'Black Friday' and associated fallout megathread

[dmorris68]

yea, I almost just withdrew most of mine, but then saw the stuff about limbo, then also the $15 check processing fee...for $200, I might as well just leave it and pray.

Yeah I'm really on the fence -- I might just withdraw $1000 for now and leave the rest, but I can't make up my mind on whether this is believable or not. And Merge has been occasionally sending rubber checks and debit cards that don't work, so that uncertainty just complicates it, lol.

I was getting paid from Lock's casino, which they handle themselves rather than Merge, but they've been so bombarded that they now take longer than Merge's cashier to pay out, and have been cancelling casino payouts for some that never play casino games, telling them to cashout with Merge.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[alaskabill]

yea, I almost just withdrew most of mine, but then saw the stuff about limbo, then also the $15 check processing fee...for $200, I might as well just leave it and pray.

Exactly. If there are any legs to the story this would be the worst time to withdraw. On the actual site the funds are probably safe and at least you can still play with them. If the DOJ does strike when your funds are somewhere between Merge and you its almost certainly a loss.

Processors have been hit before. I think it is very unlikely that the DOJ could take effective action against the sites themselves. They have .eu domains, they don't have American ownership and they haven't bought any banks or sold any golf balls . I suspect that if anything happens Merge will find a different processor and business will be back to "normal" more or less in a few months.

Its not ideal but any American had to know that they were taking a calculated risk by continuing to play online post Black Friday.

Panic withdrawal is the worst option IMO.

 

[cAPSLOCK]

Its not ideal but any American had to know that they were taking a calculated risk by continuing to play online post Black Friday.

Honestly, I felt I was taking a risk even well before black Friday. Doesn't make my lost winnings any easier to stomach.

 

[Shady Vision]

Honestly, I felt I was taking a risk even well before black Friday. Doesn't make my lost winnings any easier to stomach.

Agreed. I take my $600 loss on FTP as a pretty large financial loss, even though I was able to withdraw $2000 before black friday happened.

I'm sincerely hoping that FT gets the charges dropped somehow and regains control of its bank accounts to repay the players.

I will gladly continue to play at FT if/when its an option as the software is far superior to anything else out there.

Only other feasible option is to move north to Vancouver, BC and play as a Canadien on PS.

 

[ferratus]

Agreed. I take my $600 loss on FTP as a pretty large financial loss, even though I was able to withdraw $2000 before black friday happened.

I'm sincerely hoping that FT gets the charges dropped somehow and regains control of its bank accounts to repay the players.

I will gladly continue to play at FT if/when its an option as the software is far superior to anything else out there.

Only other feasible option is to move north to Vancouver, BC and play as a Canadien on PS.

I am with you on the FT comment...... I loved the software and miss it .....

 

[OzExorcist]

FT / AGCC hearing has been moved back to September 19 for some reason or other - the announcement was made a week ago but it looks like pretty much everyone has missed it...

http://www.gamblingcontrol.org/userfiles/file/FTP short update 20110905.pdf

 

[Charade You Are]

Interview today with Rich Muny, PPA VP of player relations. Talks about HR2366 and the grass roots efforts to get support from members of congress and the super committee.

http://www.pokergob.com/rich-muny-ppa-vp/

 

[jazzaxe]

I don't think Congress will act on this with an election year coming up. It is not a major issue among the voters. The card playing community has my support, but you won't find any among the Republicans ... or the Democrats either, for that matter

 

[KerouacsDog]

FT / AGCC hearing has been moved back to September 19 for some reason or other - the announcement was made a week ago but it looks like pretty much everyone has missed it...

http://www.gamblingcontrol.org/userfiles/file/FTP short update 20110905.pdf

thanks bud for the info.
whats the betting they postpone it again..........................

 

[fletchdad]

I don't think Congress will act on this with an election year coming up. It is not a major issue among the voters. The card playing community has my support, but you won't find any among the Republicans ... or the Democrats either, for that matter

sorry for the derail, but your SN and avatar got me piqued, being a pro musician..

/derail

 

[absoluthamm]

I don't think Congress will act on this with an election year coming up. It is not a major issue among the voters. The card playing community has my support, but you won't find any among the Republicans ... or the Democrats either, for that matter

Gary Johnson? Even though he never had a chance with how you attempted to run his campaign.

 

[Charade You Are]

I don't think Congress will act on this with an election year coming up. It is not a major issue among the voters. The card playing community has my support, but you won't find any among the Republicans ... or the Democrats either, for that matter

Co-sponsors of Rep. Barton's Bill HR 2366:

Rep Andrews, Robert E. NJ
Rep Berkley, Shelley NV
Rep Campbell, John CA
Rep Capuano, Michael E. MA
Rep Cohen, Steve TN
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. MI
Rep Engel, Eliot L. NY
Rep Filner, Bob CA
Rep Frank, Barney MA
Rep Grimm, Michael G. NY
Rep Heck, Joseph J. NV
Rep Honda, Michael M. CA
Rep Israel, Steve NY
Rep King, Peter T. NY
Rep Moran, James P. VA
Rep Paul, Ron TX
Rep Perlmutter, Ed CO
Rep Polis, Jared CO
Rep Sanchez, Linda T. CA
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. CA
Rep Berman, Howard L. CA
Rep Gerlach, Jim PA
Rep Himes, James A. CT
Rep Larson, John B. CT
Rep Welch, Peter VT

Too bad there isn't a better showing among Republicans considering they are the party that always claims the Government should stay out of things. (No I'm not a Dem either, I think both parties suck for the most part.)

 

[tbdbitl]

If we could only work an angle where politicians would think it could help them get re-elected . . .

 

[Charade You Are]

If we could only work an angle where politicians would think it could help them get re-elected . . .

What would help is if all those 10 million US players sent letters and made phone calls.

Here a good place to start: http://capwiz.com/pokerplayersalliance/home/

Joining the PPA gets you a sticker and a card protector and helps support the rights of poker players.

 

[pcgnome]

Here's an article that was sent to me by the PPA about an hour ago.
http://pokerfuse.com/news/law-legislation/harry-reid-addresses-online-poker-in-twitter-town-hall/

 

[MidyMat]

If we could only work an angle where politicians would think it could help them get re-elected . . .

I wish it was that easy. With a long list of priorities facing the USA, a politician is not going to come out and say anything about online poker. A lot of people unfortunately don't care about online poker. I think maybe when a politician isn't facing re-election they might take up the Poker flag. We need to legalize live poker in all 50 states. Online poker will never be like it was.
Here is a article I read this morning:
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-new...s-joint-select-committee-on-deficit-reduction

 

[jaymfc]

I disagree I believe in time online poker will be thriving and legal in most states . heck we may have state run sites with the profits going to schools or something like that . they will also move much of their lotto stuff online too . could you imagine a powerball lotto online , with all fifty states . who knows just rambling my opinion .
also if it's possible for online poker to help lower the deficit then they can't ignore that but ...

 

[onemorechance]

I will gladly continue to play at FT if/when its an option

Seriously?

 

[OzExorcist]

Seriously?

You've got to remember that people kept playing at UB after the cheating scandal: in most people's minds this situation is nowhere near as bad as that. So if Full Tilt gets started again and the action is good, of course people are going to play there. I'm not going to lie, if the conditions were right I'd probably keep playing there.

 

[KerouacsDog]

If I get my money back from FT, I'll withdraw most and leave a bit there to play, and thats about it.

 

[tcummo]

i would play on fultilt
if it re-opens because ;

the software is way, way, way superior to any other site
i have tried.

withdrawals where easy and straight-forward,
i never deposit my own money on any site unless i want to withdraw (build BR from freerolls)

loved the FT academy.

i learned to play there it was my poker 'home'

i liked the crowd at the final tables.

hope they sort it out......

 

[blueskies]

It would be surprising if withdrawal would continue to be that easy

 

[OzExorcist]

It would be surprising if withdrawal would continue to be that easy

No reason it shouldn't be if you ignore the American market, which they obviously won't be going back to any time soon.

 

[TheKAAHK]

i would play on fultilt
if it re-opens because ;

the software is way, way, way superior to any other site
i have tried.

withdrawals where easy and straight-forward,
i never deposit my own money on any site unless i want to withdraw (build BR from freerolls)

loved the FT academy.

i learned to play there it was my poker 'home'

i liked the crowd at the final tables.

hope they sort it out......

I feel the exact same way. Not holding my breath, but if they do actually come back, I'll be on there in a minute. I really miss the $5 27plr SNG's.

 

[onemorechance]

Even after they've shown themselves to be completely incompetent and have essentially stolen your money?