UPDATE: Bovada Poker reopened to United States players again https://forum.bitcoingambling.io/threads/bovada-poker-relaunches-in-the-usa-mexico-and-brazil.262/ ====================================================== It looks like pressure from the U.S. government has caused another bitcoin friendly online poker room to permanently close their doors. A few weeks ago we reported that Carbon Poker no longer accepts U.S. players and now Bovada have announced that they too will cease operations from October 1, 2016. Bovada only accepted real money players from the United States so this means that poker will be completely removed as an option from their website. Bovada will continue to offer sports betting and casino gambling to citizens of the United States. The good news is Bovada Poker was acquired by Ignition Casino, who are a new online casino also licensed and regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission in Canada. The new Ignition Poker site is a mirror image of Bovada Poker and Bovada are helping players transfer their player balances over to Ignition. Ignition Poker also accepts bitcoin with zero transactions fees, has the same high-traffic player pool and same great poker software as Bovada. Basically all that is changing is the name. VISIT IGNITION: WWW.IGNITIONCASINO.EU
just had a look at the new ignition casino website. it looks and functions like bovada/bodog but with a different skin. it was obviously set-up to take the legal heat away from their lucrative sports betting operations.
Yes, the new Ignition site is so similar to Bodog and Bovada that it does give you the impression that it is run by the same people even though they are obviously 2 different companions from a legal perspective.
Yes. Ignition Poker can be played on a Microsoft Lumia, iPhone, iPad or any type of Android device. In fact, since Carbon Poker stopped accepting US players Ignition is the only mobile poker option available to U.S. players. Neither Americas Cardroom, BetOnline or Black Chip have poker apps.
I made the switch to Ignition and it's business as usual. The poker traffic is a little lower that it was at Bovada but I guess that's only natural. Some players are probably a little suspicious and waiting to see how things go for this new US poker site before they deposit.
It's a little bit higher. If my memory serves me correctly, poker rake at Bovada was about 4%. Ignition Casino are charging 5% poker rake at their tables.
Why do Ignition/Bovada only accept poker players from the USA? BetOnline or Americas Cardroom have no problem welcoming new players from just about anywhere in the world. Poker rooms with U.S. players are always the juiciest so they could double their traffic if they allowed players from Europe and Asia also.
Why would they limit themselves to just U.S. players? If you are operating an offshore gambling site then surely you can accept players from any country?
That's a great question that I don't have an answer from. I guess 95% of the demand for their business comes from the U.S. so why bother creating legal problems with dozens of other countries for an additional 5%. Having said that, Ignition Casino/Poker is now available in Australia.
UPDATE: Bovada have now reopened their popular crypto poker room to players in the USA and Latin America https://forum.bitcoingambling.io/threads/bovada-poker-relaunches-in-the-usa-mexico-and-brazil.262/
I wonder if it had anything to do with Calvin Ayre having this charges dropped by the US government. Maybe they shut-down the poker while his case was under review.
Bovada poker have no only reopened, but they now even accept players from the state of New York again which is something they didn't do for many years.