Author: John Mehaffey

U.S.-facing offshore poker sites continue to process payments to players in a timely manner. This success can be mostly attributed to Bitcoin, which is accepted by all but one site listed below. Last month’s grades are in parenthesis. The May U.S. Offshore Payment Processing Report may be found here. Ignition Casino A+ (A+) Ignition Casino […]

The Luxor poker room closed one week early. The reason given was due to the lack of employees to continue through June 18 as planned. The poker room closed on June 11 due to these staffing issues. Most employees found jobs in other poker rooms instead of waiting until the last day to start looking […]

Absolute Poker and UltimateBet Claim Deadline Extended The deadline for filing a claim on funds lost to the Absolute Poker and UltimateBet scam was extended to September 7, 2017.  The original date was June 9, 2017.  No explanation was given as to why the date was pushed back 90 days.  It is likely that this […]

All MGM Resorts poker rooms raised rake from $4 to $5 this week.  The move affects poker rooms at Aria, Bellagio, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand and Mirage.  The rake cap at the Luxor poker room remains at $4 until it closes on June 18. The rake is not the only money MGM takes out […]

The past month remained consistent for U.S.-facing online poker rooms. There were no complaints about slow payouts at any of the major sites. Last month’s grades are in parenthesis. The April report may be found here. Ignition Poker A+ (A+) Ignition Poker is the largest U.S.-facing poker site. It is a member of the PaiWangLuo […]

Party Poker Brings Back Rakeback Party Poker has struggled to compete with the world’s largest poker site.  The company attempted to change its way by removing rakeback and going to a rewards system geared towards casual players. That concept must not have worked as now Party Poker pays players cash back weekly based on the […]

The Luxor told employees in a Friday meeting that the poker room will permanently close on June 18.  It will remain in full operation until that date. The poker room is holding a $17,000 jackpot pool.  A Luxor representative reached by phone Friday said that this money would be distributed to players starting May 27.  The poker […]

The World Series of Poker is just two weeks away.  Organizers released information on several changes that will occur for the 48th World Series of Poker, held at Rio just west of the Las Vegas Strip. ESPN Feature Tables Move to Brasilia Room ESPN will move its three feature tables from the Amazon Room to […]

PKR Files Bankruptcy PKR officially filed for bankruptcy protection this week.  The Microgaming Poker Network site closed suddenly last week.  It appears that PKR is unable to pay player balances.  This would mean that player funds were used to cover operating expenses.  There is no other likely explanation since players were not paid in an orderly […]

PKR Closes After 10-Year Run PKR launched in 2006 as the premier 3-D poker site.  It worked the social media angle as well as anyone. That’s why this week’s news that the site shuttered was a surprise.  PKR moved to Microgaming from its standalone site in March 2016.  The 3-D software was integrated into the […]