Americas Cardroom Down
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online poker |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | San José, Costa Rica |
| Worldwide | |
| Parent | Winning Poker Network |
| Website | americascardroom.eu |
- America's Cardroom Down Again
- America's Cardroom
- Americas Cardroom Won't Download
- Americas Cardroom News
Americas Cardroom is a US-themed online poker site founded in 2001 and headquartered in San José, Costa Rica. The company serves parts of the United States, Canada, Latin America, and several other countries. It is a subsidiary of the Winning Poker Network.
Apr 13, 2018 Ive been playing on ACR for 3 weeks. I ran my account up to 4k. They are giving me the run around and have not only suspended my account for routine investigation but they have ignored me for 8 days. They keep hanging up on me on the phone or say management isnt available. Bringing big #onlinepoker to U.S. And worldwide players since 2001. For huge guarantees, fast payouts in the U.S., Americas Cardroom is your best bet. Oh by the way, They're down.
History[edit]
Doyles Room acquisition[edit]
In October 2011, Americas Cardroom acquired Doyles Room, the online poker site named after Doyle Brunson, a poker professional. Brunson had recently cut ties with Doyles Room following the domain seizures of PokerStars, Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker, and Ultimate Bet on April 15, 2011 by the Department of Justice, in United States v. Scheinberg.[1]
Coding and cryptocurrency[edit]
In 2017, ACR was ranked seven in the world 'on the online poker traffic site PokerScout.com,' according to Forbes. Phil Nagy was the ACR CEO, and made the company implement AGILE style programming in their development.[2]
In 2017, Americas Cardroom expanded its payment options to include more than 60 cryptocurrencies, responding to the growing popularity of Bitcoin around the world.[3]
Delayed payments and botting[edit]
In 2017, concerns among players began with allegations of delayed payments involving withdrawals including bitcoin transfers. Further allegations were made when players alleged the site required that a certain percentage of rake being taken from deposits before withdrawals could be made.[4]
In 2018, professional poker player and podcaster Joe Ingram advised players not to use the site due to alleged botting, cheating and the possibility of superusers.[5][6] In March 2018, the forums at Two Plus Two Publishing removed all advertisements relating to Americas Cardroom.[7] In April 2019, Americas Cardroom and its parent the Winning Poker Network took 'transparent action' against bots, confirming two closed accounts, the return of $200,000 to users, and the creation of a $25,000 maximum reimbursement policy after offending bot behavior. In particular, one user was banned after live video was streamed of the account acting awry.[8]
New events[edit]
ACR has hosted events in Costa Rica, for example in 2018.[9] On May 2, 2018, Americas Cardroom was under DDOS attack. The company as a result cancelled a number of tournaments, including one up to #1 million. According to CalvinAyre.com, the company had experienced intermittent attacks as far back as 2014, and in September 2017, the CEO of Americas Cardroom stated online that ACR would not give in to cyber terrorism or pay ransom to stop the attacks.[10]
In November 2018, ACR launched a $1-million guaranteed poker tournament to be held on Sundays, which became permanent due to popularity. It was named The Sunday VENOM, previously called the Million Dollar Encore.[11] Prior to Venom, it was known for Rathole events, offering prize pools over seven-days.[12] In July 2019, the company promoted that it would give the winner of the $5 million Venom tourney their $1 million payment via bitcoin in the 'largest crypto payment in history for an online gaming site.'[13] During the end of 2019, ACR hosted a $12 million tournament.[14][15]
References[edit]
- ^Richtel, Matt (2011-04-15). 'U.S. Cracks Down on Online Gambling'. The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ^forbes.com
- ^'Why A Poker Site Will Start Accepting Over 60 Forms Of Cryptocurrencies'. Forbes.com.
- ^Pete (2 August 2017). 'ACR & Black Chip Poker Players Advised to Exercise Caution with Deposits/Withdrawals'. HighstakesDB. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
- ^Equipa PT.PokerNews (2018-02-07). 'Joey Ingram: 'Cheating, botting, collusion e superusing na ACR''. PokerNews (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2018-03-05.
- ^Pete (4 February 2018). ''Do NOT Play on ACR' - Joe Ingram Talks Collusion, BOTS, and Superusing on WPN'. HighstakesDB. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
- ^Teemu (3 March 2018). 'TwoPlusTwo Suspends Winning Poker Network Advertising'. HighstakesDB. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
- ^calvinayre.com
- ^calvinayre.com
- ^calvinyayre.com
- ^calvinyayre.com
- ^calvinayre.com
- ^yahoo.com
- ^cardplayer.com
- ^'Gambling Alliance'. Monday, April 6, 2020
External links[edit]
What is Americas Cardroom?
ACR is an unregulated online poker room that offers real-money games to players in the U.S. It is one of the few online poker rooms where international players have an opportunity to play online against U.S. players.
Americas Cardroom originated as Doyle’s Room and was relaunched under its new name after being purchased by the Winning Poker Network.
The Accusation
In a video posted in February, podcaster Joey Ingram talked about player collusion, the use of bots and possible super users taking advantage of a lack of security on the Americas Cardroom for profit. “I can’t recommend anyone play ACR cash games,” he posted on Twitter.
The accusations aren’t the first of their kind for ACR. There have been discussions on poker forums about the site and some questionable practices for years.
And while Ingram talks a good game, he offered little proof to support the allegations he made. After posting the video, Ingram was called out for not providing evidence to support his claim.
Ingram was quick to respond: “Clips for the accounts will be posted. Information on the collusion I’ve received. The site has to check the back end. The bots are obvious as fucking day.”
Players are on guard
Players take cheating accusations seriously. After the Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker and Full Tilt Poker scandals, players have been keeping their guard up.
But sometimes, the lure of playing online poker outside Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware (the states that have legalized online poker) is too great. Since April 2011, U.S. players have been taking somewhat of a risk playing on unregulated sites.
How you move your money in and out of a site can be subject to scrutiny under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). To help get around any gray area, ACR offers deposit and withdrawal options in over 60 of the top cryptocurrencies, which may be offering a false sense of security to its players.
America's Cardroom Down Again
ACR tournament loophole
On Thursday, Ingram released a second video that highlighted banned accounts and the exploitation of the tournament registration process at Americas Cardroom.
Apparently, there is a loophole that allows players who late register for a tournament to sit down at the same table.
As Ingram explains (starting at 6:24 in the video), a team of players can late register together as the money bubble approached. They can then collude to ensure they reach the money, and then chip dump to one player after the money bubble bursts.
Ingram provided a list of players, both active and banned, with win rates previously in the 30 percent range suddenly posting win rates in the high 80 percent range. And again, while suspicious, it still doesn’t actually prove anything. But alarm bells are going off.
Ingram also posted the list of questionable players to his Twitter feed for all to see. He called on Americas Cardroom to investigate beyond the loophole and look into the relationships between the players.
These are just two (Zynovij & GodTierBluff) instances we know of accounts that were banned on the same date for using the ACR tournament exploit in the most obvious way.
86%
88%
In the money % pic.twitter.com/yjiECV2MHr
— DJ Joey Ingram (@Joeingram1) February 6, 2018
To which ACR responded:
Yes we caught these players NOT breaking T&C's but finding a loophole. Thanks for pointing out that we do police the games and ban when necessary!
— Americas Cardroom (@ACR_POKER) February 6, 2018
Responses to the allegations
The one thing that became evident when following the tweets, videos and responses to Ingram’s cheating allegations is that the accusations are surprising to some and not to others.
To one group, the allegations are confirming what they suspected.
To another group, the allegations are unfounded and Ingram is chasing another fifteen minutes of fame.
And then there are others who simply don’t understand the nature of bots and what Ingram is alleging.
You can feel the frustration in some of Ingram’s responses, but these two tweets seem to sum it up:
Yes, I am one man. No one else gives a fuck.
— DJ Joey Ingram (@Joeingram1) February 7, 2018
If you can't figure out the exploit from this video, god help the world.
America's Cardroom
— DJ Joey Ingram (@Joeingram1) February 7, 2018
While Ingram’s account of his observations is plausible, these types of allegations are hard to prove.
Americas Cardroom admits in their public response to Ingram that players took advantage of a loophole. They didn’t say they fixed it or had plans to fix it.
The big question: will the allegations be enough to keep poker players away?
Unfortunately, as long as regulated online poker struggles to make its way back across the U.S., players without other options will continue to play.
And as long as U.S. players continue to play on sites like Americas Cardroom, their bankroll could be be at risk.