But that problem Full Tilt was having paying out player’s accounts also cause the Alderney Gambling Control Commission to revoke their license until they can at least make good on the 300 million or so that they owe players in the UK and EU.  There has a been some hope in the form of Groupe Bernard Tapie who says they’re investing in the poker room. But that still means they have to pay back the money and movement seemed to stop at that stage.

Now ads have been spotted in Dublin for multi-lingual support personnel position in the company. This is probably the most positive sign that most players have seen coming out of Full Tilt in months. If they need to hire support people, it means that they may be getting prepared to at least open for players to access their funds, which is the step they’d need to take before opening for business. But the multi-lingual part of the ads also show that Full Tilt will be focusing on Europe, not the US. Keep hoping guys!

But this latest seizure couple with the recent seizure of Megaupload.com has prompted people to ask how the US can seize .com domains even if the business isn’t located in, or even sometimes operating in, the US.  (Well, technically Bodog.com did operate in the US when the investigation began.)  The US answer wasn’t all that reassuring.  Since the companies that administer the .com domains and other popular domain endings are located in the US, the US government claims jurisdiction over all .com and .net domains.  This has been hitting the news in light of the recent uprising over the proposed SOPA bill that would have made operating on the internet close to impossible for many companies.  The long term effect may be that many companies do what Bodog did and move to a non-US domain ending.  There are still a few of those out there.

The Atlantis Internet Group has united a group of Tribal casinos across the US to offer online gambling within their existing casino and resort premises. It’s being hailed as a casino within a casino, and you may be asking – why?  What’s the point of having online gambling available when you’re already sitting in the darn casino?

Well, for poker players the answer is – more players.  A small tribal casino may not be able to pull in enough players to offer a wide range of stakes and a wide range of games.  The player of Omaha Hi Lo are more likely to suffer than the Texas Hold ‘em crowd since that’s the game of choice these days. And stakes are likely to be mid-range, which can leave the low stakes or very high stakes players feeling left out.  But by offering online poker in their casino, they allow players from one casino to play with players at another.  This increases the options available. And with so many poker players learning to play online could be a very good thing for the Tribal businesses.

Now the group is also offering casino games on their intranet. These seem a little less intuitive since I’m assuming if you want to play slots, you can just walk to the slot machines. But mobile and online gambling is becoming a fad a casinos since it allows players to play slots or blackjack while sitting at the pool or relaxing in their rooms.  With this intranet casino available, players never need to be away from the games.

For months now poker players have been teased with the news that Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) is going to buy Full Tilt poker and somehow pay off the players so that the online poker room can open its doors again.  Oh, the news has been everywhere ABC, CNN, Fox News.   But many have been suspicious because there never seems to be any firm commitment behind the teases. GBT seems to like Full Tilt, but they just won’t put a ring on it.

Now, the French company is blaming players for their lack of commitment. They say that they really, really want to acquire Full Tilt but that the pros owe the site money and are holding up the deal. So far at least one pro, Mike Matusow, has responded with angry tweets that he owes zero.

There is some reason to suspect that there might be something behind GBT’s claims in general, though not to say Mike himself owes money. In fact, there has been some speculation no one may ever be able to sort out the financial mess that was Full Tilt.  Not only did the site use player money for operating expenses, but reports indicate that they also made money available in player accounts before transactions were processed by the player’s bank. Those money advances made them popular, but Full Tilt seems to have left the money in player’s accounts even after the checks cleared. It was a way to keep player’s playing. But once everything crashed, it became an issue. And even small stake players may actually still owe Full Tilt money. And they might not even realize it.

So, what are Facebook and Google up to? Well, both are social media sites. Facebook wants to stay on top and Google wants to kick them off the top. And poker has somehow become part of that battle. Now Facebook has had online poker on the site for years. Zynga Poker has over 3 million players. But these aren’t really money players. They play for Zynga poker money, which oddly does have a value in the real world since it can be purchased on ebay.  Unfortunately it only has a value to other Zynga poker people, so it’s not like you can take your Zynga poker money to Walmart for groceries. But Facebook is making real money off of poker, and they think they can make more money off of real online poker. Google thinks Facebook hasn’t locked up the poker scene yet, and they are sort of desperate for a way to make Google+ relevant.

Players in the US shouldn’t get excited yet. Even with the recent change in the Department of Justice’s view on the Wire Act of 1961 and online gambling, Facebook isn’t planning real money poker in the US. Those efforts will be focused on the UK which has an established Gambling Commission.

I think the sudden interesting in Americas Cardroom, which was formerly Doyles Room Poker, indicates that US players have never lost their interest in playing poker online, but they have been concerned about the legality of it. This and the new interpretation of the Wire Act of 1961 is going to dramatically affect the poker landscape in the US and if we can get international poker room like Party Poker back in the country, it may affect the ranking of top poker rooms.

Currently the online poker scene has moved to the UK and the EU and perhaps not surprisingly a lot of tournament wins, like the WSOP win are going to the Europeans. If Nevada or another state can bring in a big online poker room, that poker room will benefit from increased US play and could even attract the Europeans who want to test their skill against the American players. And while playing from home is the ideal for most poker players, I suspect the top poker pros out there would migrate to Nevada and work their schedule around time in the casinos offering online poker.  Which could create a whole new casino need — an online poker room. No need for tables. I’m imagining a room with comfy chairs and a place to put your coffee while you play against some upstart Swede over in England. Isildur1, the Americans may soon be after you again!

See, what states like Nevada have been up against is the fact that online gambling, including online poker was illegal by Federal law. Except, it turns out it never really was. Yep, the law didn’t actually exist. Well, a law did. It just turns out that it didn’t do what everyone thought it did.

See, the federal law everyone was using was the Wire Act of 1961, a law designed to protect sports betting from cheaters. A law written before there was an internet or online poker, but one that people said made online gambling illegal because of the way money was transferred. In other words, you couldn’t hand your money to the cashier, so it was an illegal money transfer. Except now the United States Department of Justice has said that no, the Wire Act only applies to sports betting. Which means the states don’t have to worry about violating a federal law against online gambling if they pass a state law allowing online poker.

Oh, the UIGEA or Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Well, I guess it’s still in place where internet gambling is unlawful. See, that law never made online gambling illegal. It just called for enforcement of an existing law that turns out to have not made online gambling illegal either.

;line-height:115%’>This changes the US gambling prospects for the future not by making online gambling legal, but my opening the door for states to make their own laws regarding online gambling without violating Federal law.  So I suspect we’ll see a lot of laws being debated around the country in 2012.

Okay, so here’s what’s going down at Bodog. The folks at Bodog decided to introduce new software with anonymous tables. So what, it’s been done before, right? Yep, except Bodog decided to make ALL their poker tables anonymous. This isn’t a friendly option that players can choose or ignore. If you play on Bodog, you are anonymous.  The effort here is to defeat the data mining tools that roam online poker rooms and gather player data to sell to other players. But many are complaining that it also destroys the social aspects of poker. I have to agree with that. Look, there’s a fan base out there for poker and poker players and while data mining is bad, many people do want to know how their favorite players did. Also, players keep track of up and coming online players when they notice someone winning big stakes. Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom wouldn’t have become a poker pro if no one had been able to tell that the crazy high stakes nut was always the same mysterious player.

So the Bodog anonymous tables could be responsible for a ten percent drop in play on the site. Then again, that could be the US players being forced off the site.  Because if you have a Bodog account and live in the US, you’ll find that you are being redirected to the new Bovada online poker room launched by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group. They’ve launched their own brand to replace the departing Bodog brand so US players are still in the game.

Full Tilt Poker may have a buy in the French run Groupe Bernard Tapie. Players might be celebrating except they’re wisely waiting to see if this actually means they’ll be able to access the funds in their account to make withdrawals or even to start playing again.  This story stretches back to April and the seizure by the FBI of 4 online poker rooms.  It’s been a long, bumpy year for Full Tilt Poker.

Barney Franks has announced he won’t run for reelection in 2012 sending the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) and others scrambling to figure out how to get gambling legislation through Congress while Franks still occupies a seat.  Gambling isn’t going to enjoy losing the liberal lion.

Bodog will be leaving the US market at the end of the month. This is part of their agreement with the UK Gambling Commission to get a UK license. Players in the US can take the money and leave. Or they can just move over to the new Morris Mohawk Gambling brand that will be taking Bodog’s place.  So poker will continue.

Nevada will start issuing licenses for online poker in February. A great step forward for the poker world but there are some restrictions. It seems Nevada is getting around the rules about no online gambling by making sure the online poker rooms are only accessible from an existing gambling location. But depending on who gets the licenses, that could still be a boost for players. If Party Poker has one, that will bring some top poker names to whichever casino partners with the brand. And actually could mean poker players moving to Las Vegas to have easy access to some big EU poker rooms. But first they have to get the poker rooms.

Just Google the news on the latest tournament wins and you’ll find plenty of winners from the UK and EU. Today you can add Pius Heinz from Germany to the list since he just won the Main Event for the 2011 World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.  Yep, the German landed on American soil and was victorious. But get what other poker trend Pius shows. Yep, he’s young. Just 22. Which makes him the fourth player in a row to win the WSOP before seeing his 25^th birthday.

So, what’s up with that? Well, it has a lot to do with online poker.  See, online poker has been a boon to the younger players since it lets them get in what used to amount to years of practice in a matter of months playing in face – paced online games. And the internet also lets players pit themselves against top level poker players, no matter where they live. Well, the US is a bit on the fringe here having chased away the top international poker rooms. So, that’s why we’re seeing the Europeans win so many tournaments. Before the passage of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) and the Federal action again PokerStars, Full Tilt and others, we had plenty of online poker in the US and folks like Moneymaker coming from the online action to win big prizes. That’s still happening. Only now it’s happening for the European players. America, we need to take poker back!