Bye bye Bovada poker?

[Daly]

Hey Daly,

We have important news we want to share with you. Bovada Poker has been acquired by Ignition Casino. This means you’ll be required to transfer your account by September 30, 2016. After this date, poker at Bovada will no longer be available. You’ll still have access to Bovada’s sportsbook, casino and racebook products.

Ignition Casino uses the same platform as Bovada, so the features you enjoy such as anonymous tables, Zone poker, mobile poker and guaranteed tournaments, like the weekly $100K, will be there waiting for you. Both sites will also operate simultaneously with shared player pools until the transition is complete. Any Poker Points that you have accrued on Bovada will need to be used before September 30 as they will not carry over to Ignition Casino.

We’ll do everything we can to make this transition as easy as possible. Please be sure to visit our FAQ page where you’ll find information on account transfers, how to score your generous migration bonus, what to do with your Poker Points and any other questions you may have.

We're confident in Ignition Casino's ability to provide you with the same level of service and security you're used to at Bovada. To find out more, check out their website today.

[unchainedghost]

Is this a prelude to sports betting getting the ok in the US?

[LarryLaffer]

i guess it's time to cash out.


fuckin aye. just when I was having fun playing online again...

[LarryLaffer]

i just checked my email and I don't see anything from them saying this. no emails at all actually.

[Shizzmoney]

Here's the website press release:

http://www.bovadapoker.com/articles/...ampaign=buffer

Looks like they tapped. Also key point:

Any Poker Points that you have accrued on Bovada will need to be used before September 30 as they will not carry over to Ignition Casino.

Migration FAQ:

https://www.bovada.lv/poker-account-...mp-landing-faq

[GringoStar]

What is the next best/secure place to play online poker? Stars?

[Shizzmoney]

Is this a prelude to sports betting getting the ok in the US?

No.

I think this has to do more with Quebec passing their internet gaming law, which only allows the state to run gambling skins and sites (espacejeux). The Quebec govt and the The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory have been warring in the legislation over this.

I wonder if Ignition Casino is another front company for the Bodog brand.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/twt/status/763030848094474241

This will hurt the games, because the whole idea of Bovada was that fish sports bettors could just fire up a game easily all within one account.

[Shizzmoney]

Also this, something to note for Ignition:

You are entitled to one free withdrawal per month, starting on June 1 and ending on September 30 (a total of 4 free payouts). As of October 1, 2016, you will be eligible for one free withdrawal every four months.

The following fees will apply after the free payouts have been used:

Bitcoin: 100% free deposits and withdrawals
Visa Fast Funds: $75 per withdrawal
Check by Courier: $75 per withdrawal
Rapid Transfer: $50 per withdrawal
(Emphasis added)

$3,000 max withdrawal

[Sanlmar]

Shizz,

Isn't it kind of unusual to see an orderly transition? Two weeks isn't long but usually these changes involve snap closing and scrambling.

I give Bovada/Bodog credit here.

Interesting they didn't use calvinayre.com to control the conversation.

The recent experiences of our posters now makes a little more sense. However, much of it was on the Sportsbook side.

Feels like there is more.

[Shizzmoney]

Shizz,

Isn't it kind of unusual to see an orderly transition? Two weeks isn't long but usually these changes involve snap closing and scrambling.

I give Bovada/Bodog credit here.

I think their hand was forced, and yes I do agree that is "more orderly than usual" in terms of how sites usually do these things. But I also think that unlike other poker operators where SHTF quickly due to "unforseen but not really" circumstances (i.e. UIGEA, or an nonperforming skin shutting down)...they had time to prepare for this. The switch seemed to have been unintentionally mentioned nearly three months ago on the Bovada "Ignition Early Bird Freeroll" tournament lobby back in May.

"Get a ticket to play in one of five Early Bird Freerolls issued the day after transferring your Bovada Poker account to Ignition."

https://m.reddit.com/r/poker/comment...on_on_july_11/

Ignition looks like different company from their RNG certificates...it "looks" different, but it's 99.99% likely that Bovada set this company up months, or years ago, for many scenarios like the Quebec gaming law being passed (QC Govt has been trying to crowbar the law since 2010), which I think this is all about if I had to guess (the software has been laggy af the last month too; which maybe another reason).

Operator: Salmon River Technologies
Operator URL: www.bovada.lv

Operator: Lynton Limited
Operator URL: www.ignitioncasino.eu

The migration of current players, the transition of cash isn't my worry. That will be just fine.

It's the future of the most robust player pool for US players now in jeopardy:

- are bodog players (from the eu, for example..DIFFERENT than bovada) going to be sharing the same player pool with Ignition? One driver of the MTTs and cash games was that donks from France, Brazil, etc could play, which made the games "2006 soft". This "move" make it really look like Bovada is tryign to put all of the US players into one skin...and that's going to suck. Just ask anyone who plays on the nitfest that is ACR.

- the fact that this eliminates the sportsbook crowd from the player pool is a huge game changer. I have moved up in stakes the past 12 months thanks to NL games from 50NL to 1000NL being so soft, especially on NFL Sundays. That's most likely gone now as the only new signups I can see the site getting are regs/semi-regs who only play poker.

- what's the withdrawal turn around time going to be like? And Deposits? Will it be better/worse? Only time will tell once the migration is done and people start transacting with the site on a daily basis and we actually get player feedback.

The pluses I feel will be the software performing better (it can't get any worse) and customer service performing better (actually, it can and will probably get worse, ask Druff). You also get a free $10 when you transfer your account.

In terms of giving Bodog/Bovada credit, it looks like a good plan of action is taking place, but until this puppy gets up and running, as Mr.Wolf famously said in Pulp Fiction:

[BCR]

Is this a prelude to sports betting getting the ok in the US?

No.

I think this has to do more with Quebec passing their internet gaming law, which only allows the state to run gambling skins and sites (espacejeux). The Quebec govt and the The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory have been warring in the legislation over this.

I wonder if Ignition Casino is another front company for the Bodog brand.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/twt/status/763030848094474241

This will hurt the games, because the whole idea of Bovada was that fish sports bettors could just fire up a game easily all within one account.

Yep. Totally sucks. The past few months is the first time I've enjoyed playing in years, and zone and husng are so heavily dependant on the random action junkies. Its not like I can sit with a bunch of 5/10 pros and not bleed money over the long run

[Sanlmar]

I think this has to do more with Quebec passing their internet gaming law, which only allows the state to run gambling skins and sites (espacejeux).

Final question. I am a moron, so bear with me.

Why would Bovada or Quebec view the sportsbook and casino in a different light? Isn't the exposure the same?

Is it that the sportsbook/casino is physically hosted elsewhere?

[Shizzmoney]

I think this has to do more with Quebec passing their internet gaming law, which only allows the state to run gambling skins and sites (espacejeux).

Final question. I am a moron, so bear with me.

Why would Bovada or Quebec view the sportsbook and casino in a different light? Isn't the exposure the same?

Is it that the sportsbook/casino is physically hosted elsewhere?

Yes. And it could come down to Canadian state and federal politics: the casino/poker offering is currently legislated by the QC govt; and sports betting by the ENTIRE Canadian govt. I'll explain (warning: this is long and wonky).

The current laws regarding offshore operators offering internet gambling to Canadian citizens are opaque....but there *is* a difference between poker and sportsbetting in the eyes of the government and the consumer.

Poker/Casino: Loto Quebec is in the process of running a state run monopoly on online gaming offerings from casino to poker. They want sites like Pokerstars and TonyBet and PartyPoker out and wish to install the Dutch model (i.e. high taxes) for this style of gaming to drive up revenue for the govt. Uncle Patrice over at Loto Quebec wants a piece of that dollar de Canada whenever you play online in the QC jurisdiction. Poker/Casino for the most part is not all that popular online and there is no where near the amount of voter opinion push back on it than there is on sportsbetting (more on this in a sec).

Bovada is an unregulated competitor of Loto Quebec, in a territory no less where the Quebec govt and the Kahnawake already feud over stuff like this as it is, as Quebec can't just serve a warrant and shut down operations at the Bovada offices in the Kahnawake because a lot like here in the US, the Native Canadian lands get special privileges in terms of taxes and sovereignty (for example: you can get $0.75 gas and $0.50 cigarettes in the Kahnawake lands, and they also have poker rooms which compete with Casinos du Quebec, which are state run). The Quebec govt does NOT like that. Bovada would still like to offer poker to these customers, without interference, as well as have uninterrupted service to the US (and even more enticing, to fence off the US/Canada players from the ROW because they know the US/Canada poker regs like Druff are a negative ROI for their site; even Amaya admitted as such, and they fucking own Pokerstars). They kill two birds with one stone with this pivot, Druff puts that sentiment perfectly with this post.

There have been rumors that the latest round of lag experienced by ALL user on Bovada's poker sites has actually been driven by ISP's in QC throttling at the (in)direction from the Quebec govt. They want to block Bovada/Bodog as a poker site.

Sportsbetting: This is different because sportsbetting in Canada, and the companies that offer it, have had way more time to entrench their feet into the legislature as well as to voters. Canada has tried to ban sportsbetting several times under Tory leadership, but have failed because it does not poll well and there no major political will to do so on a Canadian federal level. There are way more people who fancy a bet on the horses or a CFL game than want to play online poker (a comparison would be how DFS has made quick inroads to state legislatures over the last year, and online poker has had its dick in the sand for 10+). They also know that folks in the United States, like in Ohio and Michigan, are more likely to cross the border to place a sports bet in a B&M casino, than to play poker. It actually creates jobs; Ceasars Windsor said that the new sports betting bill alone created 100 jobs, which politically looks good for any government.

So instead of fighting it every tooth in nail, they passed a bill that allows for a regulated market that could be joined by anyone wishing to submit to proper regulation, as well as make way for state run sports betting (like Quebec's Mise-O-Jeu).

Bodog, which is "technically" a different company than Bovada, is a legit business in the UK. They just became the sponsor for the Aston Villa FC kits today. Methinks that besides maybe some bookmakers and customer service people (who I know for a fact work from within Kahnawake; I've had a few deal to me at Playground), the sports betting operation is already out of Quebec and the only "operations" left were some servers in Quebec for the poker. And why? A lot like PartyPoker when they left the US market in 2006, Bodog can go to the Canadian government and say, "hey look, we complied, we want to be a part of the legal sports betting market once the Canadian casinos have been vetted and the online boarding process begins." And now legally, when questioned on whether Bodog, Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, and Ignition are the same: bodog can claim ignorance (and according to some 2p2 posters, they called bodog CS and they don't even recognize what bovada is if you ask them) AND the Canadian state can't just go into the Kahnawake area and serve warrants.

Today was about legal jiu-jitsu and corporate ratfuckery, IMO. Quebec won't step on the Canadian govts toes (their relationship isn't great to begin with) when it comes to this because of the national conversation that has occurred on about sports betting over the last 25 years. Online poker, while we are all 10+ year vets, is still kind of a new thing, and the provinces (like Quebec) can exert more control over that because there isn't as much of a political will to stop them from doing that.

The potential for provincially regulated sports betting could also change the game for many online operators once Canada develops even more regulations for the offerings. Hell, you can already bet sports on bodog right now in Canada if you want to....so I am sure they've already hedged that bet years ago in terms of moving the operation. Canada, and QC when it comes to sports betting, simply doesn't care because I think they also (correctly) view they can't stop it except at the transaction level, like here in the US.

With poker, they can, because it requires an actual connection to a server and the state can easily set up a gate keeper with this product moreso than sports betting, which can be done by anybody who has a spreadsheet and knows HTML.