The Riviera in Las Vegas has made some major improvements since coming out of bankruptcy. Riviera is going in a direction that few Las Vegas Strip casinos have chosen to take. Riviera has added some decent table games and made the rules more player friendly. A convention room was converted into The Strip’s only bingo room. They have also improved the buffet and as I posted about earlier, the R Steakhouse is excellent and a great value. The hotel has also undergone a renovation.
Improved Table Games
Going against what other Las Vegas Strip operators are doing, Riviera is going back to the old school Las Vegas mentality. Give the player a good game and a good value, and they will return. They will also tell others about it like I am doing here.
Riviera has added a Pai Gow and Baccarat pit. One of the interesting Pai Gow games was Commission Free Pai Gow. In exchange for not paying commission, the house pushes on a queen high pai gow. Riviera also offers single zero roulette and a single deck blackjack game that pays 3-2 on blackjack, which is unheard of on the Las Vegas Strip. In exchange for getting 3-2 on a dealt blackjack, players can only double on 10 or 11. It is still the best single deck blackjack game on The Las Vegas Strip.
Riviera also offers some low limit table games in video form. There is a Shoot to Win Video Craps game. There are also three video blackjack machines, one of which has surrender, pays 3-2 on blackjack and stands on all 17′s. Both of these games have $2 minimums. There are other less player friendly blackjack games with a $1 minimum.
1000x Craps
The most interesting change is the addition of 1000 times craps. This means that a player can bet up to 1000 times their line bet when taking odds. The table minimum is $5 and the max odds bet is $5000. While this is mostly a gimmick, at some point a high roller is going to take advantage of this deal. The house advantage when taking full odds works out to be less than 1/1000th of a percent. If a player bets the don’t pass or don’t come, they could lay $6000 on the 6 or 8, $7500 on the 5 and 9, and $10,000 on the 4 or 10. That would be some incredible variance with swings into the hundreds on thousands of dollars.
One other nice addition Riviera made was merging their box office, player’s club, and cashier all into one station. Now a player that needs a player’s card, a show ticket, and/or a cashout, can do it all in one central place at the casino cage.
Riviera is at a distinct disadvantage being at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip with only Circus Circus within a reasonable walking distance. They needed to do something to give them an edge over the other casinos. I feel that they are on the right track in doing that.
On February 9, 2011 Everleaf Gaming made a quiet change to their terms and conditions. The major change of terms was that US players would be banned from Everleaf. US players continued to play for about 12 more hours. In the early hours of February 10th, US players that tried to log in received an error message saying “Please use the valid username/password combination for your existing account to log in or open a new player account with us”. There was no indication in any message that the error was because US players were banned. If a player had not read the T&C change, and most players would not have, they would have no idea what the problem was.
This is an extremely unprofessional way to change a company policy. Players still have not been emailed with an explanation, and there have been no press releases made by Everleaf Gaming. Everleaf Gaming licensees have only been given limited information. Below was an email received by Everleaf Gaming skin owners:
Dear Licensee
As you are probably aware, Everleaf Gaming stopped players from the US as of February 10th 2012.
Reason being that US authorities have seized player’s funds that were in transit to respective members and therefore discontinued Everleaf’s processing channels.
Be assured that ELG is doing everything in its power to regain seized funds, until which time we advise that you inform all your US members to contact the authorities.
Please note that all non-American players will remain completely unaffected and business will continue as usual and above matter applies SOLELY to USA origin funds/accounts
Payment Processing Issues
While Everleaf Gaming claims that business will continue outside the US, players in other countries are reporting slow payouts. Many cashout requests to European ewallets such as Neteller and Moneybookers are over a month old. Only small cashouts have been processed to non US players in 2012, and there has only been one reported successful cashout since Everleaf Gaming banned U.S. players.
Up until a few days before Everleaf Gaming banned U.S. players, the network allowed players in the U.S. to request cashouts to friends in other countries. The requests would be made to Moneybookers accounts. The friends would then figure out some way to transfer the money outside of the system. This seemed to be a way to process some U.S. cashouts after Western Union cashout speeds slowed to almost a month on average.
Everleaf Gaming has stated that one of their U.S. facing payment processors was seized, but as Gambling 911′s Chris Costigan points out, Everleaf Gaming did not have much in the way of U.S. facing processors. They only used Western Union and PicClub to process U.S. cashouts. PicClub is still in business. It is possible that their Western Union office in The Philippines was shut down, but there has been no proof of this.
Support and Communication Issues
It would appear that Everleaf Gaming knew that they would be leaving the U.S. market more than a week before they posted their new T&C’s. Regardless of this, they continued to accept deposits from U.S. players and allowed licensees to offer reload and first deposit bonuses during that time.
Players that contact Everleaf Gaming support get a canned response saying that US players could no longer play on the network. The network has said nothing publicly, although some licensees have publicly discussed what they know. Unfortunately, even the licensees are in the dark about what is happening behind the scenes at the network. Some players have been instructed to contact the Lottery and Gaming Authority (LGA) in Malta. The LGA has not been especially helpful over the years when their licensees disappear or go broke.
Malta Lottery and Gaming Authority
Malta’s LGA has seen several of their licensees implode over the years. Many of these companies were US facing sports books. While the LGA requires licensees to ring fence player funds, it would appear that many of their licensees have failed to do so over the years. Here is a list of just some of the failed LGA licensed companies over the years. Below are some details of the most notable LGA licensee failures.
BetOnBet
BetOnBet was sister site to Eurolinx. Both were poker skins on the Microgaming Network. They also offered other gaming services. Cashouts on these rooms were becoming slower and slower, then at the last minute Eurolinx offered a major reload bonus. In August 2009, Microgaming removed Eurolinx and BetOnBet from the network. It was announced that the companies would go into liquidation but at this point nobody has ever been paid.
LGA Sportsbook Failures
Gold Victory, Waubet, Bettingstar24 and Betchance were sportsbooks that held licenses in Malta. These sportsbooks operated in the late 2000′s. All of these sportsbooks were only open for a short time, and closed owing players tens of thousands of dollars. Betchance even tried to set up payment plans with players but ultimately failed to hold up to their end of the agreements.
Stryyke
Stryyke was a poker room and sportsbook that was originally on the Ongame Network. They were unable to pay players and Ongame removed them from the network. They then moved to the Cake Poker Network where their theft continued. Stryyke lost their LGA license in September 2010. They likely owed players and affiliates more than $100,000 when they disappeared.
Melita Gaming Network
Melita Gaming Network was a small European facing online poker network. Their most well known skin was Fat Bet Poker. Fat Bet Poker had moved from Chartwell’s Poker Nexus Network after it closed. In April 2011, the Melita Gaming Network closed after most of its management walked away from the network.
LGA Thoughts
LGA licensees are not all bad, and many are certainly competent operators. There are many legitimate poker rooms and sports books licensed in Malta. Players in high tax countries benefit from playing on LGA licensed rooms for tax purposes. Many operators have found benefits to operating in Malta as well. Just because an operator has a license in Malta does not mean that they are rogue. It does mean that more research is required before making a deposit.
Warning: Do Not Deposit on Everleaf Gaming
Considering the lack of communication from Everleaf Gaming, and the slow cashouts, I must advise players to avoid the network. There are questions surrounding the seizures and whether the U.S. Government ever issued a cease and desist to the network. Cashouts to Euro facing ewallets are taking a month or more in many cases, and player support is not being upfront with players about the situation. Until this is resolved, I must recommend staying away from the Everleaf Gaming Network. I believe that there are serious liquidity issues that need to be addressed. I would not be surprised if this network were to disappear in the coming months.
I needed a weekend in the woods so I went up to visit the Black Hills in South Dakota where I used to live to see some old friends and experience some winter. I think everyone that lives in Las Vegas needs to get away from it from time to time to stay sane. That is especially true for people that hate the Las Vegas weather like I do.
The airport that serves the Black Hills is Rapid City Regional Airport. I was on Allegiant Air flight 429 this morning from Rapid City back home to Las Vegas.
I always sit in the exit row. On Allegiant Air it costs $15 to buy an exit row seat on this flight. I am 6’2 so it is worth it to me to have the extra leg room. While the flight attendant was going over the evacuation procedure to the exit row occupants, she gave instructions on how to open the emergency exit door. The woman in the exit row across from me, who was sitting in 24F, actually opened the emergency exit door.
She seemed to have thought that we were suppose to test the door to make sure that we could open it. It takes a complete idiot to think that you should ever open an emergency exit on an airplane unless there is an emergency, but her intent was not malicious so that must have been her thought. The flight attendant was in shock and so was anyone that noticed it had happened.
She put the door back in place once she realized that she had messed up. The pilots came back to check out the door. They fixed the latch on it and checked to make sure it was sealed. I was quite surprised that she was not thrown off of the plane. She was probably in her 60′s or older, so maybe her age got her some leniency. I was more surprised that she was still sitting in the exit row.
A few minutes went by and one of the flight attendants came back and told the woman that the pilots said that she must leave the exit row. She actually suggested that she should be able to exchange seats with her husband in the middle seat of the exit row. Thankfully, the crew denied her request. Anyone that is dense enough to think that they should open an exit row door on an airplane does not need to be in charge of an evacuation, no matter how unlikely it is.
The woman was forced to move up a few rows away from the exits to another empty seat. The crew checked the door one last time and we took off. I overheard the crew discussing how they had never heard of this happening before and there was an overall disbelief. For the first time ever, I was a bit nervous taking off. The rest of the flight went fine and we were just about on time to Las Vegas, even with this incident.
I was impressed with how the Allegiant Air crew handled it. I was really surprised that they allowed her to stay on the plane, but see in hindsight that many other problems may have been created if she was booted. If she had luggage, we would have been delayed while they found it. Her husband was also on the flight. There may even be some security procedure that may have created a major delay if she was removed from the plane. The whole thing was an honest mistake, but anyone with common sense would have never made a mistake like this.
I was looking to revive my writing with this trip. At least this incident gave me something to write about. Every time I fly on an airplane from now on I am going to picture that woman with the exit door in her arms and the exit doorway wide open. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it but the crew had already instructed everyone to turn off cell phones.
My last blog post was speculation about a new T&C posted by Everleaf Gaming today. It has now become clear that Everleaf Gaming is in fact leaving the U.S. market. They will also be leaving France. According to Neil at Minted Poker, U.S. authorities made legal threats to Everleaf Gaming. Neil states that the Department of Homeland Security seized one of their U.S. processors as well as the funds held by that processor. After discussing the situation with the LGA, which is the Maltese licensing agency, it was decided that Everleaf Gaming would need to leave the U.S. market. Neil also stated that the network would continue to cater to European players and that all accounts on the network would be converted to Euros.
Author’s Notes
Everleaf Gaming is a very small network. A processing seizure and a legal fight with the U.S. could be devastating for their liquidity. It is estimated that 20% of peak traffic is from the U.S. so a major traffic drop is also expected. Players have been complaining for over a month about slow cashouts on Everleaf Gaming. Neil states that “I have been informed that the Network and LGA will now commence proceedings with Homeland Security, as to how these funds are returned to players…” but with how this has gone for other poker rooms, I have no reason to think there will be anything speedy about this. The good news is that this does not appear to be a full seizure, just one processor. Hopefully that means that there are still enough cash to pay the liabilities. U.S. players with funds on Everleaf Gaming should be patient as this is likely to be a long process.
If what Neil says is true about the LGA, and I have no reason to doubt him as he has always been a very respectable member of the online poker industry, it gives me concerns about Merge Gaming. Merge Gaming also has a license in Malta. If the LGA has decided that it is best for Everleaf Gaming to leave the U.S. market, where does that leave Merge Gaming? Merge Gaming also has a license in KGC to fall back on so the situation is a little different but it is cause for concern.
This will be an interesting next few days for U.S. online poker players. I will keep a close eye on this and post any updates as they become available.
According to new Terms and Conditions that players must agree to when opening up the Everleaf Gaming cashier, players from the United States, France and Malta are not allowed to play on the Everleaf Gaming Network.
18. No person who is resident in Malta, France and USA may open an account, play, or in any other way participate in the ELG offerings and/or services.
What is interesting though is that U.S. players are still playing for real money and are able to sit at real money tables. U.S. players can log into the cashier and the US friendly deposit options are available to choose including credit cards, Pic-Club, wire transfer and cash transfer services. When clicking the cash transfer option, a Western Union receiver name is given.
I went to Everleaf Gaming’s live chat and they simply quoted the new terms when I asked if I could make a deposit. When I told them my friends in the U.S. were still playing, and that I still had deposit options available, they replied:
I am very sorry but we do not have any more information
That was essentially the end of the conversation. The representative would not answer any of my questions directly and told me there was no other information available to support employees.
This is either a smokescreen so that the new T&C’s make it appear that players in France, Malta and the U.S. are banned or there will actually be a banning of these players in the very near future. I have some emails out to people that I know on the network and hope to have more information soon.
In my last U.S. Payment Processing post at PAS, Everleaf Gaming processing speeds were becoming slow. That has not changed since that post either, U.S. withdrawals are still taking weeks or more. Even withdrawals for players outside the U.S. are slow. I was concerned because at one point Everleaf Gaming was among the fastest in poker processing in the U.S.
The Everleaf Gaming Network started out as the poker room Poker4ever. Over the years it became a small network with dozens of skins including Minted Poker, Cellsino Poker and Luvin Poker. The Everleaf Gaming Network is licensed in Malta by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority.
Subject: Poker has decided to call it quits. After breaking so many Black Friday related stories, especially Full Tilt Poker related news, Subject: Poker has decided that it is time to move on. Founders Noah Stephens-Davidowitz and Thomas Bakker are launching a poker security consulting company.
Subject: Poker was a unique online poker news site. Unhappy with the affiliate based news sites that did not always disclose the whole story, Subject: Poker launched to report poker news from a neutral standpoint. Subject: Poker only reported on extremely informative, investigative news stories. Their work will be missed by the online poker community. They certainly filled a void in online poker news.
Being a part of the online poker news industry, I know the position of reporting investigative news without any real compensation. It can be a thankless job. I respected how heavy hitting Subject: Poker was and how they held nothing back. Their goal was to report everything important in full.
Diamond Flush, one of the Subject: Poker writers, will be taking over a lot of the reporting that Subject: Poker is leaving behind on their own website Diamond Flush Poker. Another good poker news website is PokerFuse. PokerFuse also launched after Black Friday. Their goal was to fill the poker news void with daily news that is not sponsored by online poker rooms. They have done a great job doing so. Check both of these websites as well as this one for poker news that is not bought and paid for by the poker rooms.
The Subject: Poker website will remain live and the article archive will remain on their website. You can read their goodbye message here.
I have been working on a Deadwood Poker site for a while. I got a bit burned out and busy and I got off track. I finally put the time needed to help get it off the ground. My wife helped me with the project and so did a WordPress designer friend. I used to live in the Black Hills near Deadwood and it is a great place to spend a few days if you ever need to get out of the big city. It is a low limit poker town with a max bet of $100. It is more of a place to escape than it is a place to make money.
Now that I have this mostly done, and I have been able to get over my writer’s block, I look forward to getting more online poker news out there. I have a few projects I fell way behind on and I need to get back on track. It is tough writing about a topic when there is little news to write about that motivates me but I think that will change in the future. January was a slow poker news month but it cannot stay that way.
The Deadwood Poker site still needs a little work. It needs some images, a history page, and a bigger font. It is close enough for me to soft launch it though. Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
It is that time of the year. We are just a couple of days away from the Super Bowl. It is the one day that even the most conservative people do not mind putting a few dollars on a side and cheer for a team. For many though, it is the last time to bet on their favorite sport for six or seven months. It is one massive binge like Mardi Gras. Bet all that you can, because there will be no football betting again until August. That is why the sportsbooks have come up with crazy, silly bets. If you are going to end the NFL season with a gambling binge, you might as well find the craziest bets out there.
A bet with a + means that the bet is an underdog. For every $10 that you wager, you will win 10% of that number. If a bet is +150 and you bet $10, you will win $15 plus your original $10 investment. If the bet shows a -, the bet is a favorite. You must lay 10% of that number to win $10. If a bet is -150, you will have to lay $15 for every $10 that you would like to win. If you win, you also get your wager back. The numbers are actually based on $100 wagers so $100 on a +150 bet would win $150, a -150 would require a $150 lay to win $100. If a bet says EV, it is an even money bet.
5Dimes
5Dimes offers quite a few interesting prop bets on the Super Bowl. The coin toss bets are all just -101. These bets include which team wins the coin toss, whether the player that calls the coin toss calls it right, and whether it is heads or tails. There is also a -105 bet on whether the team that wins the coin toss wins the Super Bowl. There are also several musical bets:
Will Kelly Clarkson’s National Anthem be longer than 94 seconds?
Yes -125
No -115
Will Kelly Clarkson omit/forget any part of the National Anthem (includes any unplanned pause)?
Yes +490
No -870
At the end of the National Anthem, how many military style aircraft will fly over?
5 or more +300
4 or less -420
What color will Madonna’s hair be at halftime?
More than half blond -675
Half or less blond +425
Will Madonna wear visible fishnet stockings at any point during the halftime show?
Yes -125
No -115
What audio equipment will Madonna use?
Headset or clip on mic -280
Handheld or stand up mic +200
NBC Production Prop Bets
I always love the announcer prop bets. When Al Michaels in announcing, anything can happen. He is never shy about hinting at sports betting and I am sure this Super Bowl will be no different. While he is not in charge of any cameras, I am sure he knows people are betting on the production. What are punters hoping for NBC to do?
Who will be shown first on TV, Archie or Peyton Manning? (If both are shown at same time, the first name mentioned wins)
Archie +250
Peyton -350
Will Al Michaels say “Miracle” during 1st quarter?
Yes +425
No -675
Will Al Michaels or Chris Collinsworth say “Tebow” between the kickoff and end of first quarter?
Yes +170
No -230
The Tebow line has moved. When I wrote about this earlier in the week the “No” was -170. A lot of money is pouring in on the “No”. I like the value of +170 on yes. I have a feeling the embarrassing game he played at New England will come up. Hopefully this will be the last time we hear about Tebow. If Tebow wins more than five games next year, I will be shocked.
Will Gisele Bundchen be shown during the Super Bowl?
Yes -270
No +190
I had to Google who she even was. She is Tom Brady’s wife. I would assume that she gets shown at some point, especially if the game is close towards the end of the game.
How many times will Robert Kraft be shown during the Super Bowl?
More than 3.5 +105
Less than 3.5 -145
Robert Kraft owns the Patriots. Unless this is a close game, the under is going to win here.
How many times will Peyton Manning be shown during the Super Bowl?
Over 3.5 +110
Under 3.5 -150
If you are into these kind of prop bets, I think there is a lot of value in the over here. That is especially true is this game is close.
Who will be shown more?
Robert Kraft -105
Peyton Manning -135
Peyton Manning is a near lock here. I have a feeling that he will be talked about non stop during this game. They are playing it in his stadium after all.
Will there be a Gatorade dunking before the final whistle blows?
Yes -210
No +160
Who will Obama pick to win the Super Bowl?
Giants EV
Patriots -140
Thew only reason I can think of why the Patriots are favored is because of Biden’s error in San Francisco where he predicted the Giants would win. Biden confused the San Francisco baseball team with the football team. I think there is good value in the Giants here. I think the president plays politician here and takes the bigger city with more votes during the election year.
Will the Dow Jones close up the Monday after the Super Bowl?
Yes -140
No EV
I am not sure who would take either side of this bet. I am sure there is a better angle on index futures or options.
BetOnline
I am only including BetOnline because they have some interesting bets. Make sure to do your own research before playing anywhere. In addition to the bets below, BetOnline has several juice free coin toss bets.
How many plays from the Super Bowl will rank higher than this Blake Griffin dunk on ESPN’s Top Ten Plays of the Week?
Over 2.5 +135
Under 2.5 -160
Why will the first missed field goal of the game be “no good”?
Wide right +145
Wide left +150
Short +300
No missed field goals in Super Bowl +150
Like other prop bets, the house advantage on this bet is close to 25%. If I had to bet, I go for the no missed field goal bet.
How much money will be wagered on the Super Bowl at registered sports books in Nevada?
Over $94,500,000
Under $94,500,000
Yes, you can even bet on how much money other people are betting on the Super Bowl. I like the over.
Politically Incorrect Wagers
What will be the race of the player to score the first touchdown?
Black -155
White +170
Hispanic +400
What will be the race of the Super Bowl MVP winner?
White -225
Black +150
Hispanic +1000
This is a first. I have never seen a racial wager on the Super Bowl.
How many tweets will come from the Twitter account @DarrenRovell between 12:01am and 11:59pm on Super Bowl Sunday?
Over 149.5 EV
Under 149.5 -130
This is the first time I have ever seen a social media bet as well. At least this is a bit more politically correct.
What color will the Gatorade dunking be? If there is no dunking, the bet is a push.
Clear/Water +150
Orange +250
Yellow +250
Red +650
Green +750
Blue +1000
Who will the Super Bowl MVP thank first?
Teammates -125
God +400
Team Owner +500
Family +750
Coach +1200
Does not thank anyone +250
Super Bowl Ratings Prop Bets
How many average viewers will the Super Bowl have?
Over 117 Million -140
Under 117 million EV
What will the rating be for the Super Bowl?
Over 47.5 -110
Under 47.5 -130
How many viewers will stream the Super Bowl online?
Over 1.5 million -120
Under 1.5 million -120
I like all of the overs on the ratings. This is easily going to be the most bet on game in the history of the NFL. I think there will be so many people watching this game, both on TV and online, that it will blowout all ratings records.
There are some of the craziest Super Bowl bets out there. I will probably only bet a couple of these props. I am going for the Giants because after week 16 I bet that the field would win the Super Bowl. The field was every team except for the Packers and Patriots.
My Super Bowl Prediction: Giants 31, Patriots 20
I have won my Super Bowl team bet every year since 2004 except for last year. Good luck with all of your Super Bowl bets, unless you are going for the Patriots or want Robert Kraft to be shown more than Peyton Manning.
This post is for informational and entertainment purposes. It is just to show just how absurd some Super Bowl wagering is. Yes, people actually bet on all of these silly Super Bowl wagers. Most Super Bowl prop bets have massive house advantages compared to straight bets. It is best to avoid all of them unless you feel that you have some sort of angle or just want to have something crazy to cheer for.
Lock Poker, a U.S. friendly Merge Gaming skin, has had its share of troubles. The most recent trouble was a promotion that was launched shortly after Black Friday. This promotion was aimed at attracting high raking grinders. The promotion was great as it was described. Players were promised 10-20% in extra rakeback paid to their casino account. There was no play through requirement. Players could just transfer it right to their poker account. Unfortunately, Lock Poker changed the terms retroactively on more than one occasion, sometimes without even telling their players .
May Bonus Payments Months Late
May was the first month that the extra rakeback bonus was to take effect. Many players took them up on the offer. The May payments did not appear in player’s accounts as promised. Each month after that, the casino bonus would appear in the player’s account. It took nearly six months for May bonuses to get paid.
First Change of Bonus Terms
Once June payments hit, players were able to transfers the money to their poker account. It did not take long though for Lock Poker to announce a change in bonus terms. Players would now have to wager 40 times the bonus to cash it out. Changing bonus terms after the fact is shady and this terms is atrocious. Players would have to wager $40,000 to clear the $1000 bonus. This not only theoretically cost players 20% of their bonus, they also lost the time it took to play the casino games they otherwise would not be playing.
Undisclosed Bonus Terms Discovered
It was then discovered that only 25% of wagers on most player friendly games count towards the wager requirements. This means that games like blackjack and roulette essentially have 160 times wager requirement. A player with a $1000 pending bonus would theoretically have a little over $200 left after wagering $160,000. The risk of ruin would likely bust a player before clearing the requirements though, effectively making any bonus worthless.
Late May Bonus Payments Given Undesirable Wager Requirements
Even though June bonuses were free and clear without any wager requirements, when May was finally paid close to six months late, the May payments had the 40x/160x wager requirement. This means that even though Lock Poker advertised that May payments would not have any wager requirement, and June payments did not, Lock Poker decided to attach the new terms to bonuses that they should have paid months before even though the late payments were their own fault.
Players Discovered the Bonus Was Sticky
When the wager requirement was added, the bonus terms also changed. The bonus was now a “sticky” bonus. A sticky bonus cannot be withdrawn. When a player receives a sticky bonus, they can only withdraw their winnings. This means that even though the bonus was already almost worthless, you cannot even cash it out when you clear the undisclosed, absurd wager requirements. Players can only cash out what they win. Having to wager 160x on most player friendly games means that winning anything is next to impossible. What made this bonus term so much worse is that players would only discover this term after clearing the bonus and transferring the money back to the poker room. Lock Poker failed to disclose this extremely important bonus term. In fact, they stated the opposite, that the bonus could be withdrawn.
Wagered Amounts Reset After Money Goes Missing
Players also reported that their bonuses and winnings were sometimes randomly removed from their accounts. When they would contact support, the money would be placed back in their casino account. When this happened, players would have their wagered amount reset to zero. If they had won, they would then have a 40x/160x bonus attached to their winnings.
Lock Poker representatives claim that they failed to understand the rules of the promotion before they advertised it. This is no excuse. If a company advertises one bonus, but it turns out that the bonus terms were not only wrong but made the bonus completely worthless, that is gross incompetence. When Lock Poker refuses to make the situation right, that is fraud. Players were offered specific bonus terms, these players took Lock Poker up on their offer, and have virtually nothing extra to show for months of poker play. These extras are what made players choose Lock Poker over other Merge Gaming skins. It is now too late for those players to move to another skin and get rakeback since Merge Gaming no longer allows new players to get rakeback.
Until Lock Poker pays every player every penny that they are owed, I must urge all players to avoid Lock Poker. They have proven that they have no problem with advertising bonuses to players, changing the bonus terms without telling players, and refusing to honor the promotion in the end. As we have learned in the past, poker rooms that have a history of retroactively changing bonus terms often have other serious issues.
Lock Poker claims in their Two Plus Two forum that they are working on a solution. There have been problems with this promotion since early June 2011. Considering how long there have been issues, and the fact that nothing has been done beyond dumping this promotion, I have my doubts as to whether this will be resolved. If this is resolved in the player’s favor I will add it to this article.
The Bad Beat Jackpot on the Winning Poker Network is over $500,000. True Poker and Americas Cardroom are members of the Winning Poker Network. The Winning Poker Network, formerly the Yatahay Network, accepts players from the U.S.
Winning Poker Bad Beat Jackpot Rules
The Bad Beat Jackpot is hit when a player loses four of a kind 8′s or higher. Both hands must use both hole cards for the hand to qualify as a bad beat. The hand must also have four dealt players and a jackpot drop taken. Games $.50/$1 and above have a $.50 jackpot drop and qualify for a full jackpot release. Lower limits have a lower jackpot drop but only qualify for a proportion of the jackpot that their rake represents. For example, at $.05/$.10, the jackpot drop is only $.10 but players only qualify for 20% of the bad beat jackpot. When the Bad Beat Jackpot is hit, the loser of the hand receives 30% of the jackpot. The winner of the hand receives 20% of the jackpot. The rest of the table divides 10% of the jackpot. The next Bad Beat Jackpot is seeded with 30% of the jackpot and the house keeps 10% as an administration fee.
Winning Poker Network Rakeback
True Poker and Americas Cardroom are both rakeback friendly online poker rooms. Both rooms offer all players 27% rakeback. New players also receive a first deposit bonus of 100% up to $1000. The Winning Poker Network offers fast payouts to U.S. players. Most payments are received in 1-5 days. True Poker and Americas Cardroom are two of the best online poker options for U.S. players.
The Riviera in Las Vegas has made some major improvements since coming out of bankruptcy. Riviera is going in a direction that few Las Vegas Strip casinos have chosen to take. Riviera has added some decent table games and made the rules more player friendly. A convention room was converted into The Strip’s only bingo room. They have also improved the buffet and as I posted about earlier, the R Steakhouse is excellent and a great value. The hotel has also undergone a renovation.
