i deposited some to stars a couple of weeks ago and it did indeed have the name "pstars" in there with it. I also just withdrew some via wire and bank draft from FTP and both come up with random company names.

No. Wires are a different withdrawal method than echecks. On Full Tilt, echecks are the "bank transfer" option. Then there are separate other wire transfer options as well. On Stars I only have echeck and check options, but if I'm not mistaken wires are possible too, you just have to contact them about it.

Purely spec, but does anyone think this could be an effort to overwhelm banks with these transactions post 6/1? In other words, the poker sites know the banks can't handle the added manpower and costs to regulate the UIGEA effectively. This forces the now-implemented act into submission, thus returning the poker state to the status quo.

Aren't you guys worried about D-Day?

So my bank that worked just fine before now appears to be blocked for Pokerstars deposits.


"Thank you for writing and allowing us to be of assistance.

Your Instant eChecks deposit was returned for the following reason: 'Refer to Maker'.

Please note that banks use this as a generic return code and they will not provide us
any additional information regarding this error, therefore, we suggest that you contact
your financial institution directly to determine the exact cause of the return."

It was weird, transaction went through and then 2 days later was credited back to my account. FWIW there was no mention of Pokerstars on the transaction but rather a 3rd party processor. Although it was a name I've seen before.

Scary. I just used the wire transfer not 2 weeks ago and it went through fine. I submitted the same transfer and just got a similar response, even though the bank info was exactly the same.

Hope there aren't any problems with the checks -_-

The post you were responding to was a failed attempt to make a deposit. It could have happened for many reasons including the bank recognizing it was a deposit to an online gambling site. Your post seems to be regarding a withdrawl (if it was in fact a wire this would be the case). Are you saying your bank refused to accept the money or are you saying wire when you mean something else and this is actually a failed deposit to a site?

Aah, my mistake. Yes, I tried a wire transfer withdrawl with the same info as I have done many times. I only got a letter saying:

"This request was rejected as you have entered bank information which our system is unable to process. Please note, PokerStars is unable to process any wires which are not going *directly* to an account in your name. This includes wires which are going 'For Further Credit'."

Are they saying they can't do wire transfers with an intermediary bank involved? Or are they saying my first and last name must match exactly on pokerstars and at my bank?

I read this as the name on your stars account and the name on the bank account you're sending the wire to have to match.

FYI, check the wire transfer thread, Stars needs more info to do some wires, both the routing number and the SWIFT are needed now where they both werent always needed before

Received a Bank Transfer (ACH) from Tilt today

The label on the transaction includes the abbreviation of the site

I've been a [deleted bank name] customer for about 10 years. For the past five years I've been depositing and cashing out from online sites (moste eChecks).

Never had a problem.

My past five cashouts from PokerStars have shown up in my account as "Electronic Deposit Pstars".

Today I got a call from a local branch.

The lady asks me "These deposits are from online gambling sites, correct?"

She didn't vaguely ask me where they were from. She asked me to confirm they were related to online gambling. I didn't want to lie, so I said "yes".

She told me if they continue my account will be closed.

I guess it's time to find a new small local credit union (does that still seem to be the best route?) and start cashing out via paper checks.

I think you should have said "No they are not from online gambling transactions". In my opinion poker is not online gambling. It is a skill game, and I think you are better off telling them this instead. For example there are many skill game sites that operate right in the US, for example WorldWinner and many process transactions legally right through PayPal. You are not doing anything illegal. You can tell them it is from poker and it is a skill game, not "online gambling". If they have a different opinion, then say you will take your business elsewhere.

I think you are right, but I think the result would have been the same.
I ended the conversation with "I guess I'll just have to take my business elsewhere", to which she replied, "OK, thank you!"

What did she say when you asked why?

Party didn't just leave the US market when the UIGEA passed, they also negotiated with the DOJ to settle any legal issue that they had broken any laws. They ended up agreeing to pay a large fine. They did this, likely, to have a clean slate when legislation passed, allowing them to reenter the US market quickly.

Perhaps Stars and Ft are thinking the same way. Perhaps they feel the recent legislative efforts will bear fruit and they want to have the best case to get licensed quickly. Being transparent on their banking transactions would help them with that.

It's the smart thing to do, whether or not they are directly violating any gambling laws, simply attempting to hide your identity could open them up to all types of charges including racketeering and conspiracy.