Bitcoin Poker (is this the new future of online gambling?)

[Anti-Neocon]

I know there's multiple bitcoin gambling sites, and I have great experiences with SealsWithClubs in particular (and it's growing by the day). Bitcoins will be in high demand as long as online gambling stays illegal because more and more people will learn that it is in fact possible to play games such as poker for real money from the USA. I think this is just another reason why bitcoins are very promising for the future, as millions of dollars transfer hands every day at poker sites alone.

I think the bitcoin haters are going to be proven wrong when bitcoin gambling takes off and becomes the new norm for all sorts of online gambling from America, and even other countries. I used to doubt bitcoin itself, but it's really amazing how it seems to be revolutionizing the whole gaming industry, while not many people are taking note (at least not yet!). Huge buying opportunity still I think.

[ronpaulfollower999]

Looks like bitcoin hit the psychological barrier of $30, and is now up to $30.50. Sustainable? Who knows, but I think there is a lot of support around $30. I do have a token bitcoin, but planned on acquiring more over the weekend. Hopefully I don't fall into another bull trap.

[itshappening]

Bitcoins still have very low volume compared to the likes of Paypal.

It's been out a few years now and remains to be seen whether it takes off with gamblers? Most people still dont understand it and will never understand it.

Silk Road - the drugs market - is probably responsible for most of the trade in bitcoins. That's what drove the last run up to 30$ anyway, maybe this run is based on something more substantial like reddit and wordpress accepting them or maybe more people are discovering the fact that they can buy illicit things from silk road?

[hazek]

Actually it's becoming more and more the choice for gamblers as can be read about here:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28...hlight=bitcoin
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...hlight=bitcoin
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/30...hlight=bitcoin

[misean]

60 players are online playing in cash games on the Bitcoin site vs over 1000 on the top 3 sites. I'm a little surprised it hasn't taken off more. I would assume that the larger US sites have thought about Bitcoin and for some reason decided against it.

[hazek]

60 players are online playing in cash games on the Bitcoin site vs over 1000 on the top 3 sites. I'm a little surprised it hasn't taken off more. I would assume that the larger US sites have thought about Bitcoin and for some reason decided against it.

Give it time.. SealsOfClubs has had exponential growth for the last 3 months, and there are rumors of a big site beginning to accept them not to mention Infinity poker is suppose to launch and they said they'll accept them as well.

Just give it time.

[Jackie Moon]

This is interesting. If a known major site accepted them it would be huge.

The most difficult problem for players and sites was moving money between them and your bank. So cutting out the middleman would get around the UIGEA, which warned banks to not make transactions that were for "illegal gambling".

I'd still be worried that the government would try to put a stop to it. So I can't see Pokerstars/Fulltilt being involved since they are trying to get on the government's good side in order to be able to get a license when poker is legalized in the US. Same with internationals like PartyPoker and 888.

If an established second tier network like Merge, Revolution, or Bodog used it then it would hopefully catch on quickly.

I'm not sure how well a place like SealsWithClubs will do though. In order to have a big poker site you need easy deposits/withdrawals, good software, and a large pool of casual amateur players. I haven't played there myself, but SealWithClubs doesn't seem like it has the software or the marketing right now to draw in the casual players. I'm not even a big fan of the Merge type sites because they haven't been successful at that and they're a lot bigger than SWC.

Infinity Poker could be it. They have one pro endorser already. They've postponed their launch enough that the software should be decent. The challenge will then be teaching people about bitcoin. Hopefully they'll be successful and the word will spread. Once you get the average Joe's that haven't played online since '06 to sign up it will be the biggest thing since the poker boom.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be able to deposit, play, withdraw, and spend the money all in the same day again.

[Anti-Neocon]

I'm not sure how well a place like SealsWithClubs will do though. In order to have a big poker site you need easy deposits/withdrawals, good software, and a large pool of casual amateur players. I haven't played there myself, but SealWithClubs doesn't seem like it has the software or the marketing right now to draw in the casual players.

It seems like they're working on improving this with their new client, which isn't web-based and is much easier to navigate. Sadly it is just beta yet, and a lot of the features aren't implemented, but if the word gets out, I see it potentially taking off. It keeps growing every month.

The deposits/withdrawals on SWC are much easier than any of the other US sites where you are lucky if you get your money back after two weeks.

I'm not even a big fan of the Merge type sites because they haven't been successful at that and they're a lot bigger than SWC.

Infinity Poker could be it. They have one pro endorser already. They've postponed their launch enough that the software should be decent. The challenge will then be teaching people about bitcoin. Hopefully they'll be successful and the word will spread. Once you get the average Joe's that haven't played online since '06 to sign up it will be the biggest thing since the poker boom.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be able to deposit, play, withdraw, and spend the money all in the same day again.

Give SWC time, and it may be exactly that.

[Jackie Moon]

It seems like they're working on improving this with their new client, which isn't web-based and is much easier to navigate. Sadly it is just beta yet, and a lot of the features aren't implemented, but if the word gets out, I see it potentially taking off. It keeps growing every month.

I actually came here to give an update after giving the site a try in some freerolls. First I tried out the Android app and it's actually not too bad. It's basic but it seemed to go relatively smoothly. There were a few times where it acted buggy but overall it's a good start. And it's something that can be a selling point to potential new players.

Then I used the new downloadable client. I'd describe it the same way as the mobile app, it's still basic but I was actually surprised at how decent it was. I've certainly played on worse sites in the past. Following the thread on 2+2 shows that it was only very recently created and the developer is still working on updating and adding more features.

From what I've seen SWC seems to be run very well. They're open to listening and responding quickly to player feedback. The rake is very low. They are working hard at updating their software, features, and game play and are coming along nicely. And even within the last couple weeks that I've been playing the player pool has grown.

The deposits/withdrawals on SWC are much easier than any of the other US sites where you are lucky if you get your money back after two weeks.


Give SWC time, and it may be exactly that.

You're definitely right about that. I'd say that while they're obviously far from what Pokerstars or Full Tilt used to be, they are almost on the level of the current US sites with regards to software and usability. But because of bitcoin they are a million times ahead of the others in ease of deposit/withdrawls. It's even easier than Pokerstars and Full Tilt were the last few years. And because of that they do have a huge potential.

The only real downside I can see now is the lack of players. I'm not sure what their plan is for the future. When I've been on they usually have a few hundred players logged in. I don't know if they want to grow to thousands and try to compete with the current US sites, or if they'd rather stay small and niche. I think I remember reading that currently they can only handle a certain number of players playing at the same time. And staying small allows them to give better customer service and gives the players the feel of "community".

I hope they do plan to expand and update to be able to handle more players. But even if they didn't they will have proven the concept of bitcoin poker and more sites will adopt it.

Overall to anyone curious I'd recommend giving them a try. And if the DOJ ever gives me my Full Tilt money I look forward to having somewhere like this to play.