The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport has announced a crackdown that will restrict which non-UK gambling websites can advertise here. From September 1st, gambling sites (which appears to include poker sites) will only be allowed to advertise in the UK if they satisfy the DCMS as to the standards of their operation.

Gambling sites based in the European Economic Area (EEA) and "whitelisted" jurisdictions will be exempt from the ban. Currently the only white-listed jurisdictions are Alderney and the Isle of Man.

The ad ban is expected to hit some 1,000 sites including Betfred Casino and Poker, Interpoker.com and Littlewoodscasino.com which are all currently based in Netherlands Antilles. The ban only covers advertising by the sites and not (at least for now) their activity.

Some will undoubtedly suspect economic protectionism at the root of this, however the DCMS is adamant that the objective is player safety and security. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, James Purnell said:

"I make no apology for banning adverts for websites operating from places that don’t meet our strict standards. Protection is my number one priority."

It's not clear from reading the press release whether the ban on advertising will include sponsorship of TV shows such as late night poker tournaments. It's also unclear what happens to companies that are based in one location but regulated under another jurisdiction such as Alderney.

The new rules could also affect website owners and bloggers in the UK hoping to make money from advertising revenue... *sigh*

Labels: news, poker, uk

Last night I played in a small tournament. Nothing odd about that, except that this was face-to-face rather than online!

It was my first experience of The Nuts Poker League ("As Seen On TV" - on Dragons' Den). If you're in the UK and fancy some friendly poker with no money involved than you might want to check it out.

No money? That's right. The Nuts is a league system, much like a darts or table footy pub league. The game is a simple no-limit Hold 'Em knock out and points are awarded depending on final position. Points are tallied up quarterly - and what do points mean? Well, initially a seat at the regional finals, then potentially the national championship. There's even talk (not confirmed on the website) of the ultimate winner getting a seat at the World Series.

The advantage of playing for points (apart from being legal!) is that it costs nothing to play. Nothing. I was sceptical about this, expecting some hidden charge like a sign-up fee, but there really is no catch. The league is supported by the pubs, who are basically paying to get people through their doors on quiet nights. A win-win setup.

The game last night had just over 20 players of varying degrees of skill. The organiser did a good job of making sure that everyone was comfortable with the game and he even acted as drinks waiter for us!

How did I do? Went out on the bubble at position nine with the top eight going to the final table and the points. Which I don't think is too bad considering that a) the best cards I was dealt all night were 8-8 and b) the woman on my left played lots of starting hands and frequently managed to hit the flop.

I'll definitely be going back.

Labels: nuts, poker, uk