The Equity Poker Network got off to an impressive start when it first launched in Q4 2013, garnering the interest of several well-known iGaming operators like 5dimes, SportBet and PokerHost. However, traffic has dropped noticeably in the last few months. Now, one of its premier online poker sites, Full Flush Poker, is helping to keep numbers up by reintroducing a highly acclaimed promotion known as the No Fee SNG.

The online poker operator first introduced the No Fee SNG promo during part of November 2014. It was such a hit that it was restored during part of December, and has now been reintroduced for the remainder of January 2015.

As the promotion’s name implies, players are able to enter any Sit-n-Go tournament on the menu without paying a fee in addition to the standard buy-in charge. The No Fee SNG promotion lasts from now until the end of the month; Saturday, January 31, 2015.

“We’re waiving all FEES on our Sit ‘n’ Go’s for the rest of January,” reads the Full Flush Poker webpage. “Sit down at any S ‘n’ G table and enjoy the added bonus of fee-free tournament play without waiting for a scheduled tournament to shuffle up and deal.”

Sit’n’Go tournaments are generally renowned for their expedience, as opposed to multi-table tournaments (MTTs) that run on a specific schedule. Instead of registering ahead of time and waiting hours or even days for an MTT to begin, SNG tournaments kick off the moment the required number of players have registered for the event. Thus single-table SNGs that offer only up to 9 seats tend to harvest the most interest from online poker players.

Full Flush Poker will be giving up a substantial portion of its monthly profits by reinstating the popular No Fee SNG promo, but in the long run, it could still work to the operator’s – and the EPN network’s – advantage. Because there is no “house” to compete against, like a casino, online poker sites only make money by collecting rake on cash tables and fees for tournaments.

However, while Full Flush Poker won’t be generating any profit from its SNGs over the next 17 days, with the anticipation of higher traffic, there will surely be enough side action on the cash tables and MTT schedule to keep the revenue flowing.

The Equity Poker Network has lost four of its online poker operators in the last 6 months alone, and it’s had a notable effect on the traffic rating. When Gear Poker left in August 2014, followed out the door in October by Bettor Poker, the impact was nominal. In fact, EPN traffic was on the rise then, jumping from about 170 to 230 average cash game players. However, the ensuing loss of 5dimes in November and, more importantly, the PokerHost departure from EPN in December, took a much heavier toll on the online poker network, leaving them with a current 7-day average of about 190 players according to PokerScout.

The saving grace for EPN is that US players from all states (except Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey, which have their own state-regulated online poker sites) are accepted. Until the remaining 47 states choose to go ahead with online poker regulation, countless Americans will continue to seek out US-facing operators. And with a promotion on the table like No Fee SNGs, Full Flush Poker is sure to garner a notable percentage of that traffic.

WSOP is dominating the regulated online poker industry in Nevada, but has held the respectable position of #2 in New Jersey since the market went live in November 2013. Competition has driven WSOP to increase its Action Club VIP loyalty rewards program, and it’s giving most online poker players in both states something to rejoice about. As has become the norm in today’s internet poker industry, recreational players are the real target.

The overhauled Action Club includes a series of additional tiers, including a new Copper level that requires just 2 Action Player Points (APP) to reach. The online poker site previously required 10 APP in a month to reach the first tier of the VIP program, termed Bronze status. With 2 APP earned for every $1 contributed to the rake at cash games, or $1 in tournament fees paid, even the most recreational of players should have no trouble reaching the required monthly minimum to earn loyalty rewards at WSOP.com.

To achieve Bronze status, a player will now need to earn 40 APP in a month, but a Copper+ level was thrown in between with a 20 APP requirement to achieve. A Bronze+ was also supplemented, requiring 100 APP in a month’s time. Silver status still necessitates 200 APP, Gold 400 APP, Platinum 1,200 APP and Diamond 3,500 APP. The former Silver+, Gold+ and Platinum+ levels were removed.

Online poker players will still need to reach the Silver level or above to receive WSOP Points, which can be converted to cash at a rate of $1 for every 100 points (1,000 point minimum to redeem), but other rewards are available to those who play just enough to reach to lowest tiers. And with the minimum 2 AP requirement now available, that should include a lot more members of the Nevada and New Jersey online poker rooms.

All players who earn at least 2 – but less than 200 – APP in a month will receive exclusive invites to monthly Action Club freerolls. Not to leave anyone out, even players who don’t reach a status of any level can participate in the weekly $250 freeroll tournaments.

WSOP Annual Rewards

The yearly rewards levels received a slight augmentation as well. A new Super Elite level was snuggly fitted between the original Elite and Super Seven statuses. Previously, Super Seven members were entitled to a competitive rakeback of 35%. That figure has dropped to 30%, but realistically speaking, it shouldn’t affect too many people since it requires 400,000 APP in a year’s time.

On a brighter note, the new Super Elite status (250,000 APP) will give standard Elite members (50,000 AP) a much more reasonable goal to shoot for, and increase their rakeback rewards from 20% to 25% in doing so.

On the whole, WSOP’s loyalty rewards aren’t all that impressive, but it’s definitely an improvement. Plus, the Action Club correlates with the land-based casino rewards of Caesars Entertainment properties, known as Total Rewards. All Action Club points earned at the online poker room are added to a player’s Total Rewards membership (if they have one), and for land-based players who reach Platinum, diamond of Seven Star status in the Total Rewards program, they can request their status be transferred to the online Action Club.

One of the most anticipated online poker tournament series in the industry is set to take place at PokerStars from January 22^nd to February 1^st. With 50 events and $15 million GTD, the Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) is designed to suit fans of all poker games and formats, with a Main Event guaranteeing $2 million.

Members of the world’s largest online poker site can look forward to anywhere from four to six events every day of the online poker festival. The series kicks off with four events on Thursday, January 22^nd. The first presents one of the best values, featuring a $27 buy-in NLHE 6-Max Turbo tournament with Re-Entry and $500k GTD. The 6-Max and Turbo combination is sure to result in hyper-speed action any grinder can truly appreciate.

PokerStars 2015 TCOOP

Then on Saturday, Jan 24^th, two events should draw a great deal of attention as the TCOOP features a $215 NHLE Turbo Zoom Poker tourney with $400k GTD, followed by a $215 NHLE Heads-Up event with $250k up for grabs. Thursday, Jan 29^th, another high-profile event for Pot Limit Omaha fans will take place, paying $100,000 to the top performers in an $87 4-Max PLO tournament.

The hits keep on coming in the 2015 TCOOP with a $215 H.O.R.S.E. competition guaranteed at $50k and a $215 Super Knockout Heads-Up PLO, both slated for Saturday, Jan 31^st. Then on Sunday, Feb 1^st, not one, but two main events will play out in the 4^th annual PokerStars Turbo Championship of Online Poker. The first is a $320 8-Game Mix with $100k GTD, followed by the more traditional $700 TCOOP NLHE Main Event guaranteeing the largest prize of the series, $2,000,000.

Wrapping things up is the final event of the online poker series, aptly titled the Supersonic TCOOP Wrap-Up. This hyper-turbo tournament carries a $215 buy-in and promises a minimum prize pool of half a million dollars.

Team PokerStars Pros are already gearing up for the Turbo Championship of Online Poker, and will be out in full force to claim their share of the $15 million in guarantees. Pro poker players like Team PokerStars’ Mickey Peterson and Triple Crown winner Jake Cody particularly appreciate the speed at which each event in the ‘Turbo’ series generally concludes.

The TCOOP is “an awesome series because the tournaments are so quick and varied,” said Cody. “You don’t have to be up all night to win some huge money and the range of formats and game choices is so diverse.”

A fan of mobile poker, Peterson chimed in with similar sentiments, saying “I love how most of the events won’t take more than a couple of hours to complete and they are perfect to play on a tablet.” He continued by describing some of his other favorite elements of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker. “Turbo tournaments require a different set of skills compared to other tournament series…they also provide constant action.”

As is customary, PokerStars is running a throng of satellite competitions allowing members to qualify for any of the 50 events on the TCOOP schedule. Satellites can be entered for as little as 1 Frequent Player Point (FPP) or $0.11. See the full schedule of TCOOP Events and Qualifiers here.

When we reach adulthood, we all make life choices, many of which our parents are sure to disagree with. It’s simply a part of coming of age. Career choices often fall into that category. But for one Orthodox Jew, whose father happens to be a rabbi, his decision to pursue a pro poker career came with the 100% support from his parents.

I’m referring to Ari Engel (pictured right), a highly successful live and online pro poker player originally from Toronto, Ontario. Engel grew up traveling the world with his parents, and continues to do so to this day as part of his pro poker obligations. During his early adolescence, the Engel family finally settled down in the United States metropolitan area of Chicago, Illinois.

Ari attended yeshiva, an Orthodox Jewish high school, in Chicago, where he was first introduced to the game of poker in his senior year. His yeshiva continued with a gap year in Jerusalem, where he continued to play poker on an amateur level before resuming his education at New York University. Again, playing poker took up a large portion of his weekly schedule, and in his second year of college, he began to raise the stakes by playing higher limit games.

Engel happened to be the roommate of Andrew Brown, who’s since become one of the highest regarded Omaha specialists of his generation. Brown helped his Jewish co-tenant hone his skills, and the results were phenomenal. The online poker prodigy found enormous success on the virtual felt, but unlike so many of today’s top pro poker players, that did not deter Ari from finishing his college education.

With a degree in finance from NYU in hand, Ari Engel sought employment in the financial field and had no trouble securing an entry level position. However, he also sustained his passion for online poker, spending his weekends and evenings siphoning chip into his bankroll. It only took a few weeks for the native Canadian to realize that his poker play was much more lucrative than his day job. Engel immediately quit his job to pursue a full time career as a pro poker player.

Anyone familiar with the Orthodox Jewish religion is surely aware just how far against the grain Ari’s decision was. Gambling of any type is heavily frowned upon, and with a rabbi for a father, the fallout of his career choice could have been devastating. Fortunately for Engel, that was not the case at all. His parents not only supported his decision, but shared the same view that poker is a game most often won by those who implement skill and strategy; not a mere game of chance.

Earlier this week, Ari Engel was interviewed by Jewish news source, JTA, while competing in a poker tournament in Atlantic City. He detailed his feelings towards poker and casino gambling, saying “it’s very unfortunate that poker takes place in casinos. It doesn’t really belong there.”

As for the skill versus chance argument, Engle said, “Poker definitely has a lot of things that are beyond one’s control, but it has plenty of things within your control. I don’t gamble at all. I’m trying to get an edge when I play poker, and I try to make a living out of it.”

At 31 years of age, Ari Engel is currently ranked the 23^rd best pro poker player in the world by Bluff Magazine. He’s accumulated over $1.84 million in live tournament winnings, and nearly $3.14 million from his online poker exploits, more than half of which was won at Bodog Poker under the nickname, “BodogAri”.

The online poker industry looked a whole lot different five years ago. Real money internet gambling was, for all intents and purposes, considered an illegal activity in the US, and yet PokerStars, Full Tilt and other major operators were still welcoming American players, much to their delight. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson was not a household name, and network player pooling was considered normal.

Yes, much has changed since then, and there is vast room for improvement in 2015. The following is a compilation of the top 5 New Year’s resolutions that I feel would benefit the online poker industry and community as a whole.

Resolution #1 – Shared Liquidity in US markets

The US online poker market, currently spanning just three states – Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey – is in dire need of a boost. In order to get more states to pass online poker regulations, an increase in participation and revenue is crucial. The best way to intensify these already saturated markets is to engage in interstate poker compacts.

Delaware and Nevada agreed to invoke shared liquidity across state lines in February of 2014, but aside from an unproductive software approval notice from Nevada’s regulators, nothing has come of it. Shared liquidity needs to move forward, and fast, to reignite the US online poker boom we all know this industry is capable of.

Resolution #2 –New Jersey welcomes PokerStars

This resolution needs no explanation. Players in New Jersey have been given little reason or desire to play online poker. Lame software, unsuccessful tournament structures and low cash game volume have resulted in a steady decline in participation. PokerStars is the best of everything online poker ever had to offer. Give the players what they really want, and the operators a rival worthy of competing against. Things will turn around quickly enough.

Resolution #3 – Legalize Online Poker in California

With nearly 40 million residents, California won’t need to share liquidity with other states to drive a successful online poker market. (Oh, but imagine if they did!) Year after year, online poker bills have been submitted, never once getting far enough to induce a vote. The state’s lawmakers need to get their heads out of their you-know-whats and get a bill passed in 2015.

Resolution #4 – No more DDoS Attacks

The Winning Poker Network (WPN), in an attempt to provide American online poker players outside of regulated states with the glory of online poker predating Black Friday, scheduled a $1,000,000 GTD event. It drew thousands of players, but was forced into cancelation just hours into the tournament due to alleged DDoS attacks. Full Flush Poker, part of the Equity Poker Network (EPN), confirmed similar attacks not even two weeks ago, and several others have been reported elsewhere. They are destroying the integrity of the game, resulting in a decline in customers, and it’s going to be up to operators to find a way to block these kinds of assaults on servers.

Resolution #5 – An End to RAWA

The Restoration of Americas Wire Act has been a looming threat over the modicum US online poker industry since it was first introduced last March. Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson threw all the gold bricks he could at it, but was unable to get it passed in the lame duck session. RAWA may have lost a lot of momentum, but 2015 is a new year, and the 81-year old billionaire has made it very clear that he won’t give up in his crusade to get online poker and casino gambling prohibited nationwide.

For nearly two decades, online poker operators have been looking for new angles to drive in more traffic. Advertisements, promotions, marketing gimmicks, they’ve all been done, if not overdone, with very little in the way of unique creatives on the table. Now it seems another avenue may have fallen in their laps as popular online poker players find thousands of followers watching live video streams.

Watching live video streams has become an extremely popular pastime for gamers of all genres, originating with celebrated PC and console-based online multi-player video gaming titles like World of Warcraft and the multifarious releases under the Call of Duty prefix. That popularity is now transitioning over to the online poker realm, where players like WSOP bracelet winner Jason Somerville, Kai “stickyrice1” McMinn and Byron “Reckful” Bernstein are drawing high volume viewers to their live streams.

Somerville should probably get the most credit for starting this new trend. The 27-year old poker player began live streaming via a special Run It Up promotion during his tenure as an Ultimate Poker Pro. When UP shut down its online poker room in Nevada last month, Jason continued his Run It Up broadcast via Twitch.tv. Somerville has built his Twitch fan base to over 38,000 followers by engaging with his viewers in a way that is both entertaining and educational for players of all skill ranges, as well as non-players.

“I stay involved in the game by streaming four or five times a week, creating enjoyable, diverse content, and working hard,” Somerville said. “I don’t believe you have to frequently attend live tournaments or wade into heated debates in forum arenas in order to make a positive impact on the game.”

Kai “stickyrice1” McMinn is also a very popular online poker player followed on Twitch.tv, garnering over 15,000 followers. His live stream was at its peak when he successfully took a $2,000 bankroll on Bovada and spiked it up to $40,000 in a single night’s play. He’s had many high-viewership runs since, with both good and bad results in terms of his chip counts.

Byron “Reckful” Bernstein is another online poker player who’s taken his gameplay into the realm of live streaming. Bernstein first started live streaming World of Warcraft, earning him an immense fan base of over 274,000 followers on Twitch. Although he’s not an avid grinder, when ‘Reckful’ does hit the virtual felt, countless viewers tag along for the show.

Before you get too excited, it should be noted that online poker streams are not exactly “live”. There is always a few minute delay invoked for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, commentary around the community suggests that traffic numbers are receiving a boost when players such as these live stream their online poker play.

If that’s truly the case, one would have to surmise that more people are logging into poker sites like Bovada to compete against ‘stickyrice1’, or WSOP.com to play Jason Somerville. It could be that these online poker players are hoping to increase their own number of followers by running their own Twitch feeds, and getting broadcast on a more popular channel certainly could raise their recognition. Maybe they are just looking for a moment in the spotlight. Or, much to the delight of online poker operators, they could be new players inspired to follow in the footsteps of their exalted live streaming heroes.

According to a group of Danish online poker players who frequent the high-stakes cash game tables, a 7-figure case of fraud has been committed. The group notified authorities that they believed a Trojan horse program had been installed on their computers, resulting in several million euros in losses over as many as 9 years. The accusers named at least one online poker player who also patronizes the high-stakes cash games, but authorities have yet to divulge the name of any suspects.

The Economic Crime Department was notified of the potential online poker fraud, and after a thorough investigation, police reports indicate that two individuals have been charged in the case. However, Danish police would not disclose any names. Police Commissioner Torben Koldborg Frederiksen revealed only that one suspect was a 32 year old poker player.

As the investigation proceeded, charges against the suspect were first filed in October. Reports indicate that not all of the online poker players involved in the alleged deceit are of Danish residency, leading to the possibility that more players may be affected by the alleged Trojan horse program than authorities are currently aware of.

In an interview with a Danish news site, one of the victims explained how his suspicions had been aroused. He stated that he returned home one day to find his computer had been restarted. Upon viewing footage from the security cameras within his home, he discovered the surveillance had been switched off for approximately 15 minutes. At that point, he began to suspect someone had broken in and tampered with his computer by installing a Trojan horse program.

A Trojan horse would have allowed its installer to remotely view the computer screen from another location at any given time. As such, it would allow the perpetrator to view the hole cards of the victim(s) during play, making it easy to win countless chips from of them at an online poker room.

To make matters exceptionally worse, speculations are now arising that the Danish police department may have even been involved in the online poker fraud. There is only circumstantial evidence to support that theory at the moment, based on the fact that police sometimes use Trojan horse software to monitor the activity of suspected criminals during an investigation, and a flurry of rumors from the online poker community that point to a particular suspected poker pro.

iGaming.com helped to facilitate those rumors when it published an article on the topic, stating that they knew the identity of the online poker player charged in the case, but would not divulge it before authorities. The article indicated, however, that “The player is one of the most famous Danish high-stake players, having won an EPT as well as played some of the highest stakes online.”

That story, along with the Danish police’s information of the culprit being a ‘32 year old poker player’, led to online poker forums blowing up with accusatory posts aimed at Peter Jepsen. In 2013, Jepsen admitted to letting Robert Flink use his online poker account, which led to him winning $800k off Blom.

That being a case of duplicitous multi-accounting, the only connection really being made by the online poker community at large is that Jepsen is a professional poker player, has an EPT title and is 32 years of age. It’s also been reported that Jepsen once wrote of having a friend in the Danish police’s IT department that would have a hand in investigating suspicious websites; which, in turn, led to the speculations of police involvement.

A number of online poker studies have been conducted over the last decade, commissioned by regulators, operators or other parties with a vested interest in the business. The University of Las Vegas’ Department of Economics is recruiting participants for a new research project in which the purpose is purely educational, with no consignments involved. Anyone US or Canadian resident 21 years of age or above that has ever played real money poker online is eligible to take part.

The purpose of the online poker study is to ascertain the general attitude of the poker playing population in regards to government regulations of online poker. Respondents will not receive any direct benefit for taking the study, but the results will be used to “inform the public debate concerning the regulation of online poker.”

The study is being conducted in dual part by ‘Principal Investigator’, Professor of Economics Bradley S. Wimmer of UNLV’s Lee Business School, and ‘Student Investigator’, Malissa Redona, an MA student at UNLV who is compiling the data to culminate into her Master Thesis.

The study, entitled Online Poker: Consumers and Regulation, is said to take between 15 and 20 minutes. As a point of reference, it took me just over 16 minutes to complete. The first round of questions identify a participant’s experience playing online poker; very straight forward and easy to answer. The survey gets a little more in-depth from there, asking about a player’s personal preferences.

First, the online poker study delves into the importance of an online poker room being regulated, followed by the level of security the participant is comfortable with.  Respondents are then asked about their typical stakes and rake contributions, how they feel about different rake structures and how important the average VP$IP% (percentage of times the average player Voluntarily Put Money In Pot) of an online poker site is to them.

Next comes some even more mentally challenging questions, where respondents are asked to consider what they would do in certain situations. A series of scenarios are presented. In each scenario, two options are given, A and B, with one site being regulated and one not. The player must decide, based on all of the additional criteria for each site (security level, rake structure, player volume, VP$IP%), which they would be more likely to play online poker at. In this way, the online poker survey can gauge just how important regulation is when faced with various other choices.

More hypothetical situations are then posed involving one-time lottery promotions in which the survey can judge a player’s desired level of risk. All in all, the online poker study will give researchers a scope of who plays poker over the internet, what draws them to the sites they choose and just how important regulation is to the general poker playing public.

Statistics show that the majority of US online poker players continue to participate at offshore websites that are not regulated in the United States. Only three US jurisdictions, Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey, offer a regulated online poker market at the moment, but even residents of those states are still being drawn to unregulated sites. The online poker study surely hopes to discover why players are attracted to these offshore destinations, and could eventually play a key role in helping US operators tweak their products to attract more players to legal venues.

Nevada’s newest online poker room, Real Gaming, is continuing its intransigent campaign to bring in traffic by announcing yet another exemplary promotion. Tonight at 7:00pm local time, the legal US poker site will be hosting not one, not even two or three, but six freeroll poker tournaments.

6 Freeroll Poker Tournaments Tonight

“Due to the extremely high demand we’ve seen, players have asked for MORE FREEROLLS.  So we’re going to give them to you!” read the promotional email sent out to all registered members of the online poker community. “Wednesday, December 10th at 7pm, we’re running the most freerolls we’ve had at once.  Make sure you don’t miss out and Register now!”

Real Gaming has been running multiple freerolls poker tournaments every day, but as the above missive suggests, the online poker room has never hosted so many of them at one time. These freeroll competitions cost absolutely nothing, so long as the player has a verified account and is physically located in the state of Nevada at the time the tournaments take place.

What makes Real Gaming’s freerolls so unique is that they are single table events, known as Final Table Freerolls. A maximum of just 9 players can register for each tournament, catapulting all participants into the final table for a 1-in-3 shot at winning a prize. The guaranteed prizes aren’t exactly exoribitant, but all winners are paid in cash.

Each of the freeroll poker tournaments offers a $5.00 prize pool, with 50% of the prize ($2.50) going to the 1^st place winner, 30% ($1.50) to 2^nd place and 20% ($1.00) to 3^rd. All players get 10,000 chips to begin with. Blinds start at 25/50 and increase every 8 minutes.

At the time of writing, there were 3 to 4 players already registered for each of the freeroll poker tournaments on the schedule; more than enough to meet the minimum requirement of 2 players before start time.

Anyone who wants to get an earlier (or later) start at one of Real Gaming’s Final Table Freerolls will have plenty of other opportunities to do so. Two freeroll poker tournaments are set to kick off at 8:00am, another two at 10:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm and 6:00pm. The last two freeroll poker tournaments of the night will begin at 9:00pm at the online poker room.

Real Gaming received regulatory approval to transition from soft-launch to full scale launch in late October, and the operator’s marketing department has been working diligently to drive traffic into the site ever since. The cash games have been stiflingly flat for the last two months, but the Multi-Table and Sit’n’Go tournament menus have been attracting more players lately. Ostensibly, it has been the operator’s intensified promotional campaign – a direct result of Ultimate Poker’s dissolution in the state – that is grabbing the attention of Nevada’s online poker community.

In the last two weeks alone, Real Gaming has added a number of generous promotions to the already abundant line-up. The Ultimate Match promo will match the deposit of any former UP member that deposits their withdrawal from Ultimate Poker, up to $3,000. Signing up a new account this month grants a free $20 no deposit bonus. Last week, Real Gaming announced a daily cash back giveaway worth up to $50 per day.

These new freeroll poker tournaments are just another addition to a superfluous list of promotions. The online poker room may have some very stiff competition in their only Nevada rival, WSOP.com, but this operator at least deserves a big, bold ‘E’ for effort.

On day 1 of the new legislative session in California, Assemblyman Mike Gatto made a bold move, introducing an internet poker bill to state legislators. Officially tagged AB 9, the new California online poker bill seems to be little more than the rehashing of previous attempts, but with a few unique paragraphs added. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) offered its initial reaction on Thursday, which wasn’t appositive one, but said they need more details before choosing which side of the fence to hop down on.

The key issue for the PPA was a new element that would require online poker players to facilitate certain transactions in person. Once registered, a player would have to make their very first deposit, as well as their first withdrawal, at an authorized land-based facility. Gatto’s California online poker bill also obligates players making a substantial deposit or withdrawal –the actual amount was left blank, although Gatto estimated anywhere from $300 to $10,000 – to make that transaction in person.

AB 9 specifies that licensed casinos would be primary destinations for physical monetary transfers. However, in addition to California casinos and card rooms that hold a license to operate online poker, the measure would sanction smaller casinos around the state to act as “satellite service centers”. Gatto said that, in this manner, every person in California should be no more than 1 hour away from an eligible casino or satellite service center.

According to the Assemblyman, his online poker bill has two major benefits. First, he explained that the deposit/withdrawal requirements would help to boost the land-based gambling industry for both tribal casinos and commercial card rooms, especially supporting smaller, locally owned businesses that may fear cannibalization.

Secondly, the Assemblyman said that facilitating early and sizable transactions in person will help to eliminate underage gambling and money laundering. The Poker Players Alliance was less acquiescent to that second point.

“If [Gatto’s] doing it because he thinks it’s a way to get people into the casino, that’s one thing,” says John Pappas, Director of the PPA. “If he’s doing it because he thinks it’s a way to stop minors from playing or people from fraudulently withdrawing money, he needs to be informed that safeguards already are in place online that not only the Internet poker industry is using but all sorts of e-commerce.”

Pappas wasn’t exactly on board with the idea that Gatto’s online poker bill will increase foot traffic at small casinos and poker rooms either. The PPA believes gambling establishments would have more success if they use online poker to attract new customers that don’t already frequent cards rooms, then use special incentives to bring those new players into the live realm. Smaller casinos and card rooms who join forces with the bigger brands would also be able to increase patronage via similar incentives.

“The problem here,” Pappas explicated, “is that enthusiasts are likely to make that effort, but the average consumer isn’t going to, and I think for the health of the game we need both enthusiasts and the average consumer.” Pappas called the poker industry an “ecosystem”, saying Gatto’s online poker bill, as written, is an “unproven model”.

Furthermore, Pappas questioned the bill’s suitability. “The previous model of people being able to register, deposit, and withdraw all online is proven to work, so why are we creating one more barrier that could perhaps lead to an unsuccessful marketplace?”

Rather than opposing the new California online poker bill right out of the gate, Pappas admitted it’s too soon to take a side. “I think we have to better understand how this would work and get some feedback from the players themselves. From what I’ve understood about how online poker worked successfully in the past, the ability to deposit and withdraw from your computer was paramount.”