Taking Money out of PokerStars -- Breaking Even Feels Good

With my hopes of ever hitting that big online poker pay day now just a memory, I closed out my PokerStars account today. Since Black Friday the status of US players’ funds held by the big three poker sites has been in question. While no one ever came right out and said the money would be long gone, that was the fear at first. With a 52-page federal indictment and criminal counts seeking up to 30 years in jail, it would not be unrealistic to assume the sites and/or their payment processors had absconded with our money.

But, no, the money is there. At least, that is what Full Tilt and PokerStars has assured its US-based players…or should I say, former players. But efforts to actually obtain a refund were met with various explanations and statements — but no cold, hard cash.

That changed today, at least at PokerStars. When I clicked the “Cashier” button, instead of excuses and promises, I was led to a page where I could actually cash out my account. Now, I have in there about what I deposited, being an ace at break-even poker. And it’s somewhere between $1 (under which PS explicitly will not reimburse you) and number that requires a comma to be written out properly. In other words, it’s not a huge deal.

But the fact that less than two weeks after the indictments — which were the poker world’s equivalent of an 8.0 earthquake in a non-retrofitted house — PokerStars was already able to process payments is a positive development. While it does nothing to resolve the question of why the Justice Department thinks the most important thing on its plate is stopping people from playing poker on their computers, it at least demonstrates that what seemed like the worst day in the history of US poker may not be a complete disaster.

Other positive developments. If you love and miss your old sites, you can go play there again. No longer will the dot com sites for PS or FTP greet you with either an error message or a scary posting from the FBI.  No, you can go there an play just like the old days, with the teensy difference that you can only play for play money. Think of it like having to quit smoking. Instead of going cold turkey, you can at least enjoy a phony, electric cigarette that somewhat resembles your old enjoyable habit.

The fact that the Justice Department was willing, so soon after declaring the poker sites Public Enemies #1-3, to enter into an agreement returning their domain names is possibly a sign that the Justice Department is not as up for the fight as their initial salvo would indicate.

Only time will tell how the federal case will play out. But at least for now, we know that the only potential victims of this otherwise victimless alleged crime — the poker players who were temporarily deprived of their funds — will be compensated. I will update you and let you know how long it takes for the check to come in the mail. Wait, did I say the check is in the mail? Should I worry?

DOJ Brings Indictments against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker

War was declared on Friday, April 15th, by the United States government against online poker players living in the U.S.  In a nine-count indictment, the Justice Department went after the three biggest online poker companies, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.  It charged the companies' principals with money laundering, bank fraud and "illegal gambling offenses."  Also named in the indictment, a number of payment processors who facilitated payments from US residents to the off short poker sites through various -- according to the government illegal -- means.

The immediate result of these criminal charges was the suspension of all US poker player's ability to play online poker -- or to access their funds -- at these sites.  Deals whose ink had barely dried between land-based casinos and various online sites were canceled.  People whose livelihood is based on online poker were scouring the web for new jobs.  And somewhere Senator and arch opponent of online gambling John Kyl was smiling.

Those defendants currently residing in the US have been arrested; the FBI is working to have those living out of the country extradited.  Their US sites have been seized, their assets frozen, and they are the subject of a forfeiture action.

The gist of the action is that, to deal with the restrictions on money going from US banks to off shore online poker sites, the poker companies tricked "banks and financial institutions to process billions in payments to the companies by having the money disguised as payment to non-existent online merchants and other non-gambling entities.  The defendants utilized third party payment processors who lied to US banks about the nature of the financial transactions they were processing through the creation of phony corporations and websites to disguise payments to the companies."

According to the Feds, the payment processors set up phony companies and websites purporting to sell everything from clothing to jewelry to bicycles to golf equipment and flowers all in an effort to disguise that the payments were going from US residents to online poker companies.  They are seeking billions of dollars from the sites but what they want, more than their money, is to shut them down once and for all.

A cursory look at a tournament on PokerStars hours after the announcement showed a world without US players; it was an eerie sight.  Whether this will be the beginning of the end of online poker is the question, and the likely answer is that this action may actually be what spurs significant changes in the law.  There is no question now that the law needs to be changed.  Not one of us playing poker considered ourselves criminal or thought there was anything illegal about playing poker.  It is not gambling in the true sense of the word as its outcome is not primarily the result of luck.  It is a game of skill that the federal government has no business interfering with.

Now that we've been shaken out of our complacency, we can all take up arms against the battle the Feds have brought against our beloved game of poker.  We must mobilize to get the change in Congress that will silence the objectors and establish the change we need to protect this game we love -- and love to hate.  To see what you can do, please check out theppa.org.

To follow the story, check the Poker Player Newspaper for the latest.