July is always a popular month for Poker because the WSOP is in full swing with entrants from around the globe winning thousands—and sometimes millions—on a daily basis. These days, it’s a challenge to find an online poker site that welcomes players from around the globe like the WSOP. So this week, I will focus on a site that does.
BurnTurn Poker or burnturn.eu is an online poker destination for international players who wish to play in Bitcoin, set to launch in late 2014. BurnTurn’s founder and CEO, Ragnar Del Torres, recently acquired Satoshi Poker and regards the move as a head start for the launch of BurnTurn Poker.
There are a numbers of unique and endearing characteristics of Bitcoin-only gambling websites, one being its accepting of players located anywhere in the world and another being the simplicity of the registration process. “All you need is a username and password – once you deposit Bitcoin, you are ready to go,” Del Torres told me.
I am a big fan of the concept of Bitcoin and I always welcome an opportunity to talk with entrepreneurs and innovators in the Bitcoin space. I like how Del Torres is trying out something new in online poker and this is a sneak peak of what you can expect from BurnTurn Poker from the eyes of the creator.
Becky Liggero: Thank you so much for your time today, Ragnar. Let’s start with the story behind your acquisition of Satoshi Poker. When did you decide to do it and why?
Ragnar Del Torres: I initially caught wind of Satoshi Poker being for sale in late May on a bitcoin forum and was able to track down the CEO through back channels. He was in a tight spot and most of the sale involved me accepting the outstanding account balances of players he couldn’t pay. We struck the deal rather quickly and I viewed it as an opportunity to acquire an established player base, obtain licensure for excellent software and foster goodwill within the Poker and Bitcoin communities by honoring account balances.
Becky Liggero: Sounds like a good fit, Ragnar. Tell me, what are some of the technical and managerial issues associated with owning and operating a Bitcoin powered offering?
Ragnar Del Torres: Most of the technical challenges that we’ve encountered are not because of Bitcoin but are the nature of software development in general. We are lucky to have an elite development team but software development is always frustrating for semi-technical executives with ADHD like myself. With that said, we spent a lot of time and money developing our Bitcoin payment processing and have spend painstaking detail on how to best secure our players’ money. We are currently working with a third party to make sure that our cold storage strategy stacks up with the leading Bitcoin services companies. Providing a secure environment for our players is priority #1, so this is the topic that frequently keeps me up at night.
Becky Liggero: Now we know a secure environment is your top priority but you’re also going to provide a completely new type of online poker experience – can you elaborate on this?
Ragnar Del Torres: The first thing you will notice is that it doesn’t feel like any online poker site you’ve ever visited. I intentionally brought in people who were industry outsiders because I wanted it to create a persona that diverged from the typical images of bright lights, half-naked women and distracting banners. I worked closely with an illustrator to create custom artwork that gives the site a graphic novel-like feel.
From a technical perspective, our software will be open source and I know of no other poker site that can make such a claim. I am true believer in the open source movement and it builds a foundation of transparency for our players. From there, we are working to create and document specific security protocols to ensure our players’ BTC are secure upon deposit.
Finally, we are allowing the highest level of anonymity, with no emails or personal data required to start an account.
Becky Liggero: I love the idea of involving industry outsiders—this is a great way to inspire innovation. So what are the benefits of an anonymous online poker playing experience?
Ragnar Del Torres: On a basic level, people value their privacy whether they are playing online poker or simply sending a text message to a friend. With the Snowden and NSA revelations, people across the globe are looking for good tech solutions to regain anonymity. Bitcoin offers the most anonymous form of online exchange and also offers great utility with almost instant payments. These two features are the perfect fit for online gaming because many of us have been plagued in the past by the inability to withdraw funds or a government telling us we cannot play at all. Regardless of where you live, the chances of being arrested for playing online poker are essentially zero, but people don’t want big brother looking over their shoulder when they do anything.
Becky Liggero: Got it- what geographical regions will be able to enjoying playing at BurnTurn Poker?
Ragnar Del Torres: We do not set any geographic restrictions on where players may come from. In fact, we encourage everyone to use Tor and other encryption methods to maximize their privacy. We are a global community and sovereignty is an irrelevant concept from our perspective. All that matters to us are your talents and passion for the game!
Becky Liggero: I agree. Global is a good thing. Is there anything else that you wanted to add, Ragnar?
Ragnar Del Torres: I’d like to give your readers a sneak peak at some of the artwork from our site. Part of the artwork we have created includes custom avatars and each character has a back story. I came up with the idea in the spirit of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Becky Liggero: Ah, very unique indeed! Thank you so much for thatRagnar ;it’s been a pleasure.
