What was so terrible about their ordeal that one was on the verge of a mental breakdown? It sucks and was inconvenient, but it doesn't seem like a few days in the equivalent of a county jail is the end of the world. You might have to fight a few times and the conditions don't seem sanitary but imho this is a little dramatic. It's not like they could've ever reasonably thought they were getting sentenced to years in that place or any other prison.

They did something minor and they were dealt with by the criminal justice system accordingly.

Can we change title of thread to "three idiots attempt to evade paying taxes" please.

I noticed my bathrooms are looking a bit grimy today, so I called Pokerstars to clean them up a bit. No answer - you would think they would return a call from a poker player.

There is no way that Pokerstars has enough workers to clean every player's bathroom.

Terrible story, and this is it?!?!?

Is this some American thing or are these guys the biggest p*ssies ever? Spending few days in an un-hygienic jail where nobody even touched them = terrible story lol wow.

Pretty insane story

ya, it sure does sound like tax evasion if all three of them had 10k. One guy just ****ed up with having additional $175 to purchase flightdrinks with or smth that he forgot about.


Then you get less sympathy, not like pokerplayers are not used to counting 'stacks' either.

UL for the guy that binked that he had such tardy friends that failed such a simple mission, I think most guys would foresee this issue aswell and just pack $9k or smth on his mules to be safe but idk, its despite that a worrying line in that tax declaration form. "You or we..", if they appoint that they are a group as they do with boyfriend/girlfriend youre in trouble regardless, so seems to be much of a hassle to go individually and take different rows in the plane like drugmules.

That friendship is gonna be salty for sure as he pissed away $30k, arguements can be thrown in both directions aswell, liability, noooo you tried to break the law blabla.

You're right, it's a stupid law. The U.S. government has no business trying to make it difficult for people to launder money and/or prevent people from concealing cash income in an attempt to avoid paying taxes. In fact, the government has no right to collect taxes from anybody!

I couldn't agree with you more! Stupid, stupid, law.

Uh, each person lost like $15k. They also thought they'd be spending hours/days in a foreign country's jail with no ability to communicate with people on the outside, no entertainment, and limited to no food/water. Pretty ****ty. Being in jail and not not knowing when you're going to be released can really mess with your mind. Allegedly.

No sympathy, the rules is the rules.
If some guy said "all in" when they had the nuts, but actually meant fold what would of happened????

How many times has this got to happen before people start taking it seriously?

$15K part I understand if it's not standard procedure that happens when you don't declare, but hours/days in jail after breaking semi-serious (at least) law? First, what do you expect? And second, if hours/couple of days of no communication and no entertainment is the scariest thing to happen to you, you better pray every night that your suburban USA life never changes lol.

mollycoddled kids spend a couple of nights in jail. big deal. I feel sorry for their friends that will need to listen to their story for countless years to come

Yeah, but the penalties are pretty stupid. Have $9999 and don't declare, no problem. Have $10,000.01 and they seize the whole thing? Or how about declaring 15k and having $15,100 because you miscounted and having the whole amount seized.

I get the need for stiff penalties as a deterrent. But how about just seizing over the allowed/declared amounts for starters? You can even throw in an automatic IRS audit. It shows a bit of mercy to the ignorant while still addressing the greater issue.

These people were just naive cash mules and the mistake is on the owner of the cash.
He should have known (or asked and confirmed) that mules might have some of their own cash in their pockets, who doesn't really?
If he gave ~9500 to each and asked them not to hangout together but spread a little, this wouldn't have happened.

Wow. They actually blamed Pokerstars? This has NOTHING to do with Pokerstars. These guys screwed up. They didn’t declare over 10k and got caught. It sucks that it happened but c’mon lets point the finger at everyone but yourselves.

THEY are the ones that screwed up. Not US customs. Not the Bahamian police. Not the Bahamian courts. Not Pokerstars. They said they saw a sign and declared under 10k anyways.

They talked how Pokerstars has PS live so you can transfer money in and out. They even said it’s really easy. They also said if Pokerstars would have said something then they would not have made this mistake. Really? That’s Pokerstars responsibility?

They ALL had just over 10k. Somebody had a big score and gave 10k to the other two people. The girl panicked because she knew she was breaking the law. They were the ones being shady. They wanted to sneak the money into the US and not declare it. They are 100% in the wrong.

Was bank wire or loading PS account not an option?

No entertainment. LOL

Lie to customs and get caught. Then don't understand why you're in trouble. Hahahahahahahabahahah

Obey laws. But these guys aren't being pussies, just being ignorant.
Everyone in their right mind should **** their pants upon entrance to a jail, especially outside of the US
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What!! Poker players trying to get around the law? Shocking - who would of guessed (other then US customs who certainly knew PCA was going on). Idiots

Who in their right mind would even think Pokerstars has any responsibility in this matter? If anything they would want to distance themselves from these three guys -- lest the authorities think Pokerstars condones the illegal transport of money.

Meanwhile, anyone who travels to a foreign country should learn about any local laws and any customs rules and regulations (going in both directions). Are the penalties a bit harsh? sure. But the penalties are harsh for many "minor" infractions worldwide. If you want to avoid the harsh penalty, avoid incurring the infraction.

Lot of haters itt. Do you knows what's behind hate the majority of the time? Jealousy.

Pretty sure the woman they were with had nothing.

Agents are definitely aware of PCA. I was asked about it when I was leaving the Bahamas this year. The exchange was funny tho.

Agent: Do you have any cash to declare?

Me: I have $140

Agent: Were you here for the poker tournament?

Me: Yes I was.

Agent: And you only have $140???


The needles are real.

Bro, you've been a 2+2er since 2004; it should be obvious why. The reason they take it all is because if a tax cheat has $11K, they'll 100% never declare and take the risk of losing that grand rather than paying taxes on the entire amount. Basically, consider it as they seize the amount over declaration and charge a $10K fine and collect immediately.

As for the number, it's pretty common to draw a hard line. Drinking, smoking, driving, voting, and the list goes on. I doubt if you declare and the amount is 100 off that they will seize everything; that's reserved for people who don't declare or who blatantly misdeclared.