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Another freedom lost. Gone. Poof. Thanks alot, Obama DOJ.

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trapeze:
Internet poker has just gone up in smoke. I am guessing that this is probably somehow connected to the moron Senate majority leader from Nevada. The following can be found when visiting the PokerStars website. Or the FullTiltPoker website.



Story from the WSJ to be found here.

[blockquote]Eleven people, including the founders of three of the largest online poker companies doing business in the U.S., have been charged in the largest crackdown on Internet poker by U.S. authorities.

The charges set up a long-awaited showdown between the sites, which claim millions of U.S. players and billions in revenue, and the federal government, which has long alleged that their operations are illegal. The sites claim they do not violate federal laws pertaining to Internet gambling, in part because poker, they say, is not gambling.

The charges were accompanied by the shutting down of some popular sites that operate online poker and sent ripples through gambling communities. They also led Friday to the abrupt cancellation of recently announced alliances between poker sites and casino companies.

"This is seismic," said James Kilsby, an editor for Gambling Compliance, a website which tracks regulatory issues. "It's a game changer."

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have alleged the poker companies, which are located outside the U.S., tried to sidestep U.S. laws prohibiting banks and credit-card issuers from processing gambling payments by disguising billions of dollars from U.S. gamblers as payments to nonexistent online merchants for golf balls, jewelry, flowers and other merchandise.[/blockquote]

Just guessing but I would say that there are about a million or so US online poker players that now have time on their hands to do something else. Local Tea Party orgs might see an influx in new freedom activists.

Damn, I hate the federal government. Kill unborn babies all day long with taxpayer's money but we just can't allow consenting adults to play poker outside of Vegas, Atlantic City or any of the dozens of Indian casinos.

trapeze:
FullTiltPoker press release

Pandora:
I see.  The Feds want their skim and are outraged they're not getting it from, supposedly, free individuals indulging in this particular pastime. 

You do know we're getting close, right ...........

trapeze:
Players React to U.S. Online Poker Crackdown


[blockquote]The Twitterverse exploded this afternoon following the announcement that the U.S. Department of Justice had indicted the ownership behind such American-friendly online poker as PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB.com, and Absolute Poker. The DoJ has issued arrest warrants against 11 owners of these sites for several transgressions, including money laundering, bank fraud, and violations of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

“Ummmm this can’t be good… GG online poker,” asserted Christian “charder30” Harder over his Twitter feed.

Poker super agent Brian Balsbaugh commented over Twitter, “Words I’m hearing: ‘Interpol,’ ‘Seizure,’ and ‘Disenfranchise.’” Poker’s Godfather, Doyle Brunson, observed, “The DOJ must not have anything much to do. They just indicted 11 people from Full Tilt, UB, and PokerStars.”

The World Poker Tour’s “Raw Deal” host Tony “Bond_18” Dunst stated, “Seems s**t is hitting the fan in the U.S., be interesting to see how this pans out.”

Following the release of the indictment against the four major U.S.-facing sites, players began to notice that they were being blocked from access to PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute Poker, and UB.com. “PokerStars already blocking U.S. customers from real money games,” Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar Tweeted on Friday afternoon. “The Mayans were only 18 months off predicting the end of the world, pretty impressive.”[/blockquote]

trapeze:
Found on the 2+2 Poker Forum site. A post from a lawyer:

[blockquote]Quick Bio, I graduated from UT Austin with a general finance degree before getting my law degree from Georgetown. I worked as general in house council for probably the most infamous (clue: vampire squid) investment bank on the street during their tango with the Department of Justice last year. I think this situation is very similar.

I currently work for an energy fund in texas with a financial processing center located in the Caymans, mostly handling inflowing investment capital, so I also have a working knowledge of how these online poker sites handle their capital inflow.

I play poker casually on stars, one of my best friends plays poker for a living, so I have a dog in this fight.
That said, I have some general things to say:

1.)   No company has ever survived an indictment by the DOJ. Ever. (I’m not talking about a criminal investigation, but actual charges – as in this situation)

2.)   In this thread, a lot of people are implying that class actions suits or speaking with their representatives would help… Working with the DOJ in procuring information about my firm has convinced me of the contrary:

a.)   the DOJ isn’t some “organization” you can pressure – they don’t really answer to the mass of voters because they aren’t elected.
b.)   The DOJ isn’t an entity you can make fold or bring suit against. They will absolutely deflect opposing litigation – think sovereign immunity. I know it’s difficult to imagine that in our American democracy anyone who is above the law, but the DOJ can basically skirt constitutional law at will. They never proved our bank did anything “unlawful” but we still paid a $500 million fine. It was basically an excise tax on financial institutions and allowed the DOJ to not lose face. There was NO legal precedence for it. Which leads to my last point:
c.)   No amount of connection will alleviate the situation (hence why convincing your representative is pointless). My firm was the most connected firm on the street. Many of our alum are working in high ranking positions in the government (they run the Treasury department). We still paid a fine.

3.)   Processing inflowing capital has very stringent requirements – even if you’re located abroad. If the DOJ has made a formal indictment then you can be sure they HAVE a case. And even if they don’t there won’t be enough confidence left in either of the big 3 poker sites for players (from the States) to ever flock back (see: Arther Andersen). And even if the case falls flat Pokerstars/Tilt/etc will be forced into a settlement and you’ll be looking at a fine upwards $1 billion , USD.

4. you should attempt to withdrawal your money. I can only imagine some are recommending against it because they already have, and are afraid that because online poker sites don’t have “side pockets” that the effect will be similar to a “run on a bank.” While this is true, I’d urge you to try and withdrawal now.

The Department of Justice doesn’t lose – and in the rare instance that it do, they still raze the questionable firm to the ground.

Seek any recourse you can but get out now – whether it’s $500 or $50,000.[/blockquote]


I am wondering who the 11 indicted people are and what they are facing in terms of fines and jail time. Names of most have yet to be released but I am guessing that in the case of FullTilt there will be some very famous poker players included. FullTilt was set up after a lot of famous players decided that they were being taken advantage of by big outfits. The World Poker Tour which was televised on the Travel Channel for years was notorious for running promotions, etc. that dropped names without compensating the players a dime. The players got pissed off and decided to start their own operation and the result was FullTilt.

So... maybe Howard Lederer or Chris Ferguson or Phil Ivey or Jennifer Harmon. I guess the news will break eventually.

EDIT: Okay we now know who was indicted. See post here.

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