In the wake of Black Friday, poker show after poker show has been cancelled, with the main reason given as their affiliation with either PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker, so it came as a bit of a surprise that GSN would continue to air episodes of High Stakes Poker seeing as the show’s main sponsor is PokerStars.
High Stakes Poker did scratch all references to PokerStars, and pulled all of the site’s advertising in the form of commercials, but one thing that did make the cut was the patches and PokerStars logos worn by the players at the tables –which were expected to be edited out of the telecast.
GSN did cut back on High Stakes Poker’s airtimes, as the show is only available for viewing at 11PM, instead of the pre-Black Friday schedule that saw two Saturday airings as well as a Sunday airing of each episode.
As far as the action at the tables goes this was one of the most exciting episodes of the season as a number of six-figure pots were contested –which was much needed as this has been widely regarded as one of the worst seasons in the show’s history.. With zero Full Tilt Poker pros at the tables this season’s episodes have featured a number of rich businessman and without Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Ivey just haven’t had the same punch as previous seasons.
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Early Friday afternoon, the online poker community was blindsided by the FBI when they seized the domains of four of the biggest online poker rooms on the Net, PokerStars.com, FullTiltPoker.com, AbsolutePoker.com, and UB.com. In addition, 11 founding members and executives of these corporations were charged with money laundering, illegal gambling, and fraud. Three billion dollars is being demanded for restitution, and the defendants may be facing up to 20 years in prison. Some are already in custody, others are still at large, though federal agents are on the search for the remaining defendants.
While this is bad for US players who called these poker sites home, and this is bad for the poker sites and the defendants and their families, it’s not the end of the world for Internet poker as we know it. The good news is that PokerStars, at least, has made a statement via their software (you can still log in, you just can’t deposit or play for real money) that says, “Please be assured player balances are safe. There is no cause for concern.” It continues, “For all customers outside the U.S. it is business as usual.”
So, if our money is safe, then we should leave it where it is? If you do decide to cash out, you risk your money being held in limbo indefinitely. If you leave it be, you might see it back in your bank account sooner than later. We recommend leaving it for now.
Now the question remains, where is it safe to play? We are completely confident that it is safe to deposit money and play at Bodog, and BetOnline. These are perfectly adequate online poker rooms that are just as good, if not better than PokerStars, FullTilt Poker, or Absolute. They just don’t have the traffic flow that the big sites have, which is why they were targeted—they provided services to the largest market of online poker players. But now all of those US players who played at these sites need somewhere else to go. Some sites are safer than others, but we do recommend the two listed above.
It is unfortunate that the FBI and the Federal US government are against online poker, although the US Congress and many lawmakers are on our side. As of this week, Washington DC now allows US online poker within the jurisdiction, so it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the country follows suit. Unfortunately, the feds are after those who did not follow the rules enacted by the UIGEA, and at least for now, the future of Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Absolute Poker, and UB.com in the US market is unclear.
It is apparent that Internet poker laws and regulations in the US are long overdue. For now, we will sit back and watch it unfold, all the while knowing that they will never be able to completely eradicate online poker from the hands of US players. It’s not going anywhere.
In a major attack against the online poker industry, the FBI has seized the URLs of the four biggest online poker sites in the business and the US Attorney’s Office has charged 11 of the chief executives at these sites with illegal gambling, money laundering of illegal gambling proceeds to the tune of billions of dollars, and fraud.
The 11 defendants include founding members of Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and PokerStars. Five domains have also been seized, domains used by the online poker corporations to operate Internet poker games for US players. The restricted domains include PokerStars.com, FullTiltPoker.com, AbsolutePoker.com, UB.com, and UltimateBet.com.
US visitors who attempt to go to any of these websites are greeted with this less than friendly warning:
Restraining orders have also been issued against 75 banks in 14 different countries around the world that were used to process online gambling payments for these sites. The US attorney’s office is demanding $3 billion in damages, and the defendants may be facing up to 20 years in US prison.
It is also rumored that the feds are seeking immediate closure of all of these websites, although they are still online for the time being, and players outside of the US are not being affected. It is unlikely that the sites will shut down all together. US players who have already downloaded the software can still log in, but when they attempt to make a deposit, they are faced with a note that this feature is not available in your area (similar to what happened to US players who logged in to PartyPoker following the passing of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act).
In fact, according to the feds, these online poker websites are in direct violation of the UIGEA that was passed in 2006 and went into effect this year these are the grounds for the sudden crackdown on online poker. Offshore poker operators have made the argument that if they operate offshore, they aren’t privy to US law. However, the US government considers online gambling illegal, yet US players spend around $6 billion on online gambling each year.
The FBI claims that “approximately one-third or more of the funds went directly to the Poker Companies as revenue through the ‘rake’ charged to players on almost every poker hand played online.”
PokerStars made a statement early this morning that they have suspended the play of real money customers who reside in the US. However, the statement also said, “Please be assured player balances are safe. There is no cause for concern.” It continued, “For all customers outside the U.S. it is business as usual.”
US Attorney Preet Bharara also made a statement out of Manhattan today: “As charged, these defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits. Moreover, as we allege, in their zeal to circumvent the gambling laws, the defendants also engaged in massive money laundering and bank fraud. Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don’t like simply because they can’t bear to be parted from their profits.”
Janice Fedarcyk, FBI Assistant Director in Charge, added, “These defendants, knowing full well that their business with U.S. customers and U.S. banks was illegal, tried to stack the deck. They lied to banks about the true nature of their business. Then, some of the defendants found banks willing to flout the law for a fee. The defendants bet the house that they could continue their scheme, and they lost.”
Named defendants in the case, Paul Tate and Isai Scheinberg of PokerStars, Nelson Burtnick and Raymond Bitar of Full Tilt Poker, and Brent Beckley and Scott Tom of Absolute Poker, according to the feds, “arranged for the money received from U.S. gamblers to be disguised as payments to hundreds of non-existent online merchants purporting to sell merchandise such as jewelry and golf balls. ”
While some of the suspects were taken into custody this morning, federal agents are working with foreign law enforcement and Interpol to find the remaining suspects still at large. Those in custody have been scheduled to appear in federal court in the next week.
According to reporting from Card Player Europe, a new investigation on behalf of the Guardia di Finanza and the Italian Revenue Agency could be targeting professional poker players. Specifically, these agencies will be scrutinizing the actual income of Italian high stakes poker players as compared to their declared income.
The agencies will investigate several areas, including winnings earned from domestic and foreign online poker rooms, royalties and sponsorship deals, and the foreign assets of Italian poker pros stored in banks internationally.
Letters and forms were sent to several Italian poker players as part of the investigation. Players must fill out these forms and return them to their respective local tax offices.
By law, Italian poker players are required to pay taxes on any winnings received from online poker sites that are based in countries other than Italy. This is similar to a tax law imposed in Sweden, in which players are exempt from paying taxes on winnings from domestic Swedish online poker sites.
The article printed in Card Player Europe stated that any foreign bank account (as in, foreign to Italy) attached to online “gaming” (as in poker, sports betting, online casino gambling) is to be monitored. If either the overall balance of the account or the transactions into or out of the account passes 10,000 Euros, then the account officially becomes a financial asset. Since the asset could generate foreign income, the Italian government wants that income to be appropriately taxed.
Online poker was only legalized recently in Italy, which could explain why its government is just now taking tax action on the matter. As part of online poker’s legalization in Italy, the country passed a 20% tax on the revenue generated by licensed Italian online poker sites. Although this transition has been smooth, it looks like Italy now wants to ensure that the players at the sites, in addition to the site owners, are paying their share.
Alleged poker cheat Ali Tekintamgac has decided to sue the Partouche Poker Tour over his dismissal from the tournament last year. Tekintamgac was removed from the final table of the tournament when a review of the video tape showed he was using an elaborate scheme to see other players’ hole cards.
Tekintamgac used a few strategically placed “bloggers” and “reporters” to relay the strength of Tekintamgac’s opponent’s cards through hand signals. After reviewing the video tapes the Partouche Poker Tour decided to disqualify Tekintamgac prior to the final table of the tournament; which had a €1.3 million first-prize.
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