Internet Texas Holdem

When the Department of Justice launched their raid on internet poker, part of their goal was to shut down the site’s provision for American players. To that end, they seized the domain names of PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute and UB. PS and FT have both seen their .com addresses returned as part of a deal to ensure that U.S. players are refunded.

Blanca Games, parent company of Absolute and UB, recently announced a similar deal, although that did not include a provision to unlock their domain names. As part of the treaty, Absolute made a very clear statement about ending their service to U.S. players.

Their May 4th press release read: “Absolute Poker agrees that for the duration of the agreement, it will not allow for, facilitate, or provide the ability for players located in the United States to engage in playing poker for “real money” or any other thing of value.” This quote has been widely circulated on news and poker forum sites.

However, a report from traffic monitoring site PokerScout seems to indicate that some Americans are still slipping through the net. Their data shows that players from a number of different states have been playing for…

Black Friday has meant layoffs and belt-tightening across the poker industry and it seems that sponsored pros are no exception. It was announced this week that UB and Absolute Poker, formerly two of the best mac poker sites, have parted ways with their entire roster of professional players.

As targets of the DoJ indictment, UB and Absolute have been hit much harder than PokerStars or Full Tilt. With the U.S. market taken away, both organizations seem to be scrabbling for cash. Parent company Blanca Games recently announced plans for massive restructuring, which involved shedding around 80% of their staff.

UB had far and away the bigger roster, including the likes of Joe Sebok, who joined the company in a failed attempt to clean up their image. Both sites have been involved in serious cheating scandals in the last few years, with members of the company involved in exploiting superuser accounts.

The full list of UB pros let go is as follows:

Joe Sebok, Prahlad Friedman, Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin, Maria Ho, Brandon Cantu, Tiffany Michelle, Scott Ian (Anthrax Guitarist), “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and Bryan Devonshire.

Absolute Poker have shed their only patch-wearing pro, former “Real World” star…

UB is one of the best Mac poker sites on the Internet for a variety of reasons. They are still available to those living in the States, therefore they have an excellent player base to work with. They are also home to new promotions all the time so that there is always something new to try. Whether you play cash or tournaments, there is always something extra to enjoy or shoot for at the tables.

If you have played live cash games, there is a possibility that you have watched the “seven deuce” game take place. Basically it’s a game that encourages people to play the “worst hand in poker” in order to win a side pot. Everyone has to pay into a side pot if another player wins a pot with 7-2. Hands in which everyone folds and hands that go to showdown all qualify.

Ultimate Bet for Mac has brought this side game to the new Seven Deuce tables. When you take a seat at such tables, you place a bit of money into a side pot. The bonus pot is given when someone at the table wins with 7-2 as their hole cards. If you…

This year’s WSOP schedule was just revealed and now the best online poker sites are trying to decide what to include in their promotions. Incentives are important because if they can convince a large number of skilled poker players to wear their patch, they have a better chance of having one of their players make the final table. Almost every Main Event champion in recent years has signed with PokerStars. This year UB hopes to score a Main Event champion of its own.

It starts with a bunch of satellites. Main Event packages can be won though the usual tournaments including Steps and freeze-outs, but your best bets will be in the tournaments with 25 seats guaranteed. The 25 Seats Guaranteed tournaments run June 12th and June 26th. You can buy-in directly for $500+$30 or satellite in with smaller buy-ins.

Ultimate Bet for Mac is eager for you to win as many seats as possible. If you can win an additional Main Event seat, you receive $12k cash and a point on the King of Satellites leaderboard. The top five places on this leaderboard when the Main Event satellites are over receive Tournament Dollars. First place receives $5,000!…