Well the challenge is moving along with Fulltilt roll at $250 now but some interesting information has come out that could put a damper on things. Currently there is a rumour circulating that FullTilt is looking to sell 50% of the company for $200m US with the belief being they need the cash to pay out the US players after the funds were seized. If this rumour is true then the long-term future of the site is in the air, if they can’t sell it (and I’m not sure who would really want to invest in the current situation) then it seems unlikely anyone will get paid out.

 

Given that I currently only have a small amount on the site I’m hoping that it will get through the net and be processed back fairly easily and I’m using that as my litmus test….if it comes out then my current concerns will remain but at a lower level, if there is any trouble getting it out at all then I’d advise everyone to stay the fuck away from Full Tilt

As a precaution I have now created an account at Hero Poker ( a Merge skin) to shore up rakeback with them in advance of their allowing Australian players to deposit on the site. The interesting thing with Merge is that none of the skins currently allow Australian players due to the Australian law forbidding Australian companies from running online gaming sites so I’m not sure how Hero Poker will handle this, however, their CEO has been active on the 2+2 forums and claims they have a different enough corporate structure from the rest of the Merge network that they can avoid breaking that law so we will see. At this stage I am watching the forums for feedback from players in regards to rake costs, customer support, withdrawal times etc and it seems reasonable, though rake could be reduced at most levels.

 

Pokerstars also seems to still be going ok, and with their licensing from the Isle of Mann requiring them to keep players funds in an account that’s segregated from operating funds I don’t have any concerns about  getting funds back from them if I deposit there so I will likely move permanently from FullTilt to Stars (losing rakeback will suck but so would losing access to all my funds) and go from there. I can always head back to Party but I really don’t like their software or VIP program so will stay away from them as long as I can at this stage.