After-shock: where to play now?

Due to "The Black Friday" we are seeing a lot of changes on the poker market - some poker rooms are shutting down for USA players, some are cutting on guaranteed prize pools, but on the other hand - some poker rooms are increasing rakeback and putting in additional money on their tournaments! If you are looking for a new offer, we will give you a brief look at what should be considered now.

1. Hero Poker, part of Merge network ( USA allowed )
HeroPoker is one of the rooms working very closely with LiquidPoker, as two of players posting on our forums ( Mig and Rekrul ) are sponsored by HeroPoker. It is worth to notice that despite the situation from last week HeroPoker accepts USA players.

As for the moment, when you create an account on HeroPoker throu THIS LINK your account will be open with 35% rakeback that will be transferred directly to your account at the start of each month. You can also get a first deposit bonus, up to $600 .

2. PointPoker, part of Entraction network
Second poker room worthy of a notice is PointPoker, which operates on Entraction network. USA players are not accepted, however for all other players their offer is quite interesting: they offer 30% rakeback plus a lot of rake races for all kind of levels.
Especially interesting are 'Challenge rake races' that happen quite often - in those rake races you can only start with a small amount of cash in your account ( depending on the type of race, $100, $500, $1000, $2000 ), meaning that every player will have same chance on winning the race. Of course there are some normal rake races as well!

Also, for the last week of April PointPoker prepared special series of 7 tournaments, with addded prizes:[green]1600€ [/green]in money and three sponsorship packages worth 10 000€ each. For more info about those tournaments go to this link.

If you would like to register your account at PointPoker for the mentioned promotions, make sure you use this link and our deposit code!

3. Unibet
Unibet in the current situation decide to strike really strong: poker room will offer up to 50% rakeback + Unibet PLUS until the 31st July 2011.
Also, their €500,000 Easter Festival GTD has been increased to €750,000 and will take place this Sunday 24th April at 19.00 CET ( ate registration has been increased from one hour to two hours). In addition, $200,000 has now been added to the Bad Beat Jackpot now putting this at a value of $270,000. And in the end, to make you register, new player Freerolls and Turbos have been increased from €500 to €2500 each until, and including, 11 May 2011.

If you are interested in Unibet's offer you can click here to download software and create your account.

4. PokerStars
Despite the fact that USA players can no longer play on the biggest and richest online poker room, PokerStars is offering you an 100% bonus up to a total of $600 on your first three deposits. Your two further deposits can be up to 90 days after your first deposit. It’s the perfect way to boost your bankroll, and all you have to do to release the bonus is keep playing at PokerStars.

Don’t forget that we also offer reload bonuses for existing players at different times throughout the year - just like now, all thanks to celebrating this year’s Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) with a 50% reload bonus up to $200 (or equivalent in €, £ or CAD $). Simply reload your existing PokerStars account with the bonus code ‘SCOOP’ between now and 23:59 ET on May 8 to be eligible.

If you don't have an account on Pokerstars yet and would like to play poker and earn money, you can create one right away. Make sure you use the code "STARS600" to earn a first deposit bonus of 100% up to $600 and a free ticket to the a $100,000 Freeroll Final of your choice!

5.AdamEve Poker ( cake network ) - USA ALLOWED
Being a part of CakePoker network, AdamEve Poker has a nice list of deposit and withdrawal methods, including virtual wallets such as Neteller and MoneyBookers.
If you have a MoneyBookers account, use code MB50 when depositing to receive an extra $50 bonus. Alternatively, you can opt for a 110% bonus up to $600, which is paid in increments of $5 as you collect FPP. In this case, use FDB to earn the bonus.

All accounts created through our AdamEve link come with 33% rakeback. Make sure you send a private message to Liquid`Meat to know more about it!


If you would like to play on Cake Network, but on another poker room, please check out our rakeback offer on rakeback.liquidpoker.net.


Also, if you are a really hard grinder that rakes more then $2,000 ( or euro ) per month, make sure to contact me so we can see if we can prepare something special for you!

Seems a lil early to be trying others sites as a US player, just my 2 cents anyway. Then again I play for fun and to earn some extra $$ for hookers and blow

why is hero poker allowed for usa players? PS and FTP are not allowed soley based on the fraud and money laundering despite online gambling already being illegal in the usa? I'm assuming heropoker is based somewhere in europe and hoping doesn't do anything "illegal".

why is pokerstars on this list if US players still can't play on it? anyhoo, hero does seem interesting.

Apparently it works for people to play on carbon or Hero, seems like deuces cracked regs are migrating there. Cya MErge

so umm..what guarantee does point poker and hero poker give us that what happened to the big sites won't happen to them eventually or even in the near future?

On April 21 2011 11:48 YoMeR wrote: so umm..what guarantee does point poker and hero poker give us that what happened to the big sites won't happen to them eventually or even in the near future?

PointPoker doesnt allow USA players YoMeR, only merge and carbon does, and Pointpoker is entraction

damn now ppl will come to merge fml last thing i needed are more regs at 50nl .... at least i hope someone takes all the money from those retarded polish donkey regs that like to call 4bets with K9s type of hands and win every time - seems i wont be that guy

I thought the title was referring to US players, strictly.

Also, I'd think that Hero is based in South Korea?

I lost my 10k roll on ab. gonna regrind it on hero

On April 21 2011 12:40 Gnarly wrote: I thought the title was referring to US players, strictly.

This. I lol'ed when I saw pokerstars on the list of suggested sites. Also, I thought Heropoker and it's CEO's actions were extremely professional up-to-date, and am surprised that they're allowing the large influx of american players onto their sites considering the current legislation and issues brought forth. Sorta disappointed actually. Oh well, short-term gain, long-term pain.

Nah, we listed sites for all kind of players, as euro players from AB/UP will be probably moving as well, and some people are going to drop FTP as well due to ~50% loss in traffic.

So if I get the 50% rakeback on Unibet, will it be taken off 31 July and I dont get rakeback longer?

Heropoker and others are just accepting US players hoping to fly under the FBI's radar being sites too small to be worth their effort in shutting down. I mean there cant be any other reason, because clearly the gov't has made it's stance. I seriously doubt any of these smaller networks have the funds to back 100% of accounts if they get shut down, so play there, scoop some money, and withdraw regularly keeping no more than 10% of your roll online or something and rape some fishes while you still can.

Cake poker seems to work for me.

On April 21 2011 14:31 NewbSaibot wrote: Heropoker and others are just accepting US players hoping to fly under the FBI's radar being sites too small to be worth their effort in shutting down. I mean there cant be any other reason, because clearly the gov't has made it's stance. I seriously doubt any of these smaller networks have the funds to back 100% of accounts if they get shut down, so play there, scoop some money, and withdraw regularly keeping no more than 10% of your roll online or something and rape some fishes while you still can.

I dont keep more then 3 buy-ins * amount of tables I play anywhere, lol.

For europeans just keep the rest on MB with security token, which makes hacking literally impossible unless somebody has a physical access to ur security token.

On April 21 2011 14:28 doriipoker wrote: So if I get the 50% rakeback on Unibet, will it be taken off 31 July and I dont get rakeback longer?

On April 21 2011 13:05 devon06atX wrote: Show nested quote + On April 21 2011 12:40 Gnarly wrote: I thought the title was referring to US players, strictly. This. I lol'ed when I saw pokerstars on the list of suggested sites. Also, I thought Heropoker and it's CEO's actions were extremely professional up-to-date, and am surprised that they're allowing the large influx of american players onto their sites considering the current legislation and issues brought forth. Sorta disappointed actually. Oh well, short-term gain, long-term pain.

Just a couple of points:
1. I actually haven't promoted Hero anywhere since this has happened, so please don't misunderstand that this post is my effort at promotions, but at LP, of course I'm fine with it as I do mainly post here. But I've taken off Hero from the rakeback page at PocketFives once the US thing happened and will likely be terminating our affiliate/marketing agreement at the end of this month mainly because they are nearly entirely US focused.

2. Ironically, our site sign ups haven't changed in volume and we have very few US players seeking us out, mainly because other sites are spamming and we are still a relatively very new site. But I can't say that, strategically, I am not enjoying the increased liquidity on the network, which our existing players are definitely benefiting from. Other than on LP and P5s, we do not have a strong online presence precisely because we are going to launch with mainstream promotions (which hasn't changed).

3. So while I haven't blocked US players, I haven't promoted either and am close to making a decision on it, I am definitely not for short term gain, if it risks the company, brand and our players. But more than what I've written on the forums, I have had many much harder questions that I've been looking into to ease my own peace of mind and have been restructuring our corporate strategy accordingly over the last week so that I am in a position that we can personally guarantee the safety and security of our player's balances and continue to do business.

4. That being said, it's not my job to simply avoid risk, but to make the company work the best it can, so on both sides, I didn't want to make a reactionary decision by either shutting out US players on our site or simply going gun-ho forward on it, but for the moment, any player I get from LP I can take care of on a personal level regardless of my final decision.

5. I am based out of South Korea as my family is here, but our staff is based out of Australia.

6. And I agree, it is short sighted and irresponsible for a site to be promoting and opening its doors without abandon to US players- I doubt any site has been able to restructure to ensure that their player base is as secure as can be, while I know the network has done its best to quickly adapt, I personally am not just leaving it in the hands of the network. Once I'm able to find a balance or not, I will be very clear in my position, but I truly don't want you be misinformed about my position here. Outside of LP, Hero Poker is not promoting whatsoever online.

7. And the real long term pain would be having a target painted on my head from the DOJ, for whatever reason, and South Korea has a very nice and hassle free extradition treaty with our main allies,the USA.


Cheers,
David

Another extremely well informed and expressed post by heropoker. The more posts of yours I read, the more inclined I am to deal with the moneybookers issue and transfer a chunk of my roll to your site.

Thanks for the response David.

Cheers,
and I got a PM at P5s as well about this, what is Hero's stance and I'm likely to make a forum statement today, nothing 'official', but on here and P5s.

Playing on any site if you are a US citizen sounds absolutely retarded.

Even if the site never got shut down getting any money out would be extremely sketchy. How would poker sites be able to pay their players? Don't think there is really any other way than 3rd party processors which have all got shut down and no ones going to be looking to do that.

Stim, I'm a US citizen and I'm still going to play every now and then

From unibet website
https://www.unibet.co.uk/poker/50-rakeback-1.34815


Terms and conditions
The 50% Rakeback offer is only valid on rake between 18th April and 31st July, 2011.
Qualifying players have the ability to receive up to 50% Rakeback AND the usual contribution towards their Unibet Plus tournament fund during this promotion period.
Regular loyalty payouts will resume on a weekly basis, according to the terms of our Poker Club, once this promotion is over.

Hey HeroPoker-CEO

I'm a little confused by your earlier post, are you going to stop accepting rakeback players from USA or are you going to stop doing rakeback to us americans all together? If it's the former should i set up an account for rakeback in the chance that I decide to play on HeroPoker at a later date?

On April 23 2011 01:27 SugoGosu wrote: Hey HeroPoker-CEO I'm a little confused by your earlier post, are you going to stop accepting rakeback players from USA or are you going to stop doing rakeback to us americans all together? If it's the former should i set up an account for rakeback in the chance that I decide to play on HeroPoker at a later date?

Not just a matter of rakeback but all US players, right now the network accepts all US players, and we are going along with that, but I want to ensure that I can take care of all my US players by having enough operational/investment funds set aside to cover their bankrolls in any event. Once we hit that thresh hold I will be likely just taking care of the players we do have as the rest of the network will be growing full of US players anyways.

I'm still working out the internal balance and still restructuring things as we speak, but right now, the security of my existing players is my top priority until we see how everything develops further.

Short answer, can't hurt to just get your account now, but once I close it, it will be closed for a very good reason.

Cheers,
David

why no ftp on that list?

On April 23 2011 12:27 maryn wrote: why no ftp on that list?

At the moment of making this list FTP was still not processing cashouts.

Ok so now I'm confused, while these "USA friendly" sites allow you to play, do they allow you to deposit/withdraw as well? For instance, Cereus allows USA players to continue playing, but this assumes you already have money on the site. If you dont, then you're out of luck, and cant create a new account or deposit using an existing one.

When exactly are the Heropoker (Merge) rakeback payments made?