Author Jennifer Newell's poker week in review for May 20-26.

Our consolidation of the week's news is quick and to the point — seven stories, to be exact — for the week ending May 26. Let's go.

No. 1 — Is Ultimate Poker Ready for Nevada Competition?

Last week, tracking numbers from PokerScout showed that Ultimate Poker traffic was up 27% for the week in cash games. It helped that the site dealt its one millionth poker hand, and the constant changes taking place to improve player experiences is endearing the site to many players. Even so, the site is still in its initial trial period and working on a number of kinks, meaning some players are frustrated and not playing as much as they may when an upgrade is released.

Meanwhile, the World Series of Poker is ready to launch its competing online poker site in Nevada, though there is no exact date set for the first day of action. A report announcing a launch last week was erroneous. In addition, Treasure Island is said to be nearing a launch date of its own site and is expected to be live sometime in the next few months. Other sites, such as South Point and Golden Nugget, have yet to indicate that they are prepared to go live.

No. 2 — US-Facing PPN and Associated Processors Shut Down

One of the online poker sites that emerged after Black Friday as an alternative for U.S.-based poker players was the Poker Pros Network (PPN), originally a part of the Cake Network. It closed for a time, then relaunched on its own network last year. But one year later, the site seems to be down, having advertised being under maintenance for nearly two weeks, as reported by Legal Poker Sites.

In related news, two payment processors linked to PPN — Pic-Club and MyPayLinq — are offline, as well. There was no warning about the shutdowns, and players had no chance to request a withdrawal of funds. Players previously requesting funds transfers from MyPayLinq have been waiting as long as five months with no word on their money.

No. 3 — PokerStars Implements New Practices

Members of PokerStars recently met with players to discuss possible improvements to the online poker site. According to Pokerfuse, two primary concerns came to light. The first was rat-holing, which is explained as players winning money at a table, then leaving the table and sitting back down with a smaller stack so competitors are unable to win that money back. The concern with this stems from discouraging newer players to keep playing, while more experienced players take their money and go to the higher stakes tables. PokerStars is looking into this issue.

The second concern is players who sit at a table but use the "sit out" function until weak players join the game. The solution is a new policy to be implemented called "King of the Hill," which forces players to compete against each other instead of sitting out. If there is no dealing at a table, it will be closed. PokerStars feels this will help recreational players and keep those with more experience from taking advantage of them.

No. 4 — New Jersey Debates Revenue Predictions, Appoints Galea

Since the enactment of the New Jersey online gambling law, there have been many predictions regarding potential revenue for the state. However, the legislative administration's original budget numbers may have been very high, according to the Office of Legislative Services. Its budget officer, David Rosen, told Governor Chris Christie and the Senate Budget Committee that the original estimate of online gaming revenue will only be $30 million, which is approximately $150 million less than estimates.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has hired a consultant to assist with the launch of online gaming in the state. Mario Galea, who was just reappointed by the Lotteries & Gaming Authority of Malta as chairman from his original position as CEO, was chosen from a list of seven candidates. Galea will help finalize the regulations and push online gaming toward its eventual launch.

No. 5 — New Dutch Gaming Regulations May Hurt Major Companies

The Dutch government finally released the much-anticipated proposals for national regulation of online poker. According to Pokerfuse, the caveat that has the potential to keep companies like PokerStars out of the market is the rule that applicants must have a primary establishment in the European Union or in a state appointed by the Minister of Justice. This may exclude the Isle of Man and the PokerStars empire.

Other parts of the proposal include a 29% tax rate for land-based licensees and 20% for Internet-only operators. Charitable donations from revenue will be mandatory.

The proposals are open for comments until July 21.

No. 6 — Gibraltar Not Helping GTECH Players

Many players have complained recently about games offered through Finsoft and GTECH, alleging that they were rigged. According to 4Flush, there were issues of cards not being randomly dealt, as well as different payouts between play money and real money games. Players asserted that cards were fixed to hold four percent despite advertising a 100 percent payback. Concerns were addressed to the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority over the past year.

After six months of an investigation, the GRA released its findings to say that incorrect help files were posted, and the player who discovered the issue should never have been a player at all. Players are now up in arms about the response from GRA, which refused to address the scope of the problem or acknowledge that a solution should be implemented.

No. 7 — No Real News About Full Tilt Remissions

It has become news to report that there is no news about the remission payments for Full Tilt Poker players located in the United States. Players and media contacting the Garden City Group, which is the group selected by the U.S. Department of Justice to administer the players' claims, are receiving the same response: The process continues. Pokerfuse received its own response to an inquiry, which stated that they are working with the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering group of the U.S. DOJ in order to determine how claims will be calculated.

There seems to be no clear date in sight for the payment process to begin, as there is still no determination as to how to know what to pay players. Whether they decide on amounts based on deposits only or existing balances at the time of seizure, players are still being asked to wait.