Bitcoin Changing Face Of Online Poker?

Earlier this month, SatoshiDice was sold in full for 126,315 Bitcoins (apprx. $11.5 million). Incredibly, the world’s biggest Bitcoin online gambling site with an income of above $50,000 per month, is also one of the easiest to use as gamblers simply send in their Bitcoins and pick a number they hope will be lower than the one on the dice rolled by ‘The Ghost of Satoshi.’
Now in a sign of changing times, Satoshi Poker, online poker’s newest venue to use the digital currency Bitcoin, has stepped up its marketing budget as it attempts to procure more player sign-ups. Satoshi Poker enables players from all over the world to sign up, deposit and withdraw easily using Bitcoin, and as the business proclaims on its site:
“[Satoshi Poker offers] truly anonymous poker games, without the known hassles at withdrawals as known by the current online poker elite..[while] your bankroll is safe against the piracy that some governments commit against their citizens, as we don’t know what country you are from.”
Another feature in its favour aside from Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals being processed within an hour, is the fact that Satoshi Poker offers the lowest rake in the industry at a mere 2%, while players can also expect rakeback of 20%.
Furthermore, whereas the online poker industry has come under attack from countries around the world, such as the US, which has used control of financial transactions to curb their activities, Bitcoins can be transferred through a smartphone or computer without the need for an intermediate financial institution. As Bitcoin enthusiast Steve White, explains:
“If done right, pokers sites that accept only Bitcoins allow for the player to manage the wallet rather than the poker room. The poker rooms don’t necessarily act as a bank and they can charge very little rake because they don’t have processing fees. The poker room offers the site to play on and the way for managing the bankroll is up to the player- they can deposit, play and withdraw in the same day holding their own rolls in a secure and encrypted manner.”
How far the use of Bitcoins will go in changing the face of online poker remains to be seen, but in the meantime there is no ignoring the fact the digital currency is continuing to grow in popularity. Satoshi Poker now joins Switch Poker, SealsWithClubs, and WinPoker as online poker rooms offering Bitcoin as a payment processing option.