Guys, I live in Dubai (UAE)...can someone plz suggest an alternative. What reliable site can I play on that will allow real money in my country. I seriously feel that Pokerstars has betrayed all the those players. What are they thinking??? no notice, no nothing. I had so much respect for pokerstars, I feel sick, real sick.

Dubai unable to play stars. Ironic twist of fate.

There has to be one guy the played stars and worked for Dubai World Ports.
My condolences to everyone else in Dubai.

You're either a super genius or stoned.
Either way, joining forces has to be +EV going forward.

Sorry, it was meant more complementary than it sounded.
It might take me a bit to digest what you have posted.
It will be easier when my mind is clearer later.

Is there any indication of something like this happening in Australia? Considering Crown partnered up with APPT for the AM Main this year & strong client base, I am hoping its ties with Aus are not cut.

That post is over a year old & doesn't mention anything about Aus losing Pokerstars service?

The thread is titled 'POKERSTARS DOES NOT OFFER REAL MONEY GAMES IN YOUR AREA' so that is what my question relates to. Thank you for the additional information either way.

Na you guys always help fight the baddies pretty much straight away, should be fine.

Some concern, the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act makes it an offence for unlicensed foreign firms to operate there, see this thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...-long-1366296/

Tony Abbot too dumb to address this now. We are safe for a while yet in Australia.

The reasons for shut down some of you have posted are ridiculous:
1) It is definitely not money laundering as PS meticulously checks the cash outs and we cant cash out P2P transfers.
2)Pulling out of Grey or Shady Markets. You are having a laugh mates. Gambling in India is strictly Prohibited(people over there cant even bet on their fav sports like cricket). Indian Govt will never ever legalize gamblings so PS operating there is strictly illegal.

The diff between US and this new incident is that PokerStars was pushed out of US(you may say they walked out on their own but lets face it, they had a gun on their head, their website was shut down by the freaking FBI). Those of you who are saying they stopped providing services without any notice because they dint wanna alert the "terrorists" to transfer funds. Really? I mean what are you guys smoking? If I am a terrorist, I am still allowed my money to be cashed out. Its not like my funds are frozen. Say players stuck at 90% of their VIP Stellar Rewards($10), with 900 FPPs. PokerStars doesn't process VIP Stellar rewards below $10 dollars and there are many with certain percentages of such rewards who are basically robbed because of no prior warning. Had someone even mailed them coincidentally on the 29th whether their country would be blocked or not PS would have lied right to their face. And 900FPPs, its stuck too because you cant cash it out for even $10. Like this they are basically denying to pay off any players that they owe. If I own PS its my right to not offer services to any country I want. But I cant shut down suddenly and save a lot of money by not paying out the bonuses. (And that my friend is the reason they stopped without any prior notice). I am from Bangladesh. No other sites have any embargo on BD but PS. So whatever the reason PS has taken to block the countries recently I can say its not because of any stated reasons in 1 or 2. Hey its Amaya's loss, and some other sites gain. I am strictly a casual player and I wont be bothered about it as there are tons of other sites. What annoys me is that PS does not reserve the right to simply shut down shop without any notice and say thanks for playing.

My stellar reward is stuck at 85% and fpp at 900. Its nothing compared to what I earn in my day job. But out of principle I cant let them bend me over and shove whatever they please up my arse. I emailed them 5 days back regarding the bonuses and usually with super fast support they did not reply my mail. So today I mailed them another one with the threats of complaining to all regulatory boards about how PS and the manner of which they stopped providing services. In 5 mins I got a reply stating they have forwarded my email to some hierarchy. I know my threats are with an empty gun, but I would like PS to answer few questions and be accountable. I mean look at United Kingdom's case for example. Few sites have decided to shut down service there. With proper notice they informed the UK players. I mean as a player I also deserve the same courtesy. I even wrote that I have formed a group where all the players from banned countries will file individual complaints to those regulatory boards against PS. I have not created such group, but I would like people to actually voice themselves and it doesn't matter if it even falls on deaf ears. Maybe it will be heard if few tiny voices can make a strong echo.

And last but not the least, if I were a player from an "allowed" territory of PS. I would not be too relaxed about it. Since it seems obvious that PS does not really care about its players. (I doubt any of the sites do). But if PS adopted such manners to halt services in my country, then maybe they will stop providing services in your country the moment PS will realize its not "profitable" any more. Personally I think PokerStars is going to sink. PokerStars could have easily continued in some countries(not the absolute blacklisted ones) coz these countries' govt dont even give a toss about internet poker or gambling. I doubt if they even know such things exist. And even if they do, they have to first amend their laws to hold PS accountable. PS could have easily run their businesses there and earn few extra rakes. So from a business point of view( I am a business grad) this does not seem enough to satisfy their shareholders. If I were holding a stake of PS, I would have wanted them to continue services because they can run business until they get caught(which is highly unlikely), and after they get caught they can say "ooopsy daisy" and go away. These countries cant sue PS. That is why I think PS is loosing out on some extra profits which now other sites will grasp. Basically Iran is fuc**d. And I think apart from PS no other sites offer games in Israel. So if I were a stakeholder I would be more worried and wonder how come we are the only operator offering services in Israel? So from a business pov this move was utterly stupid. PS players are loosing easier opponents like us(albeit not that large). But its still not insignificant.

they are trying to pass the law to make it legal there to play online

ZMOG!! The freaking FBI!!! Oh noes...

Like they give a **** about the FBI. The exited the US market because their BANK ACCOUNTS were frozen by the DOJ. They couldn't give two ****s about the pokerstars.com domain. They opened up pokerstars.eu within a day, and the freaking FBI couldn't do **** about it, and the game servers were never located in a place the DOJ has any jurisdiction.

does this mean we can play in northern cyprus?

FYI, visit http://glaws.in/2013/10/in-historic-...ming-industry/

And there are some poker rooms operating legally in Bangalore as well as in Kolkata.

http://www.onlinepokernews.in/poker-...lore-12082014/

http://glaws.in/2011/10/exclusive-po...w-poker-haven/


So as per Karnataka High Court and West Bengal Prize Competition and Gambling Act, 1957 Poker is a game of skill and can be played legally though you will be needing permission from the Police Commissioner of Kolkata or the District Magistrate

Regarding online gaming:

"In May 2011 India passed the Information Technology Act 2000 which tries to put a stranglehold on internet gambling. This new act, which covers gambling sites, holds the Internet Service Providers responsible for blocking offshore betting sites. However, techno legal issues regarding online gambling are much more complicated than mere blocking."

the new donk is a quite a fitting name.

What are the countries that can still play using pokerstars.net client? Every time I play, it seems to me that there are no one else but Russia, Ukraine, Canada and England. Russia and Canada are going to be sent packing any time soon as well, so who is going to be left?

It has been 12 days since pokerstars exit my country "Egypt", If an online poker company stops providing services to bunch of it's customers, who will?
I was wondering if some of the affected players have done anything to press the company to take back it's ridiculous decision.

The attempt by Gibraltar to stop the new UK laws appears to have failed. They will go into effect on the 1st Nov. Expect more pull outs from grey/black countries on that date.

Failed comprehensively:
http://www.sbcnews.co.uk/featurednew...lear-cut-case/

service providers within the confines of a consumer and public order oriented regime in the State that they target serves entirely legitimate objectives.”

It's been 1275 days since pokerstars exit my country "USA".
The answer is no.

you know, one of my dreams is to immigrate to the USA, but after I knew that pokerstars had been kicked out from the states for that long, I started to change my mind

It may get a lot worse before it gets better.

Governments and religion, telling us what we can't do for 5000 years.