A few Black Friday related items to pass on…
✖ PokerStars issued a press release on Friday trumpeting its ‘commitment to worldwide customers.’ The company claims to have “returned more than $100 million to players from its past US-facing operations and continues to service requests following the Company’s agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on April 20th that allowed US customers to cash out their balances with PokerStars.”
✖ PokerStars has clearly emerged as the white knight among the three poker companies indicted on Black Friday, but hopes remain that Full Tilt will rise to the occasion this Sunday (15th). The one-month anniversary of Black Friday is supposed to bring the latest announcement from Tilt on its progress in arranging the return of US player balances. However, if said announcement doesn’t deliver some concrete details on a payout timeline, Tilt’s already flagging reputation will nose dive.
✖ Gambling911 claims that Doyle Brunson has “reluctantly” decided to “terminate my endorsement contract with DoylesRoom.com … DoylesRoom management has decided to continue to serve US customers. Although they believe they have the right to market the name DoylesRoom and to use my name and likeness for a period of time, I have asked them not to.” Brunson also reiterated his ‘aspirations” to re-enter the online poker biz if/when the US passes pro-poker legislation. Brunson has yet to issue any confirmation of this statement on his ordinarily active Twitter feed.
✖ Chris Krafcik (@CKrafcik) passed on the news that the American Gaming Association’s Frank Fahrenkopf told a press briefing that Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), an avowed live poker fan, has drafted an interstate online poker bill following meetings with the AGA, the Poker Players Alliance and the Interactive Gaming Council. Krafcik claims Barton’s bill could be ‘circulated’ as early as next week. [We originally misinterpreted Krafcik’s comments as saying Barton’s bill was an intrastate bill. Apologies to Chris for the mixup.]
✖ The ripple effects of Black Friday continue to be felt beyond the purely poker world. Following the announcement that they were pulling out of the US market, BetUS laid off their marketing team in Vancouver this week. SportsInteraction.com has informed its partners that it “will not accept sign-up referrals from United States territories,” although existing US players will apparently be grandfathered in.
