The phone rings you out of sleep in the middle of the night, the BILD newspaper is at the door, and less than 24 hours later you are unemployed. – The way my April 15, 2011 started surely wasn’t the same for everyone; for some it merely meant a change of their favorite poker rooms, for others the loss of all their financial means. For all poker players and fans, however, it meant that trust in poker rooms, even the largest and most well-known in the world, was shaken in the long term.
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From Mainstream to the Back Alley
Poker was not only socially acceptable but seen and played everywhere. Whether at birthdays, meetings with friends, sporting events, company parties, or promotional events – a portable poker set was usually carried by more than one person, sometimes even foldable table covers. And surely someone always knew someone who could quickly bring a whole truckload of poker tables for a spontaneous event.
Poker was everywhere in the media too; after the big poker blockbusters “Rounders” and “Casino Royale” during the heyday of the Moneymaker boom, cinemas were full of films like “Lucky You” or “All-In,” and almost every production company was working on at least one poker movie after reviewing numerous poker scripts.
Poker merchandise was everywhere. While the logos of the big poker rooms adorned Formula 1 race cars, every household had poker room branded lighters, beer coasters, USB sticks, or the frequently used anti-stress balls lying around. If a conversation touched on poker, anyone could immediately join in, whether in the waiting room at the train station, at the bakery, banker, or at grandma’s 90th birthday.
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All of this suddenly ended with Black Friday. What was previously fun to talk about in reality or relive in your mind, what motivated and kept you awake, suddenly became frustrating, depressing, and painful. Online poker lost its innocence on a large scale, and many lost money or motivation to continue. Moreover, it became difficult to assess the seriousness of poker sites from the outside. And after Black Friday, it was damn easy for anyone to make poker playing unpleasant, whether the criticism came from an experienced player, friends, parents, or internet trolls.
Proof of Reserves – what is that?
Of course, Black Friday also had its good side – and I don’t mean that online players suddenly knew what season it was or what it looked like outside their rooms. Besides clearer structures in handling payments to and from poker rooms – which are still not really “clear” in most countries today, and especially not handled consistently within a country – Proof of Reserves has become standard at (some) poker rooms. Besides circumventing the payment restrictions imposed by UIGEA, the lack of separation between company and player funds was the most serious offense. Nowadays, more and more poker rooms show with a “Proof of Reserves” not only how much player capital is currently held across all accounts but also where this money is kept separate from the provider’s capital.
From High Stakes Grinder to Play Money Player
For many grinders, Black Friday meant the loss of their livelihood. Those who didn’t earn money with poker also found themselves repeatedly visiting the blocked websites of online poker rooms and staring incredulously at the FBI and DoJ logos. For many poker players, Black Friday also meant giving up habits or restructuring daily routines. – Those who out of desperation or love for poker switched from the big real money online poker rooms to play money poker providers like Zynga were often mocked, as for example in the animated series “The Micros.”
