VIPRakeback.net Blog
Merge Gaming Bad Beat Jackpot Hits
01/17/2012:The Bad Beat Jackpot that we posted about this weekend hit. The jackpot total was $1,014,549.49 when it was hit. The lucky hand was dealt Saturday afternoon at a $1/2 fixed limit Texas Hold'em table. Player Eulson lost four of a kind 7's to 123maryc's four of a kind queens. Eulson was rewarded with $355,092. 123maryc won $177,546. The other seven players that were dealt in received $25,363. Congratulations to all of the winners in the Merge Gaming Bad Beat Jackpot!
Merge Gaming Bad Beat Jackpot Reaching $1,000,000
01/13/2012:The Bad Beat Jackpot on the Merge Gaming Network is almost $1,000,000! This is the largest Bad Beat Jackpot currently available at any online poker room, and one of the largest ever. To play for the Bad Beat Jackpot sign up at Carbon Poker and sit at one of the Bad Beat Jackpot tables. To qualify for a bad beat, lose four sevens or higher. Both the winner and loser of the hand must use both hole cards, the pot must be $5 or more, and there must be four players dealt in the hand.
When the Bad Beat Jackpot is hit, 35% of the jackpot goes to the player that lost the hand. The player that wins the hand will receive 17.5% of the jackpot. The rest of the players dealt in that hand will split the remaining 17.5% of the Bad Beat Jackpot. The house reseeds the next Bad Beat Jackpot with 20% of the jackpot, and the house receives 10%.
The Merge Gaming Network accepts players from the U.S. The network is the best options for U.S. players, and a great option for players all around the world, especially with this large jackpot waiting to be hit.
Yatahay Network Rebrands
01/13/2012:The Yatahay Poker Network has changed their name. The new name for the network is the Winning Poker Network. This rebranding will remove the odd brand that the network has carried for several years.
The Yatahay Network started out as True Poker but later branched out to become a network hosting many skins. Both True Poker and Americas Cardroom are on the Winning Poker Network. Both poker rooms offer players 27% rakeback and a 100% up to $1000 first deposit bonus. The Winning Poker Network accepts players from the U.S.
January VIP Rakeback Promotions
01/04/2012:These are the January promotions at VIP Rakeback. These promotions include freerolls as well as rake races and chases.
VIP Rakeback January Promotions
Party Poker: $22,000 in Freerolls
New Party Poker players that sign up through VIP Rakeback will be able to enter four $3000 weekly Party Poker freerolls by only earning one Party Point. Existing VIP Rakeback players that signed up through Party Poker will receive entry to two $5000 freerolls. Existing players will need to earn 100 Party Points during the two week freeroll periods. Active and existing players can qualify for both $5000 freerolls.
Betsafe: $8,000 Points Race
Betsafe players that sign up through VIP Rakeback will divide $8000 in January. The top 50 places are paid.
Cake Poker: $60,000 Rake Races
VIP Rakeback players participate in the weekly $15,000 rake races at Cake Poker. The top 310 places are paid each week. Cake Poker accepts U.S. players.
Carbon Poker: $10,000 Rake Race, $5,000 Freeroll
New players that sign up through VIP Rakeback that rake $1 during January will receive entry to our $5000 Carbon Poker freeroll. Existing players that rake $50 during January will qualify. This is in addition to our $10,000 rake race. Carbon Poker accepts U.S. players.
Poker Heaven: €3,000 Rake Race
Poker Heaven and VIP Rakeback are offering a €3,000 rake race to our players in January. The top 312 players are paid.
Minted Poker: $25,000 Rake Chase
One of our favorite U.S. friendly online poker rooms is offering VIP Rakeback players a $25,000 rake chase in January. Players can add as much as 15% rakeback to the 40% rakeback that they already receive.
NoiQ Poker: $13,000 Rake Race
Players that sign up for Noiq Poker through VIP Rakeback will compete in a $13,000 rake race. That is in addition to 30% rakeback and the $100,000 in monthly promotions for all Noiq Poker players.
VIPRakeback's NoiQ Poker rake race pays the top 60 players. This is in addition to the other great Noiq Poker promotions.
True Poker: Points Race Bonus
True Poker is offering VIP Rakeback players a $65,000 Points Race in January. Players that make their first deposit in January will receive 500 extra points towards the race. The top 275 point earners will will be paid, with a first prize of $10,000.
Betfair: Points Race
Betfair is offering a points race through February 2nd to all Betfair players. Players that sign up for Betfair through VIP Rakeback will receive a 25% bonus prize in cash if they place in the top 150 places. Places 151-300 will receive an extra $50, regardless of what their prize is. This is a great race bonus for our Betfair players in January.
PokerStars Changes VIP Program for 2012
12/28/2011:Important Update: PokerStars reversed course on the cash game rake changes. PokerStars will keep their rake schedule the same in 2012 as it was in 2011.
PokerStars announced changes to their 2012 VIP program today. The major change is that PokerStars will now move to the weighted contributed rake method. That means that the amount of VIP Player Points (VPPs) will be in direct proportion to the amount of the pot that they contribute. Currently, a player only needs to be dealt in to receive the same number of VPPs as every other player dealt in the hand.
Another major change is that the rake will change on all tables. Most no limit and pot limit tables will change from $.05 for every $1 in the pot to a flat 4.5% of the pot. This will have little change on the total rake taken from these pots because now pennies will be raked instead of nickel increments. This is especially true for micro limit games. Another major change is that fixed limit games will go from $1 at $20/40/70 to 3% of the pot. This may seem like a positive for players, but it now means there will be rake taken from pots below $20. That is significant to 2/4 and 3/6 players who see a lot of pots under $20. Players at $1/2 fixed limit tables will now see rake on hands below $5 where there was no rake in the past. One other major rake change is that 5 handed games will now have a $3 max rake instead of $2. This will have a serious effect on 6 max players.
There was a major backlash from PokerStars players after this announcement. Many players threatened to have mass sit outs in protest. Other players stated that they will move their play to competing online poker rooms if the changes are not reversed. It will be interesting to see if PokerStars takes back some of the changes. When PokerStars launched their French site there were similar protests over the high rake and PokerStars listened to their players, lowering the rake on Pokerstars.fr.
Minted Poker Offering Drunk Santa Promotion
12/24/2011:Minted Poker is offering their players a unique promotion. There are six tables unique to Minted Poker where Drunk Santa could show up at any time day or night. These No Limit Texas Hold'em CAP tables are not shared with any other Everleaf Gaming skins. When Drunk Santa shows up at your table there will be an announcement by Minted Poker at the table. Drunk Santa is loud and obnoxious. Prepare for one of the most abusive players you have ever played in online poker. In exchange for the abuse, Drunk Santa gives away all of his chips with some of the worst play you have ever seen. Make sure you make it to Minted Poker between now and the end of the year so you can take some of Drunk Santa's chips. As an added bonus, the Drunk Santa tables and all other U.S. Dollar tables have a $1 max rake until the end of the year.
Minted Poker accepts players from the U.S. Players that sign up through VIP Rakeback receive 40% rakeback and a first deposit bonus of up to $2500.
DOJ: Wire Act Only Applies to Sports Gambling
12/24/2011:The U.S. Department of Justice sent an email to Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl today. The email was in response to a July 14th letter to the Department of Justice written by the two senators. The senators asked if the Wire Act might apply to interstate online gambling, specifically online poker. Based on a finding by the Justice Department as it related to online lottery sales in Illinois and New York State, the decision was that the Wire Act only applied to sports gambling. This means that lotteries and online poker are not covered by the the Wire Act.
This is significant because Nevada passed online poker regulations just yesterday. These online poker regulations will allow the state's gaming commission to license intrastate online poker rooms. Nevada is not large enough to sustain any type of serious online gambling. The decision that the Wire Act does not apply to interstate poker means that Nevada will have the ability to network online poker rooms with other states that pass online poker regulation in the future. This may also allow online poker in states that do not expressly forbid unlicensed online poker. This decision may force the hand of Congress to make a decision about online poker in 2012.
Nevada Becomes First State to Legalize Online Poker
12/22/2011:The Nevada Gaming Control Board passed online gaming regulations by a 4-0 vote today. The online gaming regulations will allow for intrastate online poker. For a player to be able to play online poker at a licensed Nevada online poker room the player will have to be located within the borders of the state. Online poker is now fully legal in Nevada but the poker room must hold a Nevada interactive license, a license that no company holds at this time. Six companies have applied for Nevada online poker licenses but no licenses have been approved at this time.
The licensing process is expected to take about a month. This would put final approval for licensees around February 1st. When an online poker room receives a license they can immediately begin accepting real money players within the State of Nevada. Should the federal government repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, these poker rooms would be able to accept players from across state lines.
Absolute Poker Co-founder Pleads Guilty
12/20/2011:Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Beckley pleaded guilty to bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Beckley is expected to receive 12-18 months in federal prison in exchange for his plea deal. Scott Tom, another founder of Absolute Poker that is charged with related crimes, is still at large.
Absolute Poker, and sister site Ultimate Bet, announced earlier in the fall that they would be seeking liquidation of the company. No players have been paid withdrawal requests in nearly three months. Players in the U.S. have not been paid since the Black Friday indictments were unsealed. This plea deal does not appear to be changing the player payment situation. It is believed that Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet owe players between $40-50 million.
Bodog Rebrands to Bovada For US Players
12/16/2011:Several months ago, Bodog announced that they would create a new brand for U.S. players by the end of 2011. That new brand was launched today. Bodog players that live in the U.S. were moved to Bovada.lv. Bovada would appear to be a merging of Bodog and Nevada. The .lv extension could be confused with a Las Vegas domain although the domain is actually based in Latvia.
Players in the U.S. were transferred to the new website in a seamless move. Player balances and points were moved and player logins were preserved. Players simply logged into the new site to see their balances. Poker players downloaded the new software and were playing again within minutes.
Players should not notice any difference between Bodog and Bovada. This is because the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group managed the U.S. facing business at Bodog. They now manage Bovada. The two sites will run on separate domain names but will still run as one. Poker players will still be playing at the same poker tables. U.S. players that attempt to visit Bodog's website will be instructed to visit Bovada instead.
