.
In relation to your account balance, you will have the opportunity to file petition with the DOJ through a remission process which will be administrated by the DOJ.
In light of the above, only play chip games will be available to Full Tilt Poker players in the U.S. following re-launch, in the first week of November, 2012. Your Full Tilt Points balance will remain intact in your account.
Please note that we are unable to answer queries in relation to your funds - all such questions should be directed to the DOJ in accordance with the procedure to be defined by them.
Please retain this email for your records.
Sincerely,
Full Tilt Poker
PokerNews reached out to the Department of Justice on Thursday, but no new information regarding the remission process was made available. We'll continue to monitor this story, so check back to PokerNews.com for the latest.
Online Poker Traffic
PokerScout.com released its weekly traffic rankings on Monday. The online poker tracking site reported an increase of 2.3 percent, marking the second straight week of growth worldwide.
PokerStars maintained its sizable lead over its competitors, boasting around 50 percent of the market share according to PokerScout. The company is preparing to relaunch Full Tilt Poker next month and will undoubtedly grab a larger share of the marketplace right off the bat. Full Tilt Poker ranked second in online poker traffic before the site closed its doors last year and has already generated excited with the announcement of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) in December.
PartyPoker and the iPoker Network have been battling for second position since Full Tilt Poker closed, and this week PartyPoker claimed the spot for the first time in more than three months. The upsurge can be attributed to its Card Rush promotion, in which players collect instant-win scratch cards. Card Rush prizes include cash, player points, rake race points and freeroll entries. PartyPoker holds a 9 percent lead over iPoker in cash game traffic, but that number could dip when the Card Rush promotion ends at the end of the month.
Here's a look at the top 10 online poker rooms as of Thursday:
| Rank | Site | 7-Day Average (Real-money ring players) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PokerStars | 22,000 |
| 2 | PartyPoker | 2,850 |
| 3 | iPoker | 2,600 |
| 4 | 888Poker | 2,050 |
| 5 | Ongame Network | 1,740 |
| 6 | Winamax.fr | 1,740 |
| 7 | PokerStars.it | 1,640 |
| 8 | PokerStars.es | 1,580 |
| 9 | Microgaming | 1,460 |
| 10 | PokerStars.fr | 1,320 |
Check out the full report at PokerScout.com.
Randy Lew's Awkward Relationship
Randy Lew's victory at the Season 5 Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau Main Event was the biggest win of his poker career. But as we learned on Thursday, the victory meant a little more than a big payday and bragging rights for the man known as "nananoko."
In a video on his YouTube channel, Lew unleashed his unique sense of humor by unveiling his love affair with the APPT Macau trophy. The new "couple" shares dinners together. They even cuddle.
We're scared to envision what might happen if Lew fails to defend his title in Macau next month and the trophy ends up in another player's arms.
Check out the PokerStars Blog for more on Lew's quest to repeat in Macau.
Nevada's Gambling Revenue Declines Again
On Wednesday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board revealed a 3.11 percent drop in state gambling revenue for August compared to the same month last year. Nevada casinos collected $859.2 million in August 2012 compared to $886.9 million for the same month in 2011.
For casinos located on the Las Vegas Strip, revenue declined 1.19 percent to $490.9 million, despite visitor numbers being up by 1.5 percent to 3.34 million. Although Strip casinos were lifted by a 32 percent gain in Baccarat profits, total gambling revenue for the Strip’s casinos has declined three of the past four months. Much of August's drop was due to a 9.1 percent falloff in slot machine wins to $230.9 million.
“Baccarat is once again carrying the load. Without baccarat, gaming win on the Strip would have been down 9 percent or $29.9 million," said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the gaming board, to the Las Vegas Sun. “Customer spending is not like we would like to see in slot volume."
Read the full story at the Las Vegas Sun.
Asian Championship of Poker
As we mentioned earlier, Randy Lew will be looking to defend his title at the PokerStars Asian Championship of Poker (ACOP) in Macau next month. Which pros will attempt to dethrone last year's champ? Lynn Gilmartin and Sarah Grant discuss.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
