Ultimate Poker Bonus News

Effective today, Bodog has re-branded their USA side of the business to Bovada. Current US customers of Bodog will continue to be able to use their same account for poker, casino and sportsbook at Bovada.

The reason for the change is the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG) is not renewing their licensing agreement with Bodog. MMGG still owns the site and continues to operate in the same manner they always have, they have just changed the name to Bovada so they will no longer pay the fee’s associated with using the Bodog name.

New US poker customers will be redirected to Bovada, which again is the SAME company they always have been, it is just a name change.

See the BodogPoker review and be redirected to Bovada or see all the USA online poker sites we recommend.

The available poker site for Mac users in the USA just got smaller. The Merge Poker Network has announced they will not be accepting new players from the USA for a period of 4-6 weeks. The sites that operated on the Merge Network were the last available Mac poker sites for USA players to download.

The good news is there are still online poker sites USA Mac users can play at. Unfortunately, there are not any download Mac poker sites available, but you can still play flash poker at the poker sites on the Everleaf Gaming Network. The experience is very similar to the download version of the software, the graphics are just a little less enhanced.

The poker sites we recommend on the Everleaf Network are Poker4ever and Landshark Poker. Both sites accept play for USA Mac users by way of the flash version. You wont find huge tournaments on any of the sites on the Everleaf Network, but you will fund some juicy games. Play solid poker and take some nice pots at levels up to $2/$4. The site actually gets juicier by the day. With them being the only Mac poker sites that accept USA players, newbies and beginners are joining the site in full force.

Sign up at these USA Mac friendly poker sites and claim a great bonus. Poker4ever offers a $500 bonus and Landshark Poker offers a $200 bonus. Both bonuses are very easy to clear. Earn $1 of your bonus at Poker4ever for every $1.20 paid in fee’s and for every $1.50 paid at Landshark Poker. See the Poker4ever Review or Landshark Poker Review for more details.

Don’t sit the sidelines, play at these Mac  poker sites that accept USA players.

Effective today, the poker sites that operate on the Merge Poker Network will temporarily halt new sign ups from USA players. This move is temporary while the Merge Network tries to cope with the huge influx of new players after FullTilt Poker and Poker Stars left the US market. This temporary halt of new players is expected to last 4 to 6 weeks.

The Merge Poker Network grew by an amazing 78% since May 15 when the three largest poker sites left the US market. The decision to halt new sign ups, according to representatives of the Network, is simply to expand processing mechanisms and “catch up” on past business. The network was not equipped to handle such a huge influx of new players, and is now scrambling to fulfill the requests of existing players.

The poker sites affected by the halt of US players is PokerHost, Carbon Poker, PDC Poker and Lock Poker. Current US players will still have access to the sites and it will be business as usual. Current players can still make deposits and withdraws and still play poker.

In the meantime we have put together a list of the best Merge Poker Network Alternatives. USA players who do not have an account are now limited to sites on the Everleaf and Cake Poker Networks. The Cake Poker Network is a good choice if you like to play tournaments. The site traffic on the network is pretty good and you will be able to find the tournament your looking for. We recommend Juicy Stakes on the Cake Network. See the Juicy Stakes Review and claim a 110% match bonus on your first deposit up to $600.

If you like cash ring games, look to play at a site on the Everleaf Gaming Network. The play is really loose and you can take down some nice pots by playing solid poker. We recommend Poker4ever, as they have a great $500 bonus that is the easiest bonus to clear in the entire industry. Check out the Poker4ever Review for more details.

For Mac users, the Everleaf Gaming Network is now your only choice as well. All the sites on the Network offer a flash version of their software to play at. Currently there is not a single USA online poker site that has a down-loadable version for Mac.

If you wish to be notified when the Merge Poker Network once again accepts USA players, email us at support@ultimatepokerbonus.com and once we hear from the poker sites on the Merge we will notify you immediately.

We are finally on Facebook! If you find our website interesting, please “like” us on Facebook. We have added a like button just above our side navigation on our homepage USA Online Poker.

We will be updating our facebook page with recent bonuscodes, freerolls and major news headlines for USA online poker. We are also planning on running exclusive freerolls for our facebook followers. If you are on facebook please support us by “liking” us!

In recent weeks we have since a lot change in the online poker industry. The executives of the biggest operators have found themselves indicted by the United States Department of Justice after enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and the sites they operate no longer allow USA players.

So what does all this mean and where do we go from here? Before we answer those questions we wanted to take some time to explain the full ramifications and state facts as it relates to the UIGEA.

The UIGEA was passed in September 2006 and signed by then President George W. Bush. The law basically made it illegal for banks and credit cards to knowingly process transactions for Internet gaming purposes.

The law was passed as part of the “Safe Ports Act” which was passed to basically protect US ports from falling into the hands of foreign owners. In true American Political form, the UIGEA was added to the bill last minute to a completely unrelated piece of legislation. Parties voting on the “Safe Ports Act” really had no idea what they voting for when the UIGEA was added to the bill last minute. The Safe Ports Act was something that would pass easily (and did), and some ambitious representatives added the UIGEA last minute. Reps. Leach and Goodlatte authored the UIGEA and snuck it in.

The law came into effect January 19, 2009, but compliance was not required until December 1, 2009. In May 2009, Chair of the House Committee on Financial Services Barney Frank introduced 2 bills. The first to overturn the implementation of the UIGEA and the second to delay the implementation of the UIGEA for one year. The second bill was enacted but only extended the implementation until June 1, 2010.

At this time we saw many, if not all publicly traded poker, casino and sportsbook operators leave the US market. The biggest and most regulated poker sites and casinos could no longer accept USA players.

This leaves us where we are today, with FullTilt Poker, Poker Stars, Absolute Poker and UB.com no longer allowing USA players. Americans can no longer enjoy a pass time at the most respected online poker sites that were available to them.

So I thought this was the United States of America, home of the free? Well maybe home of the tax paying free. The United States government did not receive a cent in revenue from taxes from online poker and gaming sites. In fact, the United States now has to give the island nation of Antigua concessions in trade after a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling.

A major employer and revenue generator for Antigua is/was gaming. Antigua went to the WTO with a complaint that the US was in violation of treaty obligations by not allowing Market Access to its residents and the WTO agreed. Antigua then made a 3.4 billion dollar claim against the US which they have not received a cent. Instead the US granted concessions in other sectors. The US is actually losing money by offering such concessions rather than allow its citizens access to online gaming.

The concessions were never made public in the interest of “National Security” even after Barney Frank and Ron Paul stated the concessions “could cost the United States billions of dollars in compensation” and demanded the agreements to made public. To date we are not aware these agreements have ever been made public.

Now the government is charging executives with Money Laundering and making accusations that online gaming funds terrorism globally. Well I ask this question, if a company is publically traded on the London Stock Exchange, and their financial records are public knowledge, how could they be funneling money to terrorists. Not saying it couldn’t happen, but it would be difficult.

Now US residents must play at casinos and poker sites that are not publicly traded, and their financials do not need to be public. The legal, profitable, respected sites can no longer allow US players.

So what do we know and gain from the UIGEA?

1. We know it was passed at the last minute without proper research by regulators.
2. USA residents can no longer play at licensed, publicly traded gaming sites.
3. It has cost the United States millions if not billions in trade concessions to Antigua.
4. It fosters an illegal enterprise without regulation.
5. It puts US citizens in harms way by not allowing them to play at the best poker and casino sites.

So what is the answer? The easy answer is for the United States to legalize and regulate online gaming. It would produce revenue in the form of taxes and players funds were surely be safer. While we think this will happen, it will most likely be quite some time before we see legalized online poker and casino gaming in the US.

In the meantime, US players must continue to play at unregulated (by the US government or stock exchange) online poker and casino sites.

For a full description of the UIGEA and its provisions check out this Wikipedia UIGEA link.

BetUs Poker is the latest to leave the US poker market. BetUs has announced that effective immediately they will no longer accept any new USA players.

Current US players can continue to play as usual at BetUs, and continue to make deposits and withdraws. We hope this is a temporary situation, and BetUs will once again accept new US players in the near future. This is the third USA friendly poker site to make such a move. PlayersOnlyPoker and SportsbookPoker made this same announcement at the beginning of this month.

Funds are safe at BetUs, and US residents can make a withdraw if they wish.

If you are looking for a USA online poker site to play at, we recommend PokerHost and Bodog Poker. Both still accept new USA players and offer a great bonus. See the PokerHost Review or BodogPoker Review for more information on these great US poker sites.

Be sure to keep checking our news section, as if any new developments occur you can find them here first.

The US poker world has shrunk once again losing PlayersOnly Poker and SportsBook Poker today. This is after losing FullTilt Poker, Poker Stars, Absolute Poker and UB earlier last month.

The good news is, there are still plenty of great USA online poker sites available. We still have the most comprehensive list of poker sites that are still open to USA players.

We highly recommend PokerHost which is still open to USA players. PokerHost offers a great sign up bonus, awesome software and great banking options for USA residents. Check out the PokerHost review for more details.

We also like BetUs Poker. BetUs Poker operates on the Cake Poker Network which is also still open to US players. BetUs Poker offers a $1000 bonus and is one of the easiest bonuses to earn. Also with the exit of the bigger sites, BetUs Poker has seen a huge increase in players making site traffic some of the best. See the BetUs Poker review for more details.

We have also added a few newer sites to our list that are also still open to USA players. Intertops Poker, Lock Poker and PDC Poker are relatively new to our recommended list, but all are established poker sites. We have played all the sites we recommend and these three got our nod to be approved.

Check out all the US poker sites we recommend and that are still open to the US market. There are still some great choices for USA residents to play online poker, and you can find the best listing of them here.

Good luck at the tables!

We’ve re-shuffled our top three USA poker sites. From time to time we try to give a little recognition to the top poker sites we play at.

PokerHost remains our top site with their great software and an amazing 200% match sign up bonus up to $2000. PokerHost operates on the Merge Poker Network and offers a bad beat jackpot and great software features like deal it twice and rabbit hunting. They also offer a monthly reload bonus after you clear your first deposit bonus. If you haven’t tried PokerHost we highly recommend them. See the full details on the PokerHost Bonus.

Poker4ever has moved into our #2 position. Poker4ever is a smaller site on the Everleaf network, but offers some juicy games. You wont find big multi-table tournaments at Poker4ever, but you find loose ring games up to $.50/$1. Poker4ever also gets some accolades for having the easiest poker bonuses to clear. Clear $1 of your bonus for just $1.20 paid in fee’s or rake. See our Poker4ever Review for full details.

Absolute Poker remains in the top 3. Absolute Poker has great site traffic and great banking options including eChecks. Depositing with eChecks is the best option for USA residents. See here for a full listing of poker sites that accept echecks and be sure to check out our Absolute Poker Review to claim your $500 bonus.

Regardless of which USA online poker site you choose, rest assured if you find it here it is safe and reliable. We play at all the USA accepted poker sites we recommend.

If you find our site useful, please help us out and “Like” us on Facebook. We work hard to bring the best bonuses and poker promotions to our visitors and would like to spread the word.

Social media like Facebook and twitter are huge to a websites success, and we appreciate any help you can offer. By simply liking us on Facebook can actually go a long way. We have added a “like” button on our homepage. Visit the USA Online Poker homepage and press the “like” button just above the sidebar navigation.

Thanks again!