I should be very careful here. It may very well be that contesting the illegality charges in the pending criminal case is not the ideal approach for us to get behind, given how they are pled in the indictment. I haven't thought it out thoroughly, and should be more circumspect.

i really hope this is a case of the FBI blowing smoke in the face of online poker. when everyone could play they were complacent. now they cant, perhaps they will all join the fight

As far as the DOJ saying is it okay to withdraw money - "it is also a federal crime to knowingly accept in connection with the participation of another person in unlawful Internet gambling, credit, electronic fund transfers, or checks. (31 USC 5363 & 5366)." Sounds like no.

Not working for me, now wondering if I should play before all the fish's money drys up and hope to be able to cash it out at a later time?!

So did you cashout? And were you approved? I guess the real question is even if you're approved, does it matter?

Is it better to keep it online and hope this all sorts itself out in a short time, or should we withdraw now if we have the chance? Don't want my roll disappearing in thin air but don't exactly want to withdraw if that means that money disappears too. Not sure what the best course of action is.

I haven't been able to access this website due to the high volume and traffic going into the website. It is good that Pokerstars has officially confirmed that all US customers' money is safe and the same goes with all the pros who play on this site. I don't know about UB or FTP but I think we should continue to follow any updates. (TE, Skall or PX: For if the owners of the websites do a plea deal or are found guilty, what are the chances that we could see any federal legislation passing for these sites in the US? If legislation does pass, will B&Ms maximize on the bill?)

really sorry for all u guys over there ,why do they want to make poker illegal,for chrissake
you can buy guns,but you cant play poker

love how they say everything is ok....for non-US players

How can you withdraw it if the payment processors and bank accounts are frozen here in the US ? The checks will bounce (nsf) and no ach either...

Count yourself lucky. I cannot download the update. I get the same message as others on Stars. I can play on Merge and UB. This is beyond redic. I agree with what has been said as this might be the opportunity to argue the legality of online poker as other courts have found poker to be a game of skill. Of course this sucks in the interim. But this shows what was missed out with the bill that failed to pass even with the blackout period. There is always something worse than doing nothing. And this shows that.

Ban please!!

PokerStars goes to Europe, and so do I (probably)

I can still play on FT, but I can not cash out. This is rediculous. Will we be banned forever or will they resolve this some how? What are some other sites that we can play on?

I was able to play cash tables today on Cakepoker and the pay touraments are open to enter, but all the freerolls have been showing zero entrants and when trying to enter them during the entry period "fails" to enter players.

I don't know if this is because of payment processing issues, fear of the present or future litigations, or something else.

The thing about the other sites not being able to handle the volume and then the sites and entire industry being hurt is proven by the "UPS priciple". Years ago UPS employees went on stike for 2 weeks. In the short term for 2 weeks, FedEx, USPS, DHL and the other carriers had to limit ALL customers to 10 packages per day. In the long term, since then, many shipping companies like DHL failed. USPS and FedEx were forced to join together just to stay afloat. And UPS never recovered from the strike, niether in package volume nor in stock prices. Consumer confidence just was never there again.

I also had the idea that this may be a strategic move by the gov't to legalize online poker, but only to US based sites. Washington D.C. just legalized last week and New Jersey is looking to allow its casinos to legalize their own online presence within its borders. Perhaps the US gov't is trying to shut down its competition before it allows its own inside companies to open. Then at least 2 things have happened. 1. a small certain group of politicians can claim as 'saviors' of online poker and make a lot of money in the process. 2. the US economy will not only tax and regulate, but also be able to claim that all the money gained and lost is always still in the hands of US citizens, therefore, helping the US economy in both ways.

Thoughts?

I kind of freaked out when I read this news as I was playing on stars at the time. I cashed out what I had in my account (left only 50 in the account).

I live in Canada...so fingers crossed a cheque comes my way.

How crucial is the US poker playing base to the long term viability of these sites, do you think? Would the current non-US traffic be able to support anything close to # of current online pro's that there are?

lol why isn't this redneck banned yet? Your posts spew ignorance.^__~

Full Tilt Poker Bans USA Players
By Dan Cypra - Apr 15th, 2011

The day just keeps getting worse for online poker players in the United States. Full Tilt Poker announced via a press release obtained by Poker News Daily that it will no longer accept real money action from U.S. players.

The statement from Full Tilt read in part, “Unfortunately, as a result of this action, Full Tilt Poker has decided that it must suspend real money play in the United States until this case is resolved. However, Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide peer-to-peer online poker services outside of the United States.”

This afternoon’s indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice names Ray Bitar and Nelson Burtnick of Full Tilt Poker, with the former commenting in the site’s press statement, “I am surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to bring these charges. I look forward to Mr. Burtnick’s and my exoneration.”

According to the charges levied by the U.S. Government, Bitar, Burtnick, and nine other defendants “arranged for the money received from U.S. gamblers to be disguised as payments to hundreds of non-existent online merchants purporting to sell merchandise such as jewelry and golf balls. Of the billions of dollars in payment transactions that the Poker Companies tricked U.S. banks into processing, approximately one-third or more of the funds went directly to the Poker Companies as revenue through the rake charged to players on almost every poker hand played online.”

In an article posted on PocketFives.com, players were irate at the news that the two largest online poker sites in the industry – PokerStars and Full Tilt – had vacated the real money market in the United States. One member wrote, “Man I’m pissed and I only play for some fun and a little extra income, I feel for you guys (and girls) who grind for a living and don’t know wtf is happening and trying to figure what you’re going to do next.”

One of the only Full Tilt Poker pros speaking out on Friday was Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who tried to put readers’ minds at ease if they were concerned about cashing out from either of the two former USA giants. Dwan posted on Twitter, “I wouldn’t be worried about getting paid. Might take a little time. Good luck if ur not on FTP/PS.”

To that end, a statement posted on Full Tilt’s website assured customers that cashouts were proceeding as normal: “All players who were affected by the current situation have had their funds returned to their accounts and all new withdrawal requests are processing normally. We assure all players on Full Tilt Poker that your online playing experience will not change and that you will be able to both deposit and withdraw funds as needed. Your money remains safe, secure, and accessible at all times.”

http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/full-t...players-18786/

I requested a wire xfer and cancelled it on Stars like three times today.

I can't decide if I should just try to get what I can out now, or if it's actually more dangerous to put the funds out there in limbo and if they are "safer" sitting there on Stars.

Is UB/AP in not so bad shape or am I reading this wrong?

This is all straight out of the indictment:

"In around August 2010, ownership of Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet was transferred to Blanca Games, Inc. of Antigua"

so here the gov't acknowledges that the two people who they are charging on AP's behalf (Scott Tom and Brent Beckley) are no longer in ownership of the company.


"58. If any of the forfeitable property described in paragraphs 55 through 57 above, as a result of any act of omission of the defendats:

b. has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a thrid person

it is the intent of the United States to seek forfeiture of any other property of said defendant up to the value of the above forfeitable property"

So basically this forfeiture section is where the gov't is demanding $$ compensation, and control of the actual poker sites as a result of the alleged crimes. However they acknowledge that if such assets (AP/UB) has been sold then they will seek equivalent compensation from Tom and Beckley (good fk them).

So my question is since AP/UB is now owned by Blanca Games, who are not indicted (yet), does this mean the site has a much greater chance of survival than ps and ftp???

Well great, I guess we all have to get real jobs, right guys?

As I figured. I was going to put you on suicide watch bro.

I know about DNS servers and was one of the first who saw the message on Full Tilt. I've received the message that Full Tilt's domain was seized but I am still able to sit at tables. That wouldn't make sense, right?

I am playing on tilt as i type. Logged on just see if I could.

The discussion in that thread went something along the lines that they way the website is structured/ran is different than the client...so the website can work for you and the client cant/or vice versa. Fwiw, I cannot access the website, but can sit at the tables.