The bad news just doesn’t seem to stop for American players. Online poker rooms and gambling sites, Sportsbook.com, PlayersOnly, and Superbook, are rumored to have decided to leave the American market. There is nothing confirmed yet. If this is true, it is almost definitely in response to the Department of Justice’s huge bust against the “Big Three” (PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and the Cereus Network).
As of now (April 26th, 2011), new players are still able to join and deposit on these three online gaming rooms. On and after May 1st, new American players will not be allowed to join. Existing accounts, luckily, can still wager, play, deposit, and withdraw as normal.
Gamblers that enjoy wagering money on the game may be taking the biggest hit of all. Sportsbook.com is one of the world’s largest and most trusted sportsbooks. Their poker room, PlayAces, will take also take a minor hit since there will be less gambler crossover onto the poker tables. Poker players on the Merge Network should expect a slight drop in players even though there are still plenty of options for American poker players.
FlopTurnRiver hopes the situation concerning the legality of online poker and gambling in the United States gets cleared up soon. Best of luck to all the players this may impact.