2015-02-20
Loyal players,

Effective immediately, SealsWithClubs will cease providing Bitcoin poker and will be shutting down all operations except to allow player funds to be withdrawn for a limited period of time. SealsWithClubs is, and has been, completely solvent up to this point in operations.

WE URGE ALL PLAYERS TO WITHDRAW THEIR FUNDS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. PLAYERS SHOULD CEASE ALL ACTIVITY TO THEIR ACCOUNT DEPOSIT ADDRESSSES NOW.

On approximately February 11th, 2015, several events occurred related to operational security that we consider to indicate SealsWithClubs now operates in a perpetual state of jeopardy. We will not divulge details publically, but they may come to light if any team member chooses to come forward of their own volition at a later date. All player funds and data remain intact and the issue was not software related. We do not believe any of our Bitcoin wallets used in operations to be compromised or lost. However, this event has made the majority vote of the ownership and team agree that shutting down operations is the best move for safety and security purposes.

SealsWithClubs Chairman, Bryan Micon, would like to carry forward the business with his own team (currently settling in Antigua) but the majority ownership cannot guarantee the future security, solvency, and integrity of that operation because there will be no administrative oversight carried over from SealsWithClubs. Members of the SealsWithClubs team and ownership are not ones to lightly endorse anything, not even our own longstanding trustworthy team members, which is why nobody ever makes a sole decision. This dynamic has saved the business several times throughout the years. With Micon operating on his own with his own team, the checks and balances we have kept in place against one another internally for 3+ years will have been removed.

As the majority ownership & team will not go forward with operations but Micon is still in a position to do so, it makes the most sense to hand off assets to Micon in order to enable him to provide to our players the best Bitcoin poker experience he can. Micon has been extremely enthusiastic and dedicated to SealsWithClubs for longer than any member of SealsWithClubs historically, and we truly believe he wants what's best for its players.

We've made considerable effort and expense on a SwC 2.0 software package over an extended period of time; we are transferring the rights to that package in full to Micon with the understanding he will remain faithful to the revenue share and licensing agreement SealsWithClubs had with its primary developer(s) that continue work on it. We suspect that the primary developer(s) behind that project will gladly continue working with Micon. Micon will also be provided the swcpoker.eu domain from which we were planning to continue operations from once SwC 2.0 was ready to deploy. As such, we believe Micon will have the resources at his disposal to bring the new site up, backed by the new SwC 2.0 software package, at a rapid pace.

The traditional SwC 1.0 clients and server, based upon the PokerMavens server/client software and protocol, will be retired. There are a number of operational and security considerations to the SwC 1.0 architecture that we do not feel could be properly documented and conveyed to any new team for further operations or development. At this time, those available must focus our efforts elsewhere.

While the majority ownership and team wish the best for Micon and his operation, we prioritize remaining faithful to our player's balances and security first and foremost. The ****************** domain, related social media accounts and support e-mail addresses (for the duration they are still active and being checked) will solely be used for administrating and paying out all remaining player withdrawal requests. In the event the domain is seized or the current withdrawal server is made inoperational during the period withdrawals are still being administrated, a signed GPG message from hdev or xdev will provide definitive instructions for players to continue making withdrawal requests assuming we are still available and able to draft such a message. Any unsigned or invalidly signed instructions by others should not be considered legitimate.

Please note that withdrawals will only be open for a limited period of time and be solely administrated by those uninvolved with Micon's new operation who have been charged historically with maintaining SealsWithClubs solvency. Those able to stick around to process these withdrawals are hoping to commit to at least a few months of availability. We hope that this is sufficient in allowing all players to make their appropriate claims to their funds before they are made unavailable; in addition, we hope our players will do their part by spreading the word.

In line with remaining faithful to player security, we will not be providing Micon or his team with account passwords or authentication information or balance details. We will provide to him account names and the current e-mail addresses associated with them, as well as the krill amount associated to each account. This should allow his team, if they choose, to reserve usernames and e-mail password resets to users as well as honor their Krill amounts. Micon will also be provided the current e-mail address and account names of any affiliate accounts and the accounts associated under them so that he can choose to remain true to the affiliates in the affiliate program that he pioneered through the years for SealsWithClubs.

seems shady how u have to input ur password onto the webpage form to withdraw

I think it's the only option they have.

I withdrew my roll via the web page two days ago, had it in a few hours.

I really liked the site, my favorite by far. Hopefully they'll be back.

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

was my fave untracked euro site

Sad to see. Guess we should wait for them to confirm it here then withdraw

RIP. It was the only place I was playing.

You do realize that the statement and everything else here point to Bryan "The Icon" Micon continuing to run the site, with or without its old name, from Antigua (where he's suddenly gone to)?

Seems like the current owners minus Micon are using the wording in the above to make it clear that they will not longer be principals in the site, but may, at Micon's discretion, continue to provide support services to the new sole owner (Micon).

how long do cashouts take to process? I cashed out to coinbase this morning and it has not been instantaneous (still waiting). anyone else effectively cash out yet? thx,
dlpnyc21

In before "So long, and thanks for all the fish"

Cashed out a couple days ago and it took a few hours.

What type of traffic, limits, and tourneys were running on this?

made a request this morning and got my entire bankroll in 2 hours.

Site was ethically run and very soft. If traffic was better it would have been amazing. Hopefully Seals 2.0 succeeds.

From what I understand using Coinbase for processing Bitcoins involving gambling is a big mistake which likely could lead to your account being banned.

It seems like most people got their cash-out from SWC in 2-8 hours.
Got mine in 6.

Those who cashed out - did you use that form currently sitting on the homepage? Just seems a little shady.

yellowsub the champ of seals. fitzroy #2

sure did,quick and easy straight in my wallet.

If you withdraw from swc directly to coinbase youre gonna have a bad day.

Got my full balance to my electrum wallet in under 4hrs.

It was great playing on SwC every day. Very low rake, no ID, crazy chat, but most of all honest management. Just like Stars did when they were shut down, SwC transferred all of my funds back to me.

My conclusion is that in order to operate, the new Seals must be based in Antigua, Micon had to leave the U.S., and any other owners had to abandon ownership and operational control.

Live long and prosper.

Heartbreaking news, hopefully 2.0 continues the tradition.

Great job to the seals team for keeping it going this long and paying out.

Anyway to login and check transaction history? I thought I had more than the form says when I processed it

me and many others filled out this form and got our coins in hours.

sub sold at $8, fitzroy at $20..


https://twitter.com/BryanMicon/statu...78965634064389

I did, and I had my cashout in a couple of hours.

Can't say enough bad about them, this tweet says Coinbase is linked to the superfish malware

https://twitter.com/Beautyon_/status/568810312352141313