Correct. You can daisy chain them into infinity. Its how hackers often hide.

The NFL asking for exemption from the UIGEA, then lobbying for it.

Thread discussing Harrah's lobbying for, profitting from, and now soon to be profitting from again, the UIGEA.

A friend of mine made a great analogy today (which apparently he read somewhere) about the legalization issue, and I had to share:

Saying it's alright to play poker in a bricks & mortar casino but not at home is like saying you can go have a drink at a bar or night club, but it's totally illegal to have a glass of wine at your dinner table.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-m..._b_854134.html

A better analogy is to say it's okay to buy at the licensed liquor store, but it's illegal to buy booze from a liquor bootlegger you invited into your home.

poker no more

Nice one.

ppa posted this on FB and its fantastic... the first legitimate legal argument ive seen for the pokersites being innocent of any wrong doing.

http://www.relentlessdefense.com/our...ffice-on-tilt/

That blogger did a good job of fixing up the original disaster of a post he wrote on this subject.

His bank fraud discussion is a little weak, but that's not really his fault; it is the charge the sites will have the hardest time defending.

Yeah, the fraud was getting the banks to assume the risk of processing online poker transactions when they thought they were processing transactions for bicycles i guess.

That said, if the us atty wins on the fraud counts but on nothing else, isnt that kind of a big win for online poker. It seems like it would effectively establish that the only illegal thing stars/tilt/ub did by being in the US was misrepresenting themselves to the banks.

It would be a big win for online poker, but Bitar et als would still go to prison.

I like the arguements but the justice dept is not in the habit of losing. They will do anything and everything to make sure that these particular sites will never come back to the USA.

Good defense or not this will never go to trail IMO. Even if the people indicted were 99% sure they could win the trail it puts them at a HUGE risk of serving jail time for a LONG length of time. They can just avoid it by not going to trail. Without them showing up to court there won't be a trail.

Which is unfortunate because if they thought they had a chance I'd love to see this play out in court. If they could win it could set a HUGE precedent for poker. I just don't see it happening though.

An online poker site is not a B&M casino.

I never cared if PartyPoker ever came back after the UIGEA, and I don't care if FT and PS never come back after Black Friday. I just want the next best site available to get up to speed already, and hope the games and rakeback are as good or better than ever before. And I don't mean Merge, Cake, Bodog, and etc. I mean Zynga, Yahoo!, Harrah's, and etc.

Gary Loveman just was interviewed on the Kudlow Report on CNBC. He represented himself and Caesar's well and Kudow is clearly on our side. Hopefully someone can link to this interview.

This is awesome:

It was real easy to switch over to PS/FT when PP closed it's doors; (to U.S) "the next best sites" could be a couple of years down the road; I'm personally not looking forward to waiting that long.

I have to admit that I am impressed with how mainstream media seem to be on our side. That can only bode well for all of us.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000019333

Very much in favor of online poker, just have to sit through a 30second commercial first.

I just received this:

Dear Rich Muny,

As you are aware, following the recent events in the United States, Full Tilt Poker is no longer able to offer real-money play to residents of the U.S. and its territories.

Returning U.S. Players' funds is our top priority. We are working hard to achieve this and will have a further update for U.S. players next week.

We have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions we have received from U.S. players, which may address some of your questions or concerns.

The page can be found here: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/us-player-faq

Updates will be posted on this page when they become available.
Thank you for your patience as we work through the outstanding issues.

Kind regards,

Full Tilt Poker

Important Information for US Players

Further updates will be posted here when they become available.

As a US resident, can I play at Full Tilt Poker?

Full Tilt Poker is unable to accept ‘Real Money’ play from customers residing in the United States.

If I move outside the United States, can I play at Full Tilt Poker?

Yes. But your existing account and balance will not yet be available on logging in.

You will be required to provide sufficient proof of relocation, including your photo identification and proof of residency at your new address. You can then use non-US funds to play from outside the US. And, after return of your US funds, you will be able to use those funds as well from outside the US.

I am a US resident but am travelling overseas. Can I play at Full Tilt Poker while outside the US?

No. US residents are not permitted to play for real money at Full Tilt Poker.

Can I play at Full Tilt Poker through a VPN or similar workaround?

No. Players caught doing so are subject to having their account closed and funds forfeited.

Can I still play for play money?

Yes. You can still play at play money tables at Full Tilt Poker.com. However, you cannot enter any Freerolls.

Any new US players who wish to play for play money can open an account at Full Tilt Poker.net.

When will I be able to withdraw my account balance?

Full Tilt Poker is diligently working on facilitating the withdrawal of funds for US Players. This is our top priority and we’ll have a further update in the week commencing Monday, May 2nd.

Can I transfer my funds to another player outside of the US and have them withdraw it for me?

No, player transfers by US players are no longer permitted.

What will happen to my withdrawals that have already been requested?

We are diligently working to determine the status of any unprocessed withdrawals. Once confirmed we will return the funds to your Full Tilt account balance and contact you.

What will happen to my Ring Game Tickets, Tournament Tickets and T$?

All Ring Game Ticket balances will be converted to real money before your withdrawal. This includes any Ring Game Tickets that have expired since Friday, April 15th.

Any tickets purchased after Friday, April 15th, will be refunded in the currency they were purchased in.

All remaining unused tournament tickets and T$ will be converted to cash and added to your real-money balance.

What about my unclaimed bonuses?

Any purchased bonuses will have the unclaimed portion of the bonus refunded in the currency in which they were purchased.

How will my Black Card and Iron Man statuses be affected?

Your Black Card status (including your 500-day rolling average) and your Iron Man ‘continuing months’ will be maintained as of Friday, April 15th, should you be able to return to Full Tilt Poker in the future.

No player will be penalised for either of these promotions as a result of recent events.

What will happen to my Full Tilt Points, Iron Man Medals and Academy Points?

These are currently under review and details will be posted here when confirmed.

When will I receive my Take 2 promotion money?

You will be paid out on a pro-rated basis based on the number of days you played for the Take 2 promotion. The bonus money will be credited to your account shortly and will be available by the time you are able to withdraw.

What happens to any items I ordered from your store?

If the item has already shipped, then you should expect it to arrive shortly.
If the item has not shipped, then it has been placed on hold. Should we be unable to fulfil your order the FTPs will be refunded to your account.
Please contact customerservice@fulltiltstore.com if you are unsure on the status of your order.

Can I use my Full Tilt Points to make a purchase in the store?

Not at present.

I am a non-US resident but am visiting the US. Can I play at Full Tilt Poker while there?

No. Real-money play in the US is not permitted.

Please contact faq@fulltiltpoker.com with any other question or concerns.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through these issues.

It's not going to be years imo. D.C. just passed legislation, and at the risk of being called a conspiracy-theorist, I believe these indictments came down now for reasons we will discover in the near future (I'm pretty sure all future US-facing sites are happy FT and PS will be tied up in court for years. The real question is, how much influence did these business interests have in effectively eliminating competition before the market "re-opens?").

The most pleasant thing about this interview is the fact that the iPoker was discussed and not iGaming. The fact that they were reiterating the "game of skill" argument has given me the butterflies...

hasnt this theory been pretty thoroughly debunked?

Another story in te same vein: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bes...iref=allsearch

PPA is getting the word out there.