Why not? It is against the law for a US citizen to partake in online gambling, is it not? If so, then "all" funds could be siezed.

Saying there is no way is like saying if you get caught by a State Trooper for speeding, there is no way you have to pay the ticket. You broke the law, you have to face the consequences.

DONT FARK OBAMA! this is all on BILL FRIST and GEORGE BUSH

At present, American players' funds are not accessible either via cash-out nor by transfer to a non-American player. I am sure that this was done by Pokerstars at the advice of thier lawyers since the US Gov't placed a seize of assets order against all their bank accounts.

When you try to do a transfer, the site says that "due to US regulations", transfers are not allowed in your area. This is not exactly true since I am not aware of any of these "regulations." The only reason to block access to our accounts is to show good faith to the gov't now that the owners have been indicted in order to try and get some mitigation.

Also, does anybody know the status of the foreign bank accounts that the US gov't tried to seize? Are the other countries cooperating in this? If they are, then Pokerstars does not have the ability to pay out all the non-US persons if they all wanted to cashout.

I just cashed out, on pokerstars. The FBI is after there profits, from there rake systems. the FBI estimated 3 billion, but im sure its a lot more then that. So people shouldn't worry about anything, these sites want to appear to be legit so that what there going to be legit. These are major corperation with major sponsers that they don't want to lose. these aren't your mom and dads basement, they have your money ten folds.

Obama's lacky, Attorney General Eric Holder, could have stopped this dead in its tracks, but he didn't.

lol blame Obama It was Bush and the thing is when Bush did it players still voted Republican And you still will so the Republicans screwed you again and you will still vote republican. DOJ just enforced a law

I think it will take a year

if they legalize it, the online sites will be run by sites like harrahs and they will issue 1099s and the end of the year for everyone

The Federal government doesn't allow gambling in Nevada, Nevada does. The Feds have (supossedly) limited say about what goes on internally in a state.

The argument the Feds use in the case of online gaming is twfold: 1) It crosses state lines by using the phone systems/fiber optic trunks/whatever and that makes it a Federal issue. 2) Because this involves money and/or the banks, Federal authority is covered by the Insterstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Thanks to a series of, in my opinion terrible, court rulings, th Commerce Clause is twisted by politicians to pretty much let the Feds get involved in everything under the sun. In this case, I think would legitimately come under the Commerce Clause though.

+1

IT WAS ALREADY LAW! the law was passed in 2006, two years BEFORE obama

True, but there is a prioritization of law enforcement resources. Going after something like online poker is going after the low-hanging fruit and isn't going to cost any political capital or cause huge swaths of voters to think again come elecretion time. Going after illegal aliens or building that wall in the SW might cause hispanic voters to not vote for Obama in 2012, so he won't do that. Going after the Black Panthers for voter intimidation might cause black voters to not show up at the polls in 2012 so he won't do that. Going after union corruption might cost him union support in 2012, so he won't do that. But online gaming? Yeah, nobody gives a crap about that so it's safe to hit, and who knows might even put some cash in the federal coffers

All you guys saying "well thats it, say goodbye to your monies it's gone!1" are so dumb! Of course you'll get it back eventually, it could be a while but you'll get it back because it's your money and not Full Tilt's/Stars. If they are sued or the government takes their whole company then only their own profits will be gone, not your actual money. Besides think of the riots that would be caused by the government taking billions of $ of your money, it just wouldn't happen.

Anything above the amount you can show as being your deposit will be confiscated as proceeds of crime.
Although there is ample case law on the subject, recent decisions in the Madoff matter prove this out. Sorry.

Sorry, but you are deluding yourself. Rich people -- very very rich and connected people -- have had any money that they made and took out from Madoff seized and/or ordered returned. Small poker playing shlubs will not see a dime of what you have left with the companies and you will be lucky that the US government doesn't try to set an example and go after winnings withdrawn since the legislation was passed as proceeds of crime. Also, you should be worried that they get all the records of the companies to see the monies made by US players and compare it with tax returns. The US government is financially and morally bankrupt, so you should not expect them to do anything but the worst when it comes to your money (or, in truth, money that they see as theirs).

In my humble somewhat legally educated opinion, what happens is that all US players funds beyond deposits are seized, the companies are convicted and put into bankruptcy by the fines (so no one left to sue), and any new companies that spring up or are just non-US based will say that those liabilities for your monies belong to the other company that has since gone bankrupt. From the US government's perspective, you were engaged in an illegal pursuit and ignorance of the 5 or 3 year old law is no excuse.

Even your deposit will be confiscated, because as a U.S. player you knowingly took part in an illegal banking transaction. That was the risk that every U.S. player took after the law was emplaced.

If you don't think assets of non-indicted parties can be swept up by U.S. law enforcement, then you've been paying absolutely no attention to drug enforcement for the last two decades.

Your money is gone.

I know, just look at the riots caused when Obamacare was passed, or the bailouts, or TARP. I mean who wouldn't expect a bunch of smarter-than-thou kids who thought they had figured out a way to not have a real job and fat middle-age introverts to take to the streets when The Man took their stuff?

Riots. Indeed.

The US government, and not the sites themselves, will seize all the funds. Period. From that, they may delineate amounts to US players and non US players. From the US players amount, they may further separate deposits from winnings. Bottom line, I do NOT see US players EVER getting their funds beyond deposits back. EVER!! As for suing, who will you sue and can you afford to do so? Maybe a future class action lawsuit is your only hope, but I doubt you will ever get more than pennies on the dollar and then only after they have checked to see if you have been paying taxes on your winnings.

p.s.-- I love all the talk about US players transferring their money to non US friends. Do you think the government is stupid? (Yes, it is but not when it comes to grabbing your money). That act will look like an act to protect the proceeds of crime and may also involve an additional charge for you beyond the obvious liability of paying it back (if the sites even let US players make transfers of any kind since this government action).

Oh, I suspect you are correct but I wanted to give the players some hope. When it comes to grabbing money, the government is shameless. Again, look at the Madoff example -- people that did not even have a hint that they were participating in an illegal activity had any money above their deposits seized (Gains that they even paid taxes on through the years!!). Poker players in the US should have (or at least it can be imputed) knowledge of the legislation that put their efforts offside. IT IS PROBABLY ALL GONE. Sorry.

From the PokerStars EU

Is my money safe with PokerStars?

Since beginning operations in 2001, PokerStars has conducted many millions of deposit, cashout, and transfer transactions for our players. In all cases we have, and will continue to, use legitimate and safe transaction methods which have been tested for safety and security.

Additionally, PokerStars player funds and account balances are held in separate accounts at a leading European bank, and are not used for any operational expenses. Such an arrangement ensures we can at all times fulfill any financial obligations to our players, and provides further reassurance that player funds are always secure with PokerStars.

mmm....UBS, Barclays, Deuschbank? don't know if US Govt can levy/freeze the accounts

As the situation develops, I am actually becoming more confident that we will see our $$$...

What dwan/galfond tweeted was a real show of faith.

Category: Cashier Sub-Category: Cashout - Questions
Client Version: '4.603' System (OS) Info: 'Windows7[6.1]'

Message:

Can you tell me anything about what's going on with US players ? Are pokerstars able to process US payments still ? Or do we have to wait ?


response i got a few hours ago


Hello XXXXXX,

Thank you for your email.

We apologize for the delay in responding to your email.

We regret to inform you that in light of recent developments, PokerStars is no longer offering real money play to US residents.

Unfortunately we are unable to immediately process cashout requests for US players as a result of the legal developments in the United States. We are making it a priority to work with the relevant authorities to secure the return of funds as soon as possible. We will promptly provide you with additional information as soon as it becomes available.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.


Regards,

Stian
PokerStars Support Team

well, there it is.

If poker money is taxable, then there must be deductions, right? As a losing poker player I will vigorously seek my fair share of those deductions.

Any shot?



PS: Poker stars reps- Can I trade my FPP's for some cool stuff or is that out the window too?

This thread is laughable.

90% of online poker players lose money. The bitterest of them appear to be posting here.

Get over yourselves. If online poker were illegal, they would have started arresting players a longgggggg time ago.