Who are the main players in the US online poker market after Black Friday?

BLACK FRIDAY

Friday the 15th April 2011 will always be known as 'Black Friday' in the online poker world.  It was the day that the US department of justice seized the domain names of the top three US facing poker sites - Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker/UB - on charges of bank fraud and money laundering. 

As online poker isn't actually illegal the only way the government could try to get a slice of the poker pie was by pursuing these companies for their banking anomolies.  Many are speculating that it was a shakedown to try to get as much money as possible from these offshore poker sites ($10bn is what the DOJ are after) before opening the US market to regulated online operators based in America i.e. the Vegas big guns.

While Absolute Poker/UB look to be heading for bankruptcy Pokerstars and Full Tilt are hanging by virtue of their non-US player base, mostly based in Europe.  This has left only three major players in the US online poker market.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE

Flying the flag for American poker players are Doyle's Room, Bovada Poker (previously known as Bodog), and Carbon Poker.  There are a handful of other sites that still accept US players but in our opinion these are a somewhat risky option as many of them are new, small operations with limited or unknown financial backing and possibly fronts for ruthless smash and grab operaters looking to capitalise on the huge gap left in the market by Full Tilt, Pokerstars and Absolute.

Doyle's, Bovada and Carbon have been online for many years and are very established in the firmament of the online poker community and universally trusted.

BOVADA POKER

Bodog are a world famous online gambling brand led by the mercurial Calvin Ayre since 1994, they are now rebranded as Bovada so they can specialise on their American players. Bovada poker is well known for its incredibly fishy players who come from the Bovada sportsbook to blow their money at the poker tables. So common is this easy prey that the players here are known in the poker world as 'Bovadonkeys'!

Bodog reached an out of court settlement a few years ago when the DOJ attempted to confiscate their domain name, as happened with the other sites on Black Friday.  Bodog were well ahead of the game and reached an agreement that allowed them to retain their name and offer poker to US players under the Bovada name.   This is the safest (and easiest!) option for Americans.

CARBON POKER

 

Carbon Poker is part of the giant Merge Gaming poker network and his been growing quickly recently with the acquisition of other large US friendly poker sites such as Player's Only.

Carbon Poker is a really feature packed poker room which explains its popularity with players - every possible poker preference is catered for.  Some of the poker variations they offer are HORSE, Razz, Omaha Hi Lo, Holdem, Lowball, Badugai and Stud.

Features include:

* 100% deposit bonus up to $600 free

* Bad beat jackpot

* Rabbit hunt feature

* Quick start feature

* Comp points and accolades

* Expose one card and 'run it twice' features

Carbon Poker's bad beat jackpot is famous in poker circles for being the largest jackpot available online or offline.  The record payout for the badbeat jackpot is $1.2m which was won when a seven to jack straight flush lost to a nine to king straight flush.

DOYLE'S ROOM

** UPDATE... DOYLES ROOM HAS LEFT THE US MARKET **

Doyle's Room is legendary poker player Doyle Brunson's very own poker site.  This poker site is all about prestige, with regular VIPs at the ring games and weekly tournaments with bounties on some of the most famous names in poker including Doyle himself. If you play well enough  you might even find yourself a VIP yourself and get paid to play in tournaments with a bounty on your head!

There was no chance of this all American Texan turning his back on US players and his site has been loyal to its US roots ever since it started in 2004.  This is a fantastic, cult poker site and if you haven't checked it out yet you're missing out on a unique online poker experience.