Fri, 02/04/2011 – 02:04 – PokerPages Staff

Team PokerStars sponsored pro Viktor ‘Isildur1′ Blom dominated high stakes cash game action for the third evening in succession on Tuesday.

The Swedish sensation booked a profit of $384,000 following a lengthy session on the world’s biggest online poker site.

Blom began his assault against Ashton ‘theASHMAN103′ Griffin. The 21 year-old won $80,000 six tabling $25/$25 Pot Limit Omaha.

He then took longtime rival Phil ‘Jman28′ Galfond to the cleaners for $140,000 in $25/$50 No Limit Hold’em exchanges.

He rounded the night off in style by taking down $164,000 after 2,000 hands of $50/$100 NLH against ‘Kanu7.’

Viktor Blom has been in exceptional form since he recorded his second PokerStars SuperStars Showdown triumph over Dan Cates on Sunday.

The London based pro admitted on Twitter on Wednesday that he was feeling better than he has for over a year.

Blom, who was on a substantial downswing at the end of January, now finds himself in the black by more than $300,000 for the calendar year.

Jared ‘Harrington10′ Bleznick also prospered on PokerStars, winning $251,000.

Scott ‘URnotINdanger2′ Palmer continues to set the pace this year. The Maryland native has won well over $1 million during 2011 on his two active online accounts.

Bleznick struggled to transfer his successes on PokerStars to cash game action on Full Tilt Poker. ‘harrington25′ finished in the red by $150,000.

Andrew ‘luckychewy’ Lichtenberger ($-126,000) and ‘nutsinho’ (-$296,000) rounded out the top three biggest losers.

Wed, 01/12/2011 – 23:01 – PokerPages Staff

A full regulated and licensed online gambling network moved one step closer to becoming reality in New Jersey on Monday after the Intrastate Internet Gambling Bill cleared the Assembly.

The bill will allow land based operators such as Harrah’s and other New Jersey based gaming entities to offer online poker and other internet versions of games.

Republican Governor Chris Christie will now have the final decision on the legislation which would create an additional $100 million in revenue and 500 jobs for the state.

However, it remains to be seen whether the bill will meet Christie’s approval. There are significant arguments against the passing of the gambling bill, including the fact it could put New Jersey in possible violation of Federal Law.

Those in support of the bill believe it will allow the state to move ahead of others and ‘grab the online gaming market.’

Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (IMEGA) Chairman Joe Brennan spoke of his delight at the news earlier this week.

“Congratulations to New Jersey’s legislators on their overwhelming vote in favor of the intrastate internet gambling bill.”

“It is clear that New Jersey’s representatives want their state to be at the forefront of the online gambling industry, both in the U.S and globally.”

The world’s biggest online poker site, PokerStars, has not yet given any indication to its plans if the bill is signed into law.

Wed, 01/12/2011 – 00:12 – PokerPages Staff

The draconian effects of the notorious 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) were felt acutely in Washington State over the last few days, when federal law enforcement officials seized online poker bankroll funds in Washington State totaling $8 million.  This development follows hot on the heels of another major blow dealt to the online poker industry by the iniquitous UIGEA, when eWalletXpress was forced last month to shut down its US operations.

The UIGEA does not actually directly prohibit online gambling.  It prohibits banks from handling or processing any financial transactions which are connected with internet gambling instead – a measure which effectively chokes the lifeblood out of the industry.  Pro-poker lobbyists have argued convincingly that the game should be exempt from the legislation because it is a game of skill rather than a game of chance (the definition of gambling).  However, there has been much confusion amongst legislators about this issue, with the result that online poker is fully included in the terms of the statute.

As the UIGEA has now been fully implemented in law, law enforcement agencies are opting to “go after” the U.S. online poker business, with the predictable result that many Washington players are left reeling from the shock of discovering that their bankrolls have turned to Scotch mist.

According to the popular financial monthly Forbes Magazine, the icy tentacles of the UIGEA are now being felt everywhere, with cash sitting in the accounts of poker players being seized from a range of major banks and financial institutions.  The magazine mentions Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Chase, SunTrust, and Bank of America, with the latter being most severely hit.  It is estimated that the bank of America alone has suffered the seizure of $5.1 million in poker players’ funds.  In addition, that has only to date; the signs are that enforcement and seizure will continue apace.

In particular, federal agents are targeting banks, which have received payments from a number of prominent payment processors.  These include Blue Lake Logistics, Etegrity Processing, Secure Money, Anaya Trading Solutions, and Arrow Checks.  Any American player whose favorite online poker site uses any of these companies to process withdrawals and deposits will be at risk of finding their money disappearing into federal coffers.

The clampdown started in the summer after a federal task force came across an individual who revealed that his online poker winnings had come in the form of a payment from Arrow Checks.  That was in June; in January 2011, a number of major online poker sites are under federal scrutiny.  Whilst the investigations so far appear to have been confined to Washington State, there is nothing to suggest that the feds new “seizure fever” will not spread to other States.  Sites whose financial transactions are being investigated include PokerStars, Full Tilt, UB, and Absolute Poker.

With the failure of both Senator Barney Frank’s and Harry Reid’s efforts to bring a federal online poker licensing and regulation act into being, the excessively punitive UIGEA is the only federal law affecting online poker.  It has as well to remember that it found its way onto the statute book not through popular endorsement, but by political chicanery, when it was surreptitiously tagged onto the back of the SAFE Port Act.  There was very little democratic scrutiny as a result, with the consequence that today a badly formulated law is depriving millions of law-abiding Americans of a harmless and enjoyable pastime.  American poker pros are likely to be driven away from online poker in the U.S. if this continues unabated.

Is this morality?  If so, it is morality of a curious sort – seizing funds under this law is like shooting fish in a barrel for law enforcement officials, a way of getting relatively easy, risk-free “results” to make “crime-fighting” statistics look impressive.  There are plenty of unpleasant crimes marring the lives of ordinary Americans; it is unfortunate that police resources are being diverted into the pursuit of shutting down a harmless game of skill rather than tracking down drugs gangsters and armed robbers.