Bitcoin Forum

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/12362-worlds-first-bitcoin-poker-payments-launched

The words in the title weren't completely mine.

Right or wrong, I'm glad it's here for I didn't see if posted anywhere else until now. I was jacking all over myself while reading the article until the very last line: it is currently not available to U.S. players.

Another nut wasted!

With them accepting bitcoin - unless I'm missing something - I don't see how they can stop US players from playing so long as said players use a VPN.

I guess we'll have to wait and see whether the US DoJ targets Switchpoker in the same way it targeted other online gambling operators earlier this year.  It's got a .com domain and one of the things the DoJ did in its crackdown earlier this year was seize the domains of operators who were allowing people in the US to play.  I have little doubt that this will put Bitcoin on the DoJ's radar if it isn't there already.  It will probably also lead to the first attempt by a US government agency to define the legal status of Bitcoin.

Interesting times.

I opened the page, half of it regard iCrap things. I think it won't work on a normal pc with firefox  :D
I'm sure that, if it work on a windows pc with firefox, there would be at least an icon about that, given all the space they managed to give to iFail things

Hasn't "the room" already been around for a while? http://betco.in/

Their poker app is HTML 5 and works in a browser.  I tried it on and android phone and tablet with no issues.  Free bump for them I guess.

That's only a disclaimer.
Site that do not mention something like that tend to look very similar after a while : a bid eagle bearing medal reading "homeland security".

Professional players aren't ready to play in bitcoin denominated accounts.  When you're making a tiny percentage playing thousands of hands a day, bitcoin volatility can kill you.  Without the professionals, you see what you get very clearly at betco.in: severely limited number of active tables.

A large bitcoin drop could kill you, but volatility evens out.

It's not that hard to hedge anyway. And anyone serious only has a fraction of their bankroll on the table. It doesn't take long to get it back to dollars. if you have 10% of your roll on the table/in coins then put 2% of your roll short bitcoin at 5-1 leverage.

I wouldn't do that because I think bitcoin exposure is +EV, but it's not a deal breaker for a thinking person.

Or you could just use another poker room without the volatility. 

Poker "regs" are interested in grinding out a living playing poker not dealing w/ currency swaps, hedging, etc.

When someone makes it simple it will catch on.  If they don't it wont.

Regs create a stable playing environment. 
Thats draws the donkeys. 
Donks give money to the regs and the house takes their cut on that transfer of wealth.
Everyone is a winner.  (Donks are just playing for entertainment regardless if they know it or not).

Saying hedging Bitcoins using a website that 99.99% of the planet hasn't even heard of is beyond the point.

Exactly... sure hedging is easy if you know how to do it, but they don't want to have to figure it out.  They are more interested in how their Ko-Jack will fair in the next round, and turning their winnings into electricity for their computer and food for themselves.  Sure, they could shop at bitmunchies, but paying the power bill or rent with Bitcoins isn't so easy.

Nice move, and finally a website that gets to the point. I hope they make a killing with that. :)

Online gambling/poker/competitions are a great entry market for Bitcoin. A market that is global, wants the anonymity, but does not need complicated micro-transactions or other things heavy in new software. And it has serious money, far beyond the sort that Bitcoin saw so far. :P