Thanks for the cliffs Tommy.

Obviously most people's immediate concern is the security of the funds in their accounts. I've noticed a lot of posts from non-US players unsure whether or not to attempt to withdraw all funds ASAP in case the sites go bankrupt or the feds seize their assests. I therefore think it's worth pointing out that a condition of Stars' Isle Of Man gaming license is that all player account funds are to be held in trust. What this means is that, assuming Stars complied with regulations, players' money ought to be ring-fenced and seperated from the company's assests and therefore safe from the threat of seizure. I don't play on FTP so am not familiar with their license arrangements, and I'd be pretty uncomfortable if I had a UB account given their history and the Scott Tom reference, but it seems reasonable to assume that any current problems people are encountering when attempting to withdraw their balances are at least in part caused by the sheer volume of withdrawal requests, and I'd urge people outside of the US not to panic.

If you're in the US though, go right ahead and panic.

All these people that say there cashout's worked, do they really think banks are going to cash your checks?

Aren't you an employee on FT? BAN

I am in the UK and PS lobby showing now; 151,480 players on 24419 tables. How is this even possible without US players????

theres no reason to cash out..

From UK. Tried logging onto Fulltilt and it attempted an update and failed. I don't have much money on there but that's not the point.

I will prove tomorrow.

I tried to help people get money out before its too late, show some respect.

Non-US players will be made whole, eventually. For now though, I doubt they have enough cash to pay out all of the requests. They will eventually pay though.

The claims of these companies closing up in 48 hours are completely wrong. These companies have built brands that are worth millions of dollars. They won't simply close when they know they can keep making money outside the US.

u need to go to www.fulltiltpoker.co.uk

Lose much?? Please stop trolling.
STFU and GTFO!!

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT SUCKS

this is really bad. What about canadian players??? cant believe it

ipoker ftw

I hope some grinder from midstakes will write a trip report how are they feeling right now. Someone without education and funds put away for bad days.

i dont mean it in the bad way, just interested because this is one ****ed up situation for one who has lived a dream life past years.

but us has its sites running in no time.

Here is your basic cliff notes of Black Friday:

http://calvinayre.com/2011/04/16/leg...atest-updates/

Cliffs:


✖ In the day’s least surprising news, those US land-based casino giants are all disavowing the online poker deals they struck just weeks ago. Wynn Resorts says it has “terminated” its deal with PokerStars, while Fertitta Interactive says its deal with Full Tilt was always contingent on the poker company getting a US gaming license, and so the deal has thus “expired.” We take that definition as having nothing to do with anything time-related, but more to do with the ‘breathing its last’ connotation.

✖ Full Tilt’s CEO Raymond Bitar has released a statement saying he is “surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to bring these charges,” although he is looking forward “to my exoneration.” In the meantime, Full Tilt recognizes that it “must suspend ‘real money’ play in the US until this case is resolved.”

✖ PokerStars has also suspended US real money play and changed the default URL on its associated sites to PokerStars.eu. Money transfers have also been disabled. ESPN’s Andrew Feldman is speculating that the affected poker sites will shut down across the globe within 48 hours.

✖ Chad Elie, the payment processing figure (and former Intabill staffer) arrested in Nevada, appeared in US Magistrate Court in Las Vegas on Friday, and was subsequently released on his own recognizance (and, presumably, that of his FBI shadow) with a hearing scheduled in a New York court for this Tuesday (19th).

✖ Richard Perkins, the former Nevada politician and current PokerStars lobbyist, claims the push to pass the PokerStars-sponsored intrastate poker legislation AB 258 will soldier on despite the day’s events, as the bill “is not just about this company, it is about the policy of this state.”

✖ The Poker Players Alliance released a statement saying, in part, they were “shocked” by the DoJ’s actions. The PPA was good enough to note that “online poker is not a crime” but that’s not exactly what the DoJ is alleging here.

✖ Former Intabill head Daniel Tzvetkoff – who handled hundreds of millions for PokerStars, Full Tilt and others, plus allegedly funneling millions more into his own pockets — is being fingered as the canary singing loudest into DoJ ears. (Australia’s Courier Mail has a feature detailing the payment processing boy-wonder/Icarus and his subsequent fall from grace.)

✖ The scope of the internal company emails the DoJ has in its possession appears formidable. Our current personal favorite is the Sept. 29, 2009 message in which John Campos, the SunFirst Bank vice-chairman arrested in Utah on Friday, refers to a lawyer warning Campos of the risks involved in processing online gambling payments as a “wet blanket.”

✖ Among the details revealed in the emails is the wide variety of e-commerce websites used by the poker sites to handle transactions, including sites purporting to sell flowers, pet supplies, golf clubs, bicycles, clothing and/or jewelry. There was also a Green2YourGreen site that claimed to be a “direct sales” business in which consumers purchased enviro-friendly household products for resale to other customers in return for commissions. The site allegedly went as far as to include bogus ‘testimonials’ from satisfied customers re the green products. A DoJ sting apparently had two gamblers send queries to these phony co’s customer service re the charges that appeared on their bank statements, only to receive replies sent from PokerStars’ customer service.

✖ Worse, these emails directly indicate the poker companies’ complicity in these schemes, with PokerStars documents admitting that they were employing company names that “strongly imply the transaction has nothing to do with PokerStars” and that they used whatever names “the processor can get approved by the bank.”

✖ Is anyone buying the DoJ claim that these poker companies took in “one-third or more of the funds deposited by gamblers” via the rake? Makes the French regulated market look positively generous.

✖ It remains to be seen how foreign governments will react to the DoJ’s call for arrests of the indicted figures living outside the US, and for assets abroad to be seized.

✖ Finally, a big thumbs-down to FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk, who decided to pepper her statement to the press with poker-related terminology. To wit: “These defendants … tried to stack the deck. They … bet the house that they could continue their scheme, and they lost.” Epic humor fail, Jan

I'll fade that action.

lost 4k before GOV blocked... nice timing GOV you couldnt have done it 3 days sooner

full tilt grass this kid up and then he hands them over to the feds on a plate, gg tilt.

Stars will have all the cash in a 'client account' for players, unless their UK accountants and lawyers want to go to jail for flouting IOM Gaming Commission requirements.

Now the DoJ may well have tried to injunct/freeze the monies in that account too and if so (assuming the particular bank involved gives cr*p about an extra-territorial court order) it might have frozen withdrawals for the time being, but as the funds are not Stars' you would expect to see them released to their beneficial owners (the players) as soon as a judge in the relevant IOM or UK jurisdiction takes a look at the situation and satisfies himself that they are player monies.

Thanks for the cliff notes Tommyho.

How is this a surprise? There are more players outside the U.S. as inside for a long time now. The sites are still gonna have a huge customer base without the U.S., it is gonna hurt a lot though and a major downfall in player amounts.

Apparently UK players, can uninstall the full tilt poker.com site and reinstall through FTP.co.uk, this should allow to withdrawl funds! FML this is such a F*****G discrace! **** the US gov

Do you think Pokerstars and Fulltilt will be able to continue to be fully functional businesses outside the US due to these events? (i.e. The UK, Spain, Europe, South America etc.)

I feel for all the American players.

All credit to those posting humour despite the current bleak situation.

This could have far reaching effects on the Durrr Challenge.