Poker Domain Seizures

Posted by gtycoon on April 23rd, 2011

If you are a US online poker player, then you know that the US Department of Justice indicted Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker on April 15th. In addition, they seized 76 accounts connected with the poker sites as well as five domains connected with the sites. On Wednesday, both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars reached a deal with the DOJ that allowed them to regain control of the .com domains.

Essentially, the two sites negotiated a domain-name use agreements that allowed Full Tilt to regain use of FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars to regain use of PokerStars.com. The deal was struck so that the two sites could return funds to their US players.

The deal did come with some very specific stipulations. First, neither site can serve US customers going forward. US customers cannot deposit, nor can they play for either real money, or anything of value. That includes things such as tournament seats, step tickets, etc.

Next, the agreement states that the DOJ never froze any accounts containing player funds and that the DOJ will work with the sites to return the money to US players. Also, a independent monitor will be assigned to oversee this process and to make sure the sites comply with the agreement.

Also, this deal does allow for the sites to conduct business outside of the US through their .com domain name. This agreement does nothing to absolve or dismiss any of the charges facing Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars. Furthermore, this offer is available to Absolute Poker should they be inclined to accept it.

At present, neither site has begun the process of returning player funds. PokerStars states that they are researching the best method to return funds to players and that the process should begin in several weeks. Full Tilt has stated that despite claims that no funds were seized by the DOJ, accounts containing players funds were indeed seized by the DOJ and there have been no steps taken as of yet to release these funds.

What poker players can take away from this is two things. First, the funds are indeed still there and available to be returned to players. Next, funds will indeed be returned. The timeframe and method of returning these funds is the only process that needs to be worked out.

This is just the first step in a long process to resolving the issues between the US government and the three online behemoths. Are these the first steps to online poker legalization? It is unknown, but in either event, online poker will never be the same.

Investing in Poker Domains

Posted by gtycoon on March 9th, 2011

If you are interested in investing in domains I’d be happy to help you get started. It would be a great idea to buy a reseller account via my registrar Domainer Server. If you think you would be purchasing 20 domains a month I would even consider purchasing the reseller account with my own funds to help you get started.

Poker.org sells for 1 million today.

Posted by gtycoon on February 20th, 2010

Poker.org sold for $1 million to National A-1 Advertising which is a private company owned by Rick London. National A-1 advertising is a Philadelphia based company which has a large portfolio including Pizza.com, Pillows.com, Babies.com, Girls.com and many other generic terms.
Poker.org will most likely sell for more than a million in 5 years or if the UIEGA laws change in upcoming months. National A-1 could easily double their money if they play their cards right.

Poker Domain Bubble burst?

Posted by gtycoon on May 22nd, 2009

Has the poker domain bubble burst? It seems as though the sales of my domains have diminished. I foresaw this coming and even suggested people buy domains ans still suggest the same. Now is a perfect time to buy domains as people are unable to pay to renew them and they are letting valuable domains expire from their accounts.

Kentucky Poker domain name scandal

Posted by gtycoon on October 20th, 2008

This Domain issue involving Kentucky is the icing on the cake of this government that claims to be running a “free” country. They have no jurisdiction on domains that are registered in other countriesand they have no jurisdiction over Icann. In fact, these officials are corrupt
and just want more money for Kentucky racetracks.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear commented on Judge Wingate’s ruling on the decision to go ahead with the order that goes out to more than 140 domain names including all the big-name poker sites like PokerStars.com and FulTilt.com. Beshear said:
“I am very pleased with Judge Wingate’s ruling. The court validated our concern that there is illegal and unregulated Internet gambling in Kentucky. He has given these parties 30 days to effectively block any access to this illegal activity within the commonwealth of Kentucky or they may be forced to forfeit those domain names to the commonwealth.”
Horse racing peaks in the US at the Kentucky Derby, and Kentuckians adore their derby, as well as horse, in general. In an effort to protect the Kentucky horse racing industry, the governor proposed this plan when the Kentucky economy, which thrives on horse racing, suffered a $170 million loss.
Since domain names are equivalent to “illegal gambling devices,” they can be confiscated by the state or should be restricted from Kentucky residents. Ed Leyden, a Washington D.C. attorney on the defense for the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, does not believe that a state court would have jurisdiction over such global things as domain names.
Judge Wingate says those domains that can prove they have prevented Kentucky users from accessing their site will be released from the list of potentially confiscated-by-Kentucky domains. The burden will be on the sites to take the necessary steps to comply with the restrictions. Apparently, it will not be hard for these sites to set up the block and then provide proof, but Web site operators are also being asked to inform Internet registrars that they are blocking Kentucky from accessing their sites, as a guarantee. Some sites have already put provisions in place to reject Kentucky players, which investigators have taken note of. Despite the fact that this stand is being taken by such a small portion of the world’s gambling business, the online gambling industry is taking this all very seriously.
The president of the Internet Commerce Association, based in Washington D. C., Jeremiah Johnston, fears Kentucky’s ruling might influence other states and could have long-term effects and extensive consequences on Internet commerce as a whole. Johnston believes that Kentucky has truly thrown a wild card into any progress that has been made. It may give other states ideas, ones that may have not thought of separating their state from the US as a whole when it comes to online gambling matters.

Pizza Dot com sells for $2,605,000

Posted by gtycoon on April 5th, 2008

Pizza.com sells for an amazing $2,605,000 USD at Sedo auction. In my next couple of posts I’ll be talking about the prices of some of the domains that have sold in the past. I believe poker.com sold for 20 million and is one of the highest priced domains ever.

Make money with poker domains

Posted by gtycoon on March 24th, 2008

Hi, welcome to pokerdomainer.com. A domainer is someone who invests, buys, and sells
domain names. I am a domainer in general but classify myself as a “poker domainer” since more than half my domain portfolio is poker domains. In the last three years my domain portfolio has grown to around 1500 domains. Some of these domains are worth 3k or more. I do not do this for a living yet but have brought in over 15k last year alone. So far this year I’ve brought in 2k. I have sold domains to poker players and billion dollar companies. I will not give you all my secrets, but will try to give you as many hints as possible. If you want to start investing, start buying domains here.

All the good names are taken.

Posted by gtycoon on March 8th, 2008

All the good domain names are taken. This is a phrase I hear all the time. This is like saying all the good songs have already been made. Yes, its true that many dot com domain names are gone, but they also expire every day too.
And yes, it’s true that most of the short domains are also taken, but there are plenty of 6 – 8 letter domains left and for auction.

Welcome to my new poker domain blog. I’ll be posting about different methods of making money selling domains.
I will tell you how to buy them cheap, where to look, and where to get scripts and servers to utilize your domains.
I’m far from a professional domainer, but I’m well on my way. I now hold a domain portfolio of over 1490 domains of which over 500 are poker related.

This past year I’ve sold domains to 2 billion dollar companies, and grossed over $20,000. I will try to share as many ideas as possible with you on making money with domain names.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Poker Domains

Posted by gtycoon on February 3rd, 2008

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