Yatahay Poker Network Now Winning Poker

The new look of what was Yatahay Poker

The Yatahay Poker Network, which is one of the few that is still accepting American players, has changed its name to Winning Poker Network. This rebranding is effective immediately. Yatahay and other poker operators have been involved in a cat-and-mouse game with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) ever since the events of Black Friday and Blue Monday took down or eliminated certain poker rooms from the lucrative U.S. market.

DOJ Actions

Of the two dates, Black Friday, which was April 15, 2011, is the best known. That’s when the feds raided and shutdown Poker Stars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker in the U.S. Although Poker Stars was able to survive the aftermath of that day, it signaled the unraveling of a Full Tilt saga that exposed gross mismanagement and highly controversial and illegal dealings by the popular site. Absolute Poker, which is part of the Ultimate Bet network, has lost most of its membership and appears to be on the brink of failure.

Blue Monday occurred in May 2011 and involved the seizure of various domains utilizing the “dot-com” suffix. Those seizers included sites on the Yatahay Poker Network, which includes such well-known rooms as 5Dimes Poker and True Poker.  That action facilitated the use of “dot-ag” and “dot-eu” domains by Yatahay and other networks, which the DoJ could not control or access.

Poker Site Changes

To create Winning Poker, the company has done an entire makeover, transforming the look of the site and logo. In October, the network acquired DoylesRoom, which had been part of the CakePoker Network. America’s Cardroom is also one of the Winning Poker Network’s sites.

Trending Towards Re-branding

The former logo for the Yatahay Poker Network

There have been various companies that have taken to re-branding for the U.S. market. About six weeks ago, Bodog created Bovada Poker, which is only for players in the U.S., and last week it was announced that the Chico Poker Network would become the new name for the Action Poker Network. Various sites in these networks accept U.S. poker players. Others that take new U.S. players include the Merge Gaming Network, CakePoker Network and Everleaf Gaming Network.

Recent U.S. Developments

There are new developments in the U.S. that may affect online poker and those sites that are owned outside of the country. The DoJ recently announced that the Wire Act, which prohibits the exchange of money to gamble across state lines using devices such as the phone and computer, only pertains to sports gambling.

That ruling means that poker is not affected by the act and since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) pertains to the transfer of money for gambling purposes to entities outside the U.S., it looks as though the door is open for states to license online poker. Nevada acted quickly on that new opportunity and other states are ready to follow.

If poker rooms in the U.S. are able to provide easy access, safe and secure sites and attract enough players, then foreign poker rooms still offering online poker in the country will certainly be affected. The online poker landscape is constantly shifting with various lobbying groups, such as the Poker Players Alliance, numerous lawmakers and various states pushing for the legalization of online poker in the U.S.

Related articles

• Black Friday – United States v. Scheinberg (ggpokernews.com)
• The Impact of Black Friday on Today’s Online Gambling Community (ggpokernews.com)
• The Future of Online Gambling (ggpokernews.com)
• Full Tilt Poker’s Legal Woes Analyzed (ggpokernews.com)

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Posted by admin on Jan 20 2012. Filed under Online Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.