Where to play now for U.S. players?

+1m. Couldn't agree more, I'm sooooo sick over this.
The differences are glaring. Hopefully these sites are allowed to host our games for a substantial timeframe to dev the software to accommodate this necessity.

if the U.S. government shut down pokerstars and FT, whats to stop them from closing down lock poker or any other option left for the U.S.?

IANAL, but IMHO, the DoJ will want to clarify the law before taking on any more potential grief. They run the risk of a pooled defense which could be way too expensive. Imagine every online poker entity in the world ganging up against the DoJ, and the US Laws, with an almost unlimited pool of money.

There will be non-US governments involved as Poker Entities. Some friendly allies even. So more than likely the DoJ will want to weather this storm before making any other moves.

Again, just my humble opinion.

I too agree that Rush poker was / is the most significant thing FT has. They own a trademark, and probably Patent, and that alone could be worth enough money, via licensing, to bail them out of any financial mess they find themselves in. But probably not under the current ownership. Patents run for 17 years in the US. Rake at Rush tables gathers at perhaps 5 times the normal rate. Big, nay, HUGE numbers there......

The DOJ went after the bigs, not the others (yet). There are several speculative reasons for this, but perhaps one is to begin to establish some form of regulation for everyone else to fall in line with.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have had problems in the past getting my bankrolls back from several sites that abruptly stopped serving the US in 2006. Stuck for +$500 at one b/c they found a loophole and decided to not refund tourney tickets etc. I'm not naive enough to believe the DOJ really gives a rip about that, they want to control $$$ flow in and out of US (and enforce our laws obv), but maybe some regulation is necessary for your protection esp if there seems to be no governing body worldwide.

Back to your question Curly, the DOJ has made its move and a lengthy court battle is in store for the bigs. They (doj) would not have made such a move if they did not believe they could make substantial charges stick. We all will have to wait and adjust according to the outcome/fallout of this case so nothing is guaranteed, but we can expect to be safe at other sites for the time being. Although there is a possibility the DOJ may attack the balance of US player sites, we can speculate that it is more likely this major case will spawn new protocol for all to follow. My .02

It would be nice to see a wider variety of games.

Playing more at Carbon now. Can't take the horrible software at Bodog. I like Carbon but really hate the annoying emoticon chat.

I usually end up disabling the emoticon thingy. It also irritates me to no end.

have a try with carbon poker
i have heard that Doyles Room is closed by FBI too, it's seized...

Since the downfall of the major sites I opened an account at Carbon, Players and Cake poker but my debit card will not go through on any of these "BOA" I have noticed that several sites allow you to Western Union has anyone tried this method and is it safe? Also how are the cash outs on the sites still allowing US players. I hear there are still many people waiting for their funds off of other sites and I am starting to wonder if it is worth the risk? All help will be appreciated.

Do any of the Merge sites have good PLO/PLO8/NLO8 traffic for Sit N Go players?

WU deposit through carbon went well. The money showed up in my account like 10 minutes later. I deposited 150 like a month ago, up to 800 so far, I think I'll try to withdraw my initial deposit soon just to see how it goes and get my money back just incase. I'll post back in here if/when that happens.

i think they all share sng pool

I'm still playing on the free $25 given out last month by POKER HOST.
I like the site alot although it doesnt compare to PS and FT.
More action on Poker Host than on Luvin Poker.
gl

Playing at Cake now but cant stand there now $500 minimum check withdrawls.

Funny how people are different cause the emoticon thingy is one of my favorite parts of Carbon. I just get a kick out of it for some reason.

I've been on Merge pretty exclusively since losing FT and PS.

Waiting to see what's up with Bodog, and
am looking for the best signup bonus for Cake.

Besides Carbon (Merge), I suspect I will likely try Cake next.

Are they blocking players from other countries than the US too?
Because we haven't heard anything about online poker being banned here in europe yet (thank god)

There is no good omaha action on any of the remaining sites for ring games. Forget multi games too, horse or eight game. I hope they build up, but everybody is stuck on NLHE.

i got that free $25 deal and have been playing there just to try out the Merge network. the problem with Poker Host is that they charge you minimum $40 to cash out no matter what method you use, so it's not really a free $25 when you have to pay them $40 to cash. i recall carbon lists $15 as a cashout fee for a check. have any US players cashed out lately on carbon? is the check method for $15 the way to go?

Hey allbeen a while snce i posted on here, since FT and PS shut down.
Was wondering since playin online is now not a "LEGAL" option, anyone know were i can "work" online and try to make some cash?

Google has failed me :P

Bodog and Merge seem to be where most US players are going.

I believe that the Merge Network's various "skins" (Carbon, Players Only, etc.) all share the exact same cash tables.
Which skin you choose should depend upon other considerations like Rakeback, VIP programs, and withdrawal methods.

does cake and interop not allow us players now creadted a account kept getting error call support they dont answer either. maybe its just my state i live in ky anyideas anyone

yea its because i live in ky this is bs supposed to be a free country.

I just tried to sign up with Carbon and when creating my account I got this message:
"We are unable to accept players from your country at this time."
I thought Carbon allowed US players? Whats the deal here?

Bodog Poker effin blows. Seriously. I have no idea why I deposited on that site but it is lame as hell. That sad part is the competition on there is so weak that it could be very profitable if it had more traffic. I'd be up a lot now on my initial $50 deposit if I didn't get bored so easily and spewtard my money away in SNGs. SNGs on this site are super soft. If you know the very basics of SNGs and follow a basic strategy, you could deposit $50 and hop on the $5 super turbos and feel comfortable. If you know more than average, hop on the $10 super turbos and you'd think-this is too easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah...variance and BRM and whatnot. Just saying you could and you'd own it.

Seriously, it takes about 30 min just to fill up one $5 super turbo SNG (10 seats) and the game last forever. Of course Bodog likes to fxck me over by giving really good hands during the first 5 rounds or so when everyone is playing tighter than a butthole, but then they flip-the-script on me when blinds are high and give me shat hands I'm forced to fold or I have to push and pray with.

Don't get me wrong, I like weak players and they are easy to beat. Just everything about this site is super slow. Even the super turbo games are super slow. WTF? Filling up an SNG is slow, everyones actions on the tables are slow. It feels like I'm playing a live SNG when I play on Bodog. And you can forget multi-tabling...it doesn't happen. I'm lucky to get 2 tables going at the same time, but it doesn't speed up any action. It's still painfully slow. I've fallen asleep playing Bodog...My real enemy is me because I find myself getting bored very easily with this site. I deposited on Friday and I'm done with Bodog. It's that bad.

It sucks, too because I would like to see it get more players and more action on the tables, especially SNGs. The skin sucks, the navigation sucks, the SNG filters suck. Sorry, Bodog.

Anyway, if you've read this and still want to play on Bodog, here is my little 'get rich quick' tip: Deposit enough to play the $3 SATs into any $10 buy-in game. The $3 SATs are 10-seat SNGs that pays out $10 + $1 for 1st-3rd place. This is this best payout out of any $3 STT. Use the $10 SAT ticket to play the $10 super turbo STTs. Profit.

It's a very easy but slow, long, boring process...

My only bankroll was on tilt. I continue to play there, where I have amassed quite a play chip balance as well. If they ever do open back up for us biz, ill be able to play quite a few of those 500K freeroll tournies! ! Not really ready to put any money on another site and get the guv on that one as well. I have reverted to going to a fouple of nearby casinos and playing there. One that is close to my area of work offers an interesting game of 1-2NL, with a 40 buck minimum AND maximum buy in, and it is good to wrap your mitts around a few cards! !

I believe that merge skins, which carbon is, stopped allowing NEW accounts to be created on their sites. Existing accounts can play. I believe they are struggling to be able to handle the huge amount of new US players after the other main sites stopped allowing us to play.

on merge network rarley you can find Omaha SnG ,,,very less players on merge play this games

Ok i can play at Carbon (free rolling everything lol) but my real question is will i even be able to withdraw from carbon? If i get up to there withdraw requirments.
Any US carbon players been withdrawing?

i've been asking forums that question since black friday. ive seen no posts so far on any US player withdrawing from any of the merge skins. carbon told me in an email it's 4-6 weeks by check. i'm playing on $25 poker host gave me but they charge 40 for withdraws so i'll likely put something on carbon if i can confirm US players have been withdrawing successfully from there.

I moved almost all my bankroll to Carbonpoker.com since the Black Friday and consider this room as the best option for US players now. Their support is working good and I can confirm that I've got two checks from them already. And yes it took about 5 weeks.

Titan and Carbon are not accepting new US players. I tried both today.

Doug

Is Feltstars safe? I'm playing their play money now to check it out and I like it.

Doug

ok cool ill be waiting thanks for this, i dont wana actually grind a real bankroll and then not be able to pull it off that would suck haha

5 weeks? dang.... thats really slow there must be a faster way!