Home / Poker News August 2011 / Black Friday Fallout – More Pros Moving Out
Black Friday Fallout – More Pros Moving Out
Posted by: Mark Baldwing - Tue, 2011-08-30 06:44
The Black Friday events have definitely dealt a huge blow to the online poker industry, but their impact on those who had made a living playing online poker in the US was even more devastating. Recreational players never depend on the money they may or may not earn at the virtual green felt. They also have regular jobs they can fall back to. Online professionals on the other hand don’t really do anything else and once the possibility to do what they have always done for a living is taken away, they are forced to make radical decisions.
Scores of such professional players, (including
Pokerstars pro Daniel Negreanu, Phil Galfond and Vanessa Selbst) have already moved north of the border. While for some the move was a relatively easy one, for others, who never really had friends, or any ties to places outside the US, it was much more painful.
Regardless of the sacrifices though, more and more players pack up and move. Justin Bonomo has apparently joined the exodus as well. He, unlike many of his above named peers, has opted to move to Malta. He won’t be going alone either: Isaac Haxton and Steve O’Dwyer are going with him too.
Bonomo said he had never contemplated the move before Black Friday, as he was perfectly happy the way he was. He even procrastinated over the decision for a while, putting it off until after the
WSOP. Eventually though, he ran out of options and he was forced to commit.
He said focusing on live poker wasn’t a viable option for him either, as he was miserable at the live poker table, where he had to rub elbows with people he didn’t want to meet. The speed of the live games (or lack thereof) was another factor which contributed to his decision.
When asked about whether or not he still held out hope that he would see some of his money stuck at
Full Tilt Poker and Ultimate Bet again, Bonomo said he felt he was going to get some refunds from Full Tilt, but that he wasn’t sure at all about Ultimate Bet.
