In an e-mail distributed to affiliates of Eurolinx Poker on Thursday, the online poker room stated that the Microgaming Network will be blocking customers from 13 different states in the U.S. from accessing any of its rooms’ poker or casino clients. However, players from the states in question may still bet in the sports book.
States affected include Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Utah. Kentucky has been the most recent state to be added to several internet gambling sites’ black lists, after its Governor, Steve Beshear, seized Microgaming.com, along with 140 other domain names, due in part to competition with local the horse racing industry and state lottery. Although the domain names have not yet been officially forfeited in the case, Judge Thomas Wingate’s ruling last week stated that if a company successfully blocked Kentucky residents from accessing the website within 30 days, they would be absolved from the forfeiture order.
The e-mail also stated, “This is not a new rule, just sudden enforcement of an old one Players can still play in the Sportsbook. Players can still register from the banned states, but will not be able to play in the Poker client or in the Casino. The IP blocking service Microgaming is using also has a proxy detector, so players will no longer be able to use a proxy to hide their IPs.” It marks a sudden adherence to the “rule” by Microgaming Network, whose online poker sites include 32Red Poker, Intertops Poker, Crazy Poker, PokerTime, Royal Vegas Poker, Ladbrokes, Betway, Unibet, Pokerwize, Doyle’s Room, Jennings Poker, Gnuf, and Eurolinx.
Other recent news from the Microgaming Network includes the termination of Gutshot Poker’s agreement due to “breaches by Gutshot Poker room of the Microgaming Poker Network standard operating rules,” according to its website. The action came on September 30th. On October 16th, Microgaming released a new fleet of casino games, including Multi-Hand Perfect Pairs European Blackjack Gold, Jonny Specter, Spike’s Night Out, and Bob’s Bowling Bonanza.
The company first developed online casino software in 1994 and became a founding member of the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) three years later. Its poker software made its debut in 2003, the same year as Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event after winning a small-stakes satellite on PokerStars. Microgaming is also a founding member of eCOGRA.
The company’s casino clients include Spin Palace, Purple Lounge, All Slots, Royal Vegas, River Belle, Roxy Palace, and Canbet. It has over 120 online casinos in total, making it one of the largest networks in the world. Players from the 13 affected states will not be able to play in the casinos due to the increased enforcement from Microgaming’s Network.
Whether the move is, in part, due to preserve Microgaming’s domain name from being seized in Kentucky is unknown. Internet gambling sites officially have until November to demonstrate that residents of Kentucky are unable to access a URL. An official forfeiture hearing for the remaining sites is scheduled for Monday, November 17th. If successfully forfeited, the domain names would be inaccessible from anywhere in the world, not just in Kentucky.
