The United States mobile poker industry has experienced big setbacks due to legislations that consider the game to be an unlawful form of online gambling. In the country, poker is seen as gambling and not as a game that requires players to be skilled instead of lucky. Therefore, it does not has the same legal status as for example daily fantasy sports bets. As a result, USA mobile poker players now find it very difficult to play their favorite card game on mobile devices. Big league online poker companies, like for example PokerStars and Full Tilt, also experience difficult times, because the current restrictions force them to keep their doors closed for poker fans from the United States.
Other online casino and betting companies try to distance themselves completely from the online poker world. For example, this was the case with Bovada Casino, which recently sold its mobile poker section to Ignition Casino so that there would be no connection between its sportsbook segment and online poker. Luckily, Ignition Casino now still holds on to the iOS and Android compatible games of Omaha and Texas Hold’em. Improvements to its poker app are required though, since advanced elements like sit n go's and multi-table tournaments are currently not available on the application.
Meanwhile, online poker continues to be a hot debate subject in the USA. A lot of former professional poker players have now switched their focus to daily fantasy sports entertainment options. Many of these players have brought their previously acquired, and often success proof, strategy principles along, and are now also applying them at the daily fantasy sports games. The difference in legislations between online poker and daily fantasy sports raises some questions, because how valid is it to make the former illegal and the latter legal. But no matter how many people deem this unfair, it is still the current situation in the USA, and for now, American online poker fans have to accept that fact.
Unfortunately however, the negative view on online poker has taken ground in other countries as well, because more governments now start to ban the online practices of this card game. Colombia, Australia and Russia have recently made efforts to prevent their citizens from playing the game. They are now putting a ban on banking transactions that are made on certain poker sites so that players can no longer make use of their poker money. Also, they have placed some of those websites on blacklists.
Luckily, there is good news for United States mobile poker fans as well. A savior of the industry has made its rise to fame and is still rising in popularity. Now, American players can once again play favorite online poker games on their mobile devices, because Bitcoin has come to their rescue. This alternative payment method continues to see its gambling industry market share grow in those countries that are currently trying to cut off the more traditional funding methods for players. Also, the value of Bitcoins continues to grow so it is a great payment alternative for poker fans.
Seals with Clubs was the first poker room in the world that started to accept Bitcoins as a valid payment method. From then on, a new trend was born. Back then, the poker provider offered its players an Android based poker solution. However, an ownership switch from the website put an end to the existence of that solution. Seals with Clubs was not relying on the USA banking system so it became a popular spot for American players who liked to play cards with real money. Thanks to the website, they were once again able to fund their accounts and withdraw their profits without constantly having to feel the hot breath of the government in their neck. So if more and more poker rooms start to offer Bitcoins as a payment solution, it could be a new dawn for all of those American poker fans who love to play this card game on their mobile devices.
