The High Stakes Rail – 12/20/09-12/26/09

This year is winding down but the high stakes action just keeps going. This week, a huge session between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Patrik Antonius resulted in the largest pots of the week. All hands were played at Full Tilt crypto gambling $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha tables.

This week’s biggest pot started when Antonius raised to $1,200 from the button. Dwan three-bet his JdTh5d4h to $3,600 and Antonius called. Dwan checked the Jh6d8s flop, Antonius bet $6,000, and durrrr made the call. A 3c fell on the turn and durrrr checked his open-ended straight. Antonius bet $17,200 and durrrr called. A 2s on the river completed durrr’s draw. Here, durrrr chose to play it risky and checked to try and win Antonius’ stack with a check-raise. It paid off as Antonius bet $47,200 and was check-raised all-in. Antonius made the call and put his entire stack on the line. Antonius saw the bad news, mucked his hand, and durrrr took the $259,577 pot.

In this week’s second mammoth pot, Dwan started on the button by raising to $1,200 with his JdTs9h8s. Antonius three-bet to $3,600 with his KdQcJs9s, Dwan four-bet to $10,800, Antonius reraised to $32,400, and durrrr made the call. The flop hit both players. It gave Antonius top two-pair and Dwan a wrap. Antonius bet the pot, durrrr put the rest of Antonius’ $22,137.50 at risk, and Antonius called. The 7c missed Dwan but the 9c completed his straight draw and another big pot went Tom’s way; this time worth $238,675.

With AsAdJh5c, Antonus raised the next hand to $1,200 and durrr raised to $3,600 with Ts9s8c6d. Antonius reraised to $10,800, and Dwan called. The 3cTc9d gave durrrr two-pair and left Antonius with an overpair. Dwan donked a $16,400 bet Antonius’ way and Antonius called. The 3h turn paired the board and gave Antonius the bigger two-pair. Dwan, not suspecting the turn to have changed much, chose to check-raise all-in. $86,784.50 went into the pot from both players and created a final pot of $227,969. The Ac river added insult to injury for Dwan, giving Antonius aces over threes and the pot.

The money was destined to go all-in early with this next hand. Dwan started the action off by raising to $1,200 with QdQh8h7d. The usual raises and reraises ended with durrrr calling Antonius’ AdAcJs5c and $32,400 raise. The pot on the flop started at $64,800 and there was only $81,399 left in Antonius’ stack. The 5s9c2d board gave both players an overpair and Dwan a gutshot. The rest of the money went all-in on the flop and the pot became $227,595. The As turn left Dwan drawing thin. Again, the Qc river added insult to injury, also giving Dwan a set. However, his set could not beat Antonius’ set of aces and the pot was awarded to Antonius.

Crypto Gambling

BTCC Joins OKCoin to Resume Bitcoin Withdrawals in China; Trading Volumes Up in Crypto Gambling

Make Money Using Bitcoin Faucets

The months-long bitcoin withdrawal freeze in China is coming to an end, as major exchange BTCC resumes bitcoin withdrawals.

The new month brings with it reports of another prominent exchange lifting its withdrawal freeze. BTCChina has stated that it has begun “testing” bitcoins this week. In joining OKCoin, that’s two of the ‘big three’ Chinese exchanges resuming withdrawals following regulatory scrutiny by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

China’s central bank began investigating trading and business practices of regional exchanges that drove what was then the world’s largest bitcoin trading market. It was nearly six months ago on January 6 when PBoC officials met with BTCC and followed it up with “on-site checks” of China’s biggest exchanges.

For its part, BTCC claimed it “regularly meets with the PBOC” to work in accordance of laws and regulations while adhering to “strict AML/KYC policies”. It wasn’t long before the financial regulator’s tightening squeeze was felt in the Chinese bitcoin ecosystem. Exchanges stopped margin trading completely and enforced trading fees in January alone.

Come February, OKCoin and Huobi paused bitcoin withdrawals, a temporary measure that was expected to last a month at the time. BTCC followed suit and halted withdrawals a week later. The freeze continued through March, with BTCC stating that withdrawals would only resume after regulatory approval.

In mid-May, CCN reported that the months-long PBOC’s inspection of exchanges was coming to an end. Withdrawals were to be expected in June, with rumors of ‘punitive’ penalties to be imposed on bitcoin exchanges. Details of the punishments, if any, are currently unknown.

Prominent Chinese cryptocurrency news source cnLedger confirmed BTCC resuming withdrawals.

The impact on Chinese markets has been telling. Having accounted for 10% of the world’s bitcoin trading early on Wednesday, news of OKCoin allowing withdrawals spurred investor activity to nearly 20% of the world’s trading volumes on the day.

On Thursday, following BTCC’s announcement, Crypto Gambling trading in Chinese markets is now at nearly 25% of the global market over a 24-hour period.