4/18/2011
In a surprising and stunning move by the United States Department of Justice, a federal indictment was unsealed in the southern district court of New York that has charged three of the largest online poker websites in the world with bank fraud and other illegal gambling offenses.
USA Online Poker got "Black Friday".
UPDATE – For players looking to play online poker from the USA, it appears that Bodog Poker is still live and operational.
In a surprising and stunning move by the United States Department of Justice on Apr. 15th 2011, a federal indictment was unsealed in the southern district court of New York that has charged three of the largest online poker websites in the world with bank fraud and other illegal gambling offenses. In addition, 75 bank accounts also had restraining orders placed on them in connection with money laundering and aiding these internet poker rooms in moving funds to and from USA players’ accounts.
As of today, the domain names of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB.com and Absolute Poker (who are owned by the same company, Cereus) have been seized by the FBI and the US government. In fact, if you visit any of these websites right now you will notice a federal seizure warning that is stamped very clearly on their homepage’s.
The indictment calls for the immediate arrest of 11 well-known executives that represent the “Poker Companies” listed in the documents, including people like Isai Scheinberg, the multi-billionaire creator behind PokerStars, as well as Scott Tom, who was synonymous with the Absolute Poker cheating scandal that swindled tens of millions of dollars away from online poker players.
It hasn’t been confirmed just how many of these execs they will be able to arrest and detain right away, but speculation across a few news outlets have already made mention that 2 of the 11 people listed in the indictment have already been taken into custody. It’s even more uncertain whether the DOJ will be able to go into other jurisdictions to detain the others listed in their indictment, as most of the executives on their list haven’t even stepped foot inside the USA for years over fears of prosecution.
The Poker Community’s Reaction
The shockwaves of today’s news have resonated through the poker community everywhere, as popular forums like 2+2 and Pocket Fives were temporarily shut down due to the influx of traffic from players demanding answers regarding their accounts and the status of cashouts as well. Other news organizations like the Associated Press have also reported that the news of these poker site seizures have also caused recent deals between the Wynn Resorts and Pokerstars to crumble, with Station Casinos also releasing statements that their pending deal with Full Tilt Poker has “expired” due to the current state of online poker.
This has certainly been quite a hectic day for online poker players everywhere, and comes as an even bigger shock to organizations like the Poker Players Alliance, who had seemed to be working ever so diligently to get internet gaming regulated in the USA.
Former US Senator Alfonse D’Amato had the following statement regarding today’s news:
"On behalf of the millions of poker players across the country, we are shocked at the action taken by the U.S. Department of Justice today against online poker companies and will continue to fight for Americans’ right to participate in the game they enjoy. Online poker is not a crime and should not be treated as such. We are currently gathering all of the information around today’s announcement and will offer detailed analysis when the full facts become available.”
On top of all this, it doesn’t seem like the FBI is limiting this shut down to just the 50 United States – in fact, news has been dropping all over Twitter that these online poker websites may even be shut down worldwide. Reports out of Italy, Brazil and Canada have already speculated that Stars, UB, AP and Full Tilt’s websites are also down in their locale, with some players not even being able to log in, deposit, or even cash out their existing bankroll.
As of now, USA players are not even allowed to sit at real money games at PokerStars, the biggest online poker room in the world. In fact, IP-blocks have also been issued to anyone living in the US for most of these sites right now, with some news companies reporting it will only be a matter of hours before ALL players in the United States will be booted off their tables while this mess is sorted out.
It is unclear how long this indictment may affect online cashouts, as Neteller took nearly 18 months to get funds paid out after the Department of Justice cracked down on the popular e-Wallet a few years ago. They too assisted online poker sites in moving funds to and from player accounts here in the US, so players are most definitely keeping their fingers crossed as this newest development certainly has a lot of citizens hoping they can at least get access to their cash sooner than later.