Surprised no one commented on this but...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/15/us-gamb…
Ironic how this happened on Tax Day too...
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odd that right now I'm on pokerstars
Is your account frozen? I read that the Fed seized the domain names, not sure if that meant the sites are now inopperable or not?
screw online poker - PE is dead
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/is-pe-dead#comment-443048
no I have no real money on my account
never played online poker so i guess it was always dead to me
Once again, that geography equation
American != Entire World
Gambling illegal but state lotteries arent. I LOVE bureaucrats!
It's actually argued by the defendants that online poker despite it's nature is still a game of skill. So no, gambling in general is not illegal, just online gambling that doesn't profit the government in the same way casinos and lotteries do.
The charges are valid IMHO as these guys did break laws. The freedom for an American to deposit USD's from his local bank onto PS shouldn't be even discussed here as that's an entirely different issue that ended when the law was passed. THAT should have been argued back in 2005 or so, now it's just an issue of PS,FT and AB not following the rules, which I agree are complete BS when there is atleast one way for everyone to profit from this without the circumvention of rules like the situation these 11 defendants find themselves in now.
I'm not fully familiar with what happened exactly and how this act that prevents online gambling websites from taking deposits, and that's really the keyword here, to gamble online came to life back when but I know at least one group of people that found a legal way around this law and created a website that lets people bet for free. Not as profitable as PS but it's a good business model and they having been growing steadily while expanding into poker as well now.
This has nothing to do with legality. It has everything to do with the government getting its cut. Think about it, this wasnt actually illegal when it started, it was only when the government found out they were missing out on a revenue stream that they went in and passed laws to make it illegal.
If they are basing their entire arguement on poker being a game of skill rather than a game of chance does that mean that we will have to outlaw kids sports because they are game of skill? We all know its illegal for kids to gamble in any way, and since poker is a considered gambling and a game of skill well we have to make it even cant pick and choose our favorites. Yes I know its extreme and to a point insane, the point I am making is that the government can do what ever the hell it wants and has no checks and ballances any more.
The defendants are basing their case on the argument that poker is a game of skill not the prosecution. Why would the government ban something that is based on skill?
Anyways,online gambling is legal as long as it doesn't involve taking deposits. These guys knew the rules, broke them and the government took action. It's really simple. The act that was passed in 2005 on the other hand, is like you mentioned all about revenue and now that 5 years down the road online poker is bringing in an even bigger mountain of cash for the people behind PS,FT,AB and dozens of other poker websites/rooms, the government has even more of an incentive to do this but you can't argue that this particular case is BS because the case itself is valid. Rules were broken albeit rules that should not have been enacted in the first place.
Either way, plenty of non-US based rooms take deposits from anyone willing to "gamble" or "test their skill", whichever you prefer, so it's not the end of the world. If these rooms don't take CC's linked to American banks and accounts then there are plenty of merchants that do and then give you a virtual CC to use.
Apparently this is how it went down:
http://www.businessinsider.com/boy-genius-online-poker-scandal-2011-4
TL;DR version: The Australian guy who helped make online poker successful ended up stealing some money from the companies (Pokerstars, full tilt etc). Companies tip off FBI that he's traveling to the states. The guy is denied bail but cuts a deal with the prosecutors because he knows how all their transactions work. All the poker sites go down.
just lol
mhh that takes alot of easy money out of the market...
I heard that Howard Lederer got taken out of his house in handcuffs by the FBI. I believe he has some sort of corporate role with one of the sites (must be Full Tilt, right?).
I also heard that the poker room at Foxwoods was overflowing with people this weekend because nobody could play online.
Howard Lederer owns a large stake of Full Tilt.
Words cannot describe how angry I was when I tried logging on to FT for a session and I received the message that I would not be able to play anymore due to the US governments actions.
I have money on Bodog for sports betting which I am going to cash out ASAP. Bodog experienced a 20% influx of users on the day that FT, PS and UB were hit by the feds. They have a long history of telling the feds to fuck off but I honestly can't see how they can be left standing after this.
Ya. Bodog is OK right now. I played a tourney on their site last night. I heard that Doyle's Room is still fine too. That would just be mean if the FEDs arrested Doyle...the guy's a living legend.
Just another way the .gov is trying to tell you how to live your life. Yay for big .gov!!!
Still have 15K tied up in those accounts... good thing I cashed out a while before that
The way they tagged the banning of online gambling onto the end of the SAFE Port Act was a complete joke and another classic example of politicians making up laws to reach their own ends and the only reason they banned it was because it wasn't American companies who were the dominant players and Uncle Sam couldn't get his cut. Dicks.
I'm absolutely destroying it right now in a $20K GTD. 7th of 342. Letssss goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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