US Gov't Seizes Poker Stars, FullTilt and UB

[cdjos]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 16194.html

Doesn't look good for anyone who plays on these sites.

[Isaac Mikel]

What's going to happen to my 12 quid? This is an outrage!

[Golden Holden]

This is the most aggressive the US govt has been towards online poker since the UIGEA. I've been following online poker legislation/legalization news and over the past year article after article has been published about how regulation is inevitable (not to mention a huge cash cow for broke governments).

It doesn't surprise me to hear that the Feds are cracking down on the big poker sites. A big government crackdown is exactly what I expected would happen before any serious regulation efforts began.

This should be a wake-up call for everyone who plays poker. Either there is an outcry and the PPA gets a huge shot in the arm (likely) or this goes by unnoticed, payment to and from poker sites is strained even more than it has been and the player pool will slowly shrivel. (slightly less likely?)

I'm not sure whats going to happen, but I still think regulation is inevitable.

[lwestatbus]

Well, I just processed a cash out request with PokerStars. It will be interesting to see if it actually happens. I didn't have enough to qualify for a wire transfer so I had to request a check. I went through this with PokerRoom in 2006.

I am going to really miss playing online if this doesn't work out.

I think Golden has a pretty good point. If this is a tactic to make regulation palatable then it might blow over. Idea B might be that the US based brick and mortar casinos are primed to move into this market.

What a pain.

[lwestatbus]

I couldn't use FPP to sign into a tourny on Stars either.

[Golden Holden]

I just threw this together from what news I've seen so far. And yes, this is a lot like 2006. Lots of uncertainty.

http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/feds-indict-online-poker

[lwestatbus]

Thanks for posting the update. I'm a little surprised this didn't make the evening network news today. I'm sort of suspecting that it may be a while, mabye a looonnnng while, before I see my cash out.

I'm going through withdrawal pains. I may literally have to do something productive or even read a book.

[Golden Holden]

This is really really big news. Its only a matter of time before the poker world realizes what has happened today.

The DOJ is alleging UIGEA violations. This means they are claiming poker is gambling and not a game of skill. The DOJ may have opened a can of worms by adding the gambling charges instead of sticking to just the bank fraud charges. With all this talk of legalizing and regulating online poker ongoing, will congress sit by and let the courts decide that poker is a game of skill (and thus not subject to gambling regulation or more importantly taxation)? This may add more pressure for legislation.

I think we're going to see a flood of non-US players leaving the likes of Pokerstars and Full Tilt very soon.

[lwestatbus]

Golden, have you seen a summary of the indictments somewhere? What I remember from my legal training in the Army is that it only takes one charge to stick and the bank fraud looks like a smoking gun. I recognized what PS was doing when I made a deposit a few years ago to some innocuous sounding entity.

In the short run, the sites and the other players will see what the business is like without the US players. The sites should quickly reconfigure the guaranteed prize pools on tournys that have them. Non US players will decide if there is enough competition to keep playing without the US crew. (There probably will be.) The site operators will decide if there is enough revenue to continue to operate without the HUGE participation of the US players. I suspect that there will be, but with reduced staff, reduced innovation in the software, and reduced player support. Once you invest in the hardware and software to run the sites it is a relatively low cost to operate them. The big question is how the sites financed their capital outlays. If they have debt to service they are in trouble. If they have paid off assets then they'll probably be OK.

In the long run, however things will shake out so that if the US players have an online poker venue it will draw the rest of the world because of the tournys it can support and the variety of competition it can offer.

I don't know what stage of grieving I'm in. Denial might be right. I miss my friends from the tables. I missed playing a small tourny tonight.

[miaowmiaowchowface]

pretty sick, i woke up and had like 20 messages and things. I have 300 online, and i had 2m FPPs as well which I changed to money. Seems like it's gonna be fine tho. no more americans, yay!

[lwestatbus]

I am getting delay/nondelivery notices on a message I had sent to PS support last night before I learned of the crackdown. I saw in one of Golden's postings that sites were changing their domain names to something other than .com. It may be that the eMail accounts are following or that the servers are overwhelmed.

When I click on the Help | FAQ (Web)... menu in PS it takes me to a page in Ukranian.

[Golden Holden]

The domain name seizures have taken effect. There is a DoJ and FBI seal waiting now at http://www.pokerstars.com

[groton]

This is vary big. Short term this might be a boom for B&M casino's but long term if they don't get US Online poker again how long can PS or FTP stay afloat?

[Felting]

Well, I just processed a cash out request with PokerStars. It will be interesting to see if it actually happens. I didn't have enough to qualify for a wire transfer so I had to request a check. I went through this with PokerRoom in 2006.

I am going to really miss playing online if this doesn't work out.

I think Golden has a pretty good point. If this is a tactic to make regulation palatable then it might blow over. Idea B might be that the US based brick and mortar casinos are primed to move into this market.

What a pain.

I'm in the same spot, I'm waiting on a check as well. It's only a little over 200 bucks but still, I worked hard to turn that 3 bucks into 200 and i want it damn it.

[lwestatbus]

The domain name seizures have taken effect. There is a DoJ and FBI seal waiting now at http://www.pokerstars.com

This is amazing!