2013-03-06 Bitcoin Comes to World’s Largest Online Poker Network

[k]

http://pokerfuse.com/features/in-depth/winpoker-bitcoin-comes-worlds-largest-online-poker-network-ipoker-06-03/

The news keeps coming

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[marcus_of_augustus]

Whoah!

The cat is getting well and truly out of the bag. Large, unregulated gambling payments are gonna attract unwanted attention for sure I'd say. Fulltilt and PokerStars will have to follow up before long if bitcoin payments become big for WinPoker. Who needs mixers when you got casinos?

[nevafuse]

Withdrawal times are expected to be much the same as traditional withdrawal methods

Oh?

Bitcoin transaction fees are very low: the fee is rarely more than a couple of US cents each way.  Compare this to 3-8% for standard ewallet and credit card transactions, and the cost savings cannot be understated.

Assuming they are using a bitcoin payment processor since earlier in the article it talks about converting funds to avoid market swings, you also have to include the cost of conversion which isn't free AFAIK.  May still be cheaper than 3%, but definitely more than a few cents.

[imanikin]

Seems bogus that they auto-convert to fiat, but i bet eventually their players will demand that changed to B-only tables. 

[grondilu]

Seems bogus that they auto-convert to fiat, but i bet eventually their players will demand that changed to B-only tables.  

Yep,  BTC-only tables would be much more of a significant step.

[Technomage]

This is big news. I used to play online poker for a living so this is just music to my ears.

About the tables, it's common for EU players to play on USD tables anyway (depends on the network) so I'm not so sure if BTC tables are such a big deal. This is different though in that BTC is hard money, USD/EUR are not.

Perhaps WinPoker is overestimating the problem of Bitcoin volatility vs its viability as a long term investment. So maybe people DO want to keep the money in bitcoins. Who knows. I'm not actually sure about this, but it's an easy change for them if the customers start demanding BTC tables.

If Bitcoin volatility goes down, and it should over time, the users will surely at some point want BTC tables.

[zby]

This is big news. I used to play online poker for a living so this is just music to my ears.

About the tables, it's common for EU players to play on USD tables anyway (depends on the network) so I'm not so sure if BTC tables are such a big deal. This is different though in that BTC is hard money, USD/EUR are not.

Perhaps WinPoker is overestimating the problem of Bitcoin volatility vs its viability as a long term investment. So maybe people DO want to keep the money in bitcoins. Who knows. I'm not actually sure about this, but it's an easy change for them if the customers start demanding BTC tables.

If Bitcoin volatility goes down, and it should over time, the users will surely at some point want BTC tables.

I have the feeling that gambling on bitcoin price can be additional thrill for the poker players.

[grondilu]

I have the feeling that gambling on bitcoin price can be additional thrill for the poker players.

First time I read this, and yet I'm sure we've all thought of it at least once.

[Technomage]

That is a valid point. As an ex-professional I don't really consider poker gambling so my point of view is different. I see it as investing time and money with a certain expected value, and winrate. It's only gambling from a short term point of view. However I understand that most players do not see it this way, and even for pros it's often difficult.

[Zangelbert Bingledack]

My sense is that the core motivation for most gamblers is the chance that they could win big. If they have bitcoins, they are already used to the "gamble" of holding them, but they are looking for something more.

[ShadowOfHarbringer]

http://pokerfuse.com/features/in-depth/winpoker-bitcoin-comes-worlds-largest-online-poker-network-ipoker-06-03/

The news keeps coming

I actually checked their sites (WinPoker.com and ipoker.com) on ALEXA and it doesn't seem to me that they are largest poker network.

Also, winpoker has bad WOT (web of trust) ratings.

Where is the proof that they are largest ?

[Technomage]

I actually checked their sites (WinPoker.com and ipoker.com) on ALEXA and it doesn't seem to me that they are largest poker network.

Also, winpoker has bad WOT (web of trust) ratings.

Where is the proof that they are largest ?

You can't rate them based on the size of the individual sites of WinPoker and iPoker. The site of iPoker is simply the site of the whole network, nobody cares about that. WinPoker is just a small "skin", that is part of the network.

The whole iPoker network consists of a large amount of individual poker sites that have players that play in the same player pool, called the iPoker network. The iPoker network IS the largest _network_ of different poker sites. As far as I know, the total player amount is still below PokerStars and PartyPoker, but not sure about that.

Here you can see the full list of sites that are in the iPoker network: http://www.ipoker.com/html/page/cardrooms

The biggest ones are Titan and William Hill, but sites such as Bet365, PaddyPowerPoker, are fairly large as well. Not sure if they are in any order but I personally know those sites are fairly large. Betfair is big as well.

WinPoker is one of the smallest individual sites in the iPoker network, but this news is still significant as their players play in the same pool as everyone else, and it will give them a small competitive edge. This is quite important since the individual card rooms are so similar, even a small edge can matter a lot!

If Bitcoin does bring them even a small edge, other iPoker rooms are very likely to start implementing their own Bitcoin support, otherwise they start leaking users to WinPoker.

[mtbomb]

pokersitescout.com will give you their relative rank as a network. They are not larger than pokerstars, but pokerstars isn't a network, it's a single site. So saying they are the largest network is a little bit of a semantic game. That said, the ipoker network is a pretty large player pool for the poker world and they now have BTC cash in/outs. Unfortunately, I don't think they allow US play so I am not sure that BTC is much of a big deal here.

[TooCasual]

Hmm.  Unless they are blocking US IP addresses...  They do receive BTC then send BTC backout.  Meaning you could put any address in...  Someone with a US IP address should try it.  Then use a Fake Canadian address for mailing (you won't need to use it because you can withdraw BTC.

I just tried it.  Works fine for me (im in Canada though).  I just was testing the BTC <-> BTC really.

I usually play on FullTilt for the last few years... maybe they will come around and do BTC.

Seals with clubs was fun - but it's just not refined enough for me.  And the Android version was buggy.  I logged out and my player was still at the table. Lost quite a few chips.

TC

[FreeMoney]

Hmm.  Unless they are blocking US IP addresses...  They do receive BTC then send BTC backout.  Meaning you could put any address in...  Someone with a US IP address should try it.  Then use a Fake Canadian address for mailing (you won't need to use it because you can withdraw BTC.

I just tried it.  Works fine for me (im in Canada though).  I just was testing the BTC <-> BTC really.

I usually play on FullTilt for the last few years... maybe they will come around and do BTC.

Seals with clubs was fun - but it's just not refined enough for me.  And the Android version was buggy.  I logged out and my player was still at the table. Lost quite a few chips.

TC

Our Android app is new and labeled as beta, please let me know when you have problems, admin@sealswithclubs.eu or the developer directly, android@sealswithclubs.eu.

Also expect a downloadable client very soon.

[WP-James]

Hi folks!

My name is James and I'm the poker manager at WinPoker.com. I can answer any questions that you have about WinPoker, our bitcoin cashier, and am happy to help you with any issues with your accounts.

Feel free to message me, and I'll try my best to answer any questions as they're posted.

Cheers
James

[WP-James]

Seems bogus that they auto-convert to fiat, but i bet eventually their players will demand that changed to B-only tables. 

Managing poker liquidity and ensuring there is enough action at the tables is an important function of our role as a poker operator. We need to make sure that there are enough active games, and enough action at the tables, at the games and stakes our players want to play. If we offer too broad a spread of games, the action will be too finely diluted.

We certainly have plans to expand our bitcoin offerings. If our players have a demand for BTC tables, we will make this happen for them, but for now we don't want to over-complicate the offering and need make sure our players have plenty of action. One step at a time!

[WP-James]

I actually checked their sites (WinPoker.com and ipoker.com) on ALEXA and it doesn't seem to me that they are largest poker network.

Also, winpoker has bad WOT (web of trust) ratings.

Where is the proof that they are largest ?

We aren't the largest internet poker operator, but we are an operator on the world's largest poker network, iPoker. Members of the network play in the same player pool - so, when you are playing at a table on WinPoker, you are also playing against players on all of the other iPoker network operators. Therefore, you are playing in a central pool of several thousand players at any given time. The iPoker 24hr average is currently over 3000 players, and can peak at many times that.

Please let me know if you need any further clarification.

[WP-James]

Hmm.  Unless they are blocking US IP addresses...  They do receive BTC then send BTC backout.  Meaning you could put any address in...  Someone with a US IP address should try it.  Then use a Fake Canadian address for mailing (you won't need to use it because you can withdraw BTC.

I just tried it.  Works fine for me (im in Canada though).  I just was testing the BTC <-> BTC really.

I usually play on FullTilt for the last few years... maybe they will come around and do BTC.

Seals with clubs was fun - but it's just not refined enough for me.  And the Android version was buggy.  I logged out and my player was still at the table. Lost quite a few chips.

TC

Hi TooCasual,

At the moment, we do not accept US-based players. We do IP-block US addresses.

Regards,
James

[Seth Otterstad]

What kind of documents are required to do a cash out?