UPDATE – For players looking to play online poker from the USA, it appears that Sportsbook.com is still live and operational.
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.
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.
More on this story as it continues to unfold.
Related Posts
- After Failed Legislation, What is Next for Online Poker? - December 22, 2010
- Why Credit Cards are Hit and Miss at Poker Sites - June 29, 2010
- What to Expect if a USA Online Poker Bill Passes - August 3, 2010
Written by Bill Nye on April 16th, 2011
Big brother is alive and well…..if they cannot get real evidence I do hope that there is a means to sue for damgaes.
Wow!
A huge WTO judgment against the US with the political backing of the European Union is the best hope to break the UIGEA.
With wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. With the federal budget spiraling out of control. With poverty and housing problems continuing to haunt the US, it’s comforting to know our government has the time to go after online poker sites.
These federal hacks exist to bother and harass every day folks who just want to enjoy a little poker in their leisure time.
Do any of us ‘average Joes’ have a legal remedy to go after the Feds for abusing our rights and wasting tax payer dollars on such a frivilous pursuit? I wish I knew. In the meantime, let’s do everything we can to let the Feds know how mad we really are!
thank you god!
let all the poker cheats and horrible money greedy sick poker junkies get a real job
just wait until all the real backroom junk is out there
then the public will know the evil truth behind poker cheats and the slobs of fulltilt
Thousands of major crimes everyday and THIS is the best our government can do–go after these sites bringing fun to millions. UNBELIEVABLE!
Hey, Kevin….If what you say is true, I’ll be pleased to see it all unravel. Just the same, all of us junkies are Jonsing. More important, this is all small stuff considering all the major crimes being perpetrated upon unknowing victims. At least we junkies are putting ourselves at risk. Nobody is being taken advantage of who is naive.
It’s so great to live in the land of the free!
So sad. Is this really what we pay our government to do? Adults should be able to gamble online or otherwise if they feel like it. Seriously considering finding a new home in a country not so “free”
Don’t you find it ironic that the government decides on this course of action on the SAME DAY that Atlas Shrugged is released in theatres? Coincidence? Who is John Gault?
Dont worry! Poker will be back soon. US government is just getting their competition out of the way so they can regulate it threw US government and get their tax dollars off of it. Guarantee you it will be legalized. They dont want hard earned US dollars going out of the country without getting their cut of it.
Wow, the Feds continue their double standard of enforcement. They shut down the the gaming sites for fraud, yet the major banks are still open and online. I guess fulltilt, pokerstars, etc., didn’t give enough to the republicans/tea party candidates.
well look at it this way
for everybody saying the world is spiraling out of control and that there is so much crime and suffering
and that in turn its a waste of time for the feds to do this
than just think what a vapid waste of life trying to beat your fellow humans out of money all the time is while there are people dying oppressed and starving
you hypocritical egocentric morons
To the Great Philosiphizer Kevin Taltz:
Throughout human history, there has always been “people dying oppressed and starving”; we humans are an imperfect lot at best. Gambling, likewise, has always been around as well. Neither of these facts are really the central issue. The central issue is the fact that the US government, alone out of all the governments in the ENTIRE WORLD, has chosen to deny its citizens the ability to gamble online if they so choose (the meat of my earlier “land of the free” comment). Once you have been out of college for a few more weeks, you will realise that justice, social responsibility, altruism etc. are great abstract concepts, but play a very small part in the workings of the real world (& absolutely no part in the government of the United States).
What has really happened here is that these online casino companies, not being based in the US of A, failed to grease the right palms, or felt they did not need to. Said palm owners then sicced their goons (DoJ) on the online poker companies. That is the beginning and end of it, just power plays. No worries; grease will be flowing now that the USA has “shown their power” & this will all blow over. BTW, my father was a white house aide during the Reagan administration, & the stories he told me would make you drop your hackey sack.
The Major poker sites have many charges against them. Bank Fraud, Money laundering, theses charges have nothing to do with poker. They will be shut down in the US forever. Time to brush on your live play boys. Local casino’s look for a boom.