http://blogs.forbes.com/nathanvardi/...hannelsections

feds needed some cash to pay for there cheezeburgers

dislike

That's sucks, I hope other states will not follow with same laws and actions.

Cliffs ?

Don't worry we've got the PPA on the case.

they told them were the money was

Sad as this is, its not surprising. And I think its gonna get worse before it gets better.

This is a complete overstep by the Department of Justice. The only form of gambling that is illegal under Federal law is betting on sporting events, with the specific exception of horse racing, and all derivative laws relating to online gambling are built off that existing definition of illegal gambling. Nothing in the relevant statutes even mentions poker.

It’s too bad none of these payment processors have the courage to stand up for their rights in the face of getting railroaded by the Feds.

EDIT: I guess they are saying it was illegal because it was in Washington State, but the legality of Washington's 2006 law was up in the air until a few months ago, so punishing transactions from 2009 seems rather ex post facto, imo.

However, could that mean payment processors in the other 49 states would be in the clear if this is the DOJ's legal rationale?

yeah, because you've helped the cause so much with 0 legislation posts. Just another lazy ass sports bettor upset they aren't being piggybacked by the PPA.

SAVE THE PPA

SAVE THE WORLD

LOL, wat?

A law is a law. Lawyers do not determine what is legal and what isn't. Breaking a law that is clearly on the books based on a legal opinion is taking a risk that the legal opinion is wrong. The "I didn't think I had to obey that law" defense rarely holds up.

The UIGEA "prohibits the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites" (source). Until somebody questions the inclusion of online poker under "Internet gambling sites" in court and wins, you aren't going to get much sympathy from financial institutions with this argument.

Well, OK, but Stars and Full Tilt still waited over 4 years to withdraw from WA. My impression was that PokerStars in particular didn't think they were breaking the law all that time, but perhaps I've been fooled.

Edit: Thanks for pointing out the error on wikipedia, wants. Easily fixed, imo

Such a waste of resources. Can you imagine how many man hours and federal dollars have been spent to investigate/track/prosecute these online poker players.
Not even saying that fighting the "war on drugs" is even a priority here because we all know that's ******** too, but seriously there are more violent and devious offenders out there than some guy bothering nobody in his house in WA playing online poker to feed his family. I'm surprised the state's and US attorney have this as their highest priority.

That's my impression as well. Still what Pokerstars thinks is not going to change the law in any way. I could be breaking the law right now whether I think I am or not.

Hmm, seems you are right in that the UIGEA only explicitly regulates "person[s] engaged in the business of betting or wagering".

The problem is, until someone actually tries to contest the DOJ's interpretation, no financial institution is going to stand up to them so it's really irrelevant.

Land of the free lol

I'm really hurting the government when I want to play 1 cent 2 cent on Full tilt.

as a washington state resident this is very sad news. but from my interpertation of the article no online poker players were prosecuted... only owners of bank accounts operating illegal payment processes from online poker sites... which from UIEGA i think is illegal?

flame if i am wrong

Feds gotta always come up n F**** up a good party.

[ ] PPA will actually accomplish anything
[X] PPA will make repeated empty claims of progress
[X] PPA will keep saying legal poker is around the corner

Well maybe, but suppose this guy is bothering abody. In fact, suppose he is a child molestor! Then this law makes perfect sense.

i love this statement since it clearly flys in the face of the conard black case
where the LAWYERS decide to expand a reach of the honest services tenets
in a prefect world laws would be clear black and white
but if that was true we wouldn't need lawyers would we????

The courts will always have the final say. The online poker law in Washington is clear black and white. The poker sites were hoping that if it ever came to court they would have a chance to show the law was unconstitutional. That doesn't mean the law isn't on the books at the time. If they really wanted to do the right thing they'd challenge the law in court rather than break the law and hope they'll be able to get away with it.

Yes, we would still need lawyers even if the law was always black and white. No one knows every law. We would always need people dedicated to researching the laws and making a case.