Paid Players Info | US Government Seizes Major Poker Rooms

US Government Seizes Major Poker Rooms

In case you haven't heard, Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB were forced to stop accepting USA players by the U.S. Dept of Justice, and have left many wondering what will happen next? No one knows this answer, but the excitement of playing poker is still here for USA players, giving the smaller USA facing poker rooms a chance to come in and take over. What does this mean for players? It means that there are still ways to play if you are in America, and there are still poker rooms willing to serve USA players.

Online Poker Sites Still Accepting USA Poker Players -

300px-Pokerstars_Screenshot Federal prosecutorson April 15th 2011 unsealed a sweeping indictment against Isai Scheinberg and Raymond Bitar, founders of the world’s biggest online poker companies, and moved to try to shut down their businesses.

The indictment filed by Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, charges Scheinberg, the founder of PokerStars, and Bitar, the founder of Full Tilt Poker, as well as nine other individuals, accusing them of operating illegal gambling businesses. Federal prosecutors also filed a civil lawsuit seeking $3 billion in civil money laundering penalties, alleging the online poker companies disguised money they received from U.S. poker players as payments to online merchants selling jewelry and golf balls.

The U.S. Attorney in Manhattan moved to try to shut down the online poker business in America by seizing five Internet domain names, including pokerstars.com and fulltiltpoker.com, used by the three main companies facilitating online poker games in the U.S. In addition, a federal judge issued a restraining order against 76 bank accounts in 14 countries utilized by those online poker firms.

The indictment sets up a complicated global legal battle between the Department of Justice and the online poker entrepreneurs who have long argued that their operations in the U.S. do not violate U.S. law. Indeed, in recent days, one of the nation’s most prominent casino billionaires, Steve Wynn, announced a strategic relationship with PokerStars and said “in the United States of America the Justice Department has an opinion but several states have ruled and courts have agreed that poker is a game of skill, it’s not gambling. PokerStars rests their argument on that.”

But in a 51-page indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan, federal prosecutors allege that PokerStars, Fullt Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, “used fraudulent methods to avoid restrictions and to receive billions of dollars from United States residents who gambled.” The indictment largely focuses on financial transactions, claiming the online poker companies violated a 2006 law that Congress passed to cut off the flow of cash to online gambling companies, saying the firms “deceived or directed others to deceive United States banks and financial institutions into processing billions of dollars in payments.”

Offshore companies like PokerStars, based in the Isle of Man, and Full Tilt, which is run from Ireland, generate more than $1.4 billion in revenues in the U.S. online poker market. But for years they operated under the shadow of the Department of Justice, which took the position that online poker violated U.S. law. A lawyer for Full Tilt Poker’s Bitar described the cat and mouse game between the feds and the poker firms as “a guerrilla war” in a Forbes article one year ago that detailed the federal government’s actions in the online poker arena.

Federal agents arrested two men, Chad Elie, a payment processor, and John Campos, a part owner of a small bank, this morning in Las Vegas and Utah. Another payment processor, Bradley Franzen, is expected to appear for his arraignment in Manhattan next week. But a number of the indicted individuals, including Scheinberg and Bitar, are not in the U.S. and have not been arrested, potentially setting the stage for extradition battles. Two famous poker champions, Howard Lederer and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, who have strong connections to Full Tilt Poker, were not named in the indictment.

Federal prosecutors claim that the men behind PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker, relied on highly compensated payment processors who lied to U.S. banks about the nature of financial transactions they were processing. In the past, PokerStars has maintained that payment processors who got in trouble with law enforcement had hid information from the company.

In its court filing, however, the government claims the poker companies were working with the payment processors to deceive banks and financial institutions. For example, the feds say that Bitar worked to create fictitious companies, including phony online flower shops and pet supply stores, to help facilitate credit card transactions. The government alleges that Scheinberg helped develop pre-paid debit cards or phone cards that could be loaded with funds from a U.S. customer’s credit card without using a gambling transaction code. Legal documents and other circumstantial evidence suggest federal agents have been able to secure the cooperation of payment processors who have pleaded guilty during the government’s investigation.

“The key to the indictment is the bank fraud conspiracy charge. The factual basis for that charge includes the alleged misrepresentations about the nature of the transactions being processed, in effect, a cover-up,” says Kevin Di Gregory, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. “The government will argue that whether poker was gambling is irrelevant to proving this charge, but that nevertheless the efforts to mask the transactions suggests the defendants knew the gambling activity behind them was illegal.”

Yesterday was big news when the US government went and took down the largest names in online poker that were accepting US players. Full Tilt, PokerStars and Absolute Poker all had their domains seized and the government halted all access to real money poker games during the seizure. After the domains were taken, eleven defendants were arrested and charged with crimes including; Money Laundering, Illegal Gaming Business, and Fraud. This is just a couple of the charges the founders of these sites will be facing, and others that had involvement with the illegal payment processing were also detained and charged.

The U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, and the FBI are charging PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UltimateBet and Absolute Poker with bank fraud, illegal gambling offenses and money laundering. The Attorney and the FBI unsealed an indictment where they charge eleven defendants, including the founders of the aforementioned sites.

When trying to access the website of one of these poker rooms, many poker players are surprised by a message informing that domain name has been seized by the FBI. In addition, restraining orders were issued against more than 75 bank accounts utilized by the poker rooms and their payment processors. Such a measure is likely to affect thousands of players, who may be prevented from cashing out money from these sites. As a precaution measure, Liquid Poker has decided to cease trading tournament dollars until the situation unfolds and we have positive news on the matter.

U. S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: "As charged, these defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud
scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits. Moreover, as we allege, in their zeal to circumvent the gambling laws, the defendants also engaged in massive money laundering and bank fraud. Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don’t like simply because they can’t bear to be parted from their profits."

According to the unsealed Indictment, a PokerStars document from May 2009 confirms that they received money from U. S. customers through fake company names that disguise the real real nature of the transaction, to avoid the rules imposed by the Unlawful InternetGambling Enforcement Act - UIGEA. The document explains that the poker companies "[...] 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."

Although the charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, the U. S. Government measures have already taken place, which is terrible news for every poker player and it is definitely a setback in the current state of the discussion on the regulamentation of online poker in the USA. Everything is still unclear and hopefully the upcoming days might be enlightening on the matter.

The major poker rooms that were shut down were one of the biggest names and brands in online poker, and many speculate that this seizure is only temporary. What is next for online poker players living in the land of the free?

Many Americans felt like there was no hope for them going forward and enjoying their daily game of online poker, however; this is not the case. Sure, the poker sites that are left online and doing business don’t have the big name behind their brand, but are still places that Americans can get their poker fix. Here is a list of the top poker rooms left online that are still accepting USA poker players.

Merge Gaming Network is well-known in the industry amongst poker players and it powers some of the strongest names in the online poker community. PlayersOnly Poker, Superbook Poker and Lock Poker are a few of the sites which use this platform, and players are still able to sign up and play.

Bodog, the online gaming powerhouse, is still open to take business from American players and they were once one of the biggest names in online poker. Bodog may soon fill the shoes that Full Tilt and PokerStars left behind and again become a favourite for American poker players.

The Cake Poker Network also has many strong poker rooms available that cater to USA players. Cake Poker, for example is one of the poker rooms which are currently dealing cards and taking bets to and from American based poker lovers.

Proprietary platforms are also still assisting players in their poker playing needs. Sites like Luvin Poker on the Everleaf Poker Network and many others that use their own software are still allowing registration and deposits for USA players.

As you can see, the big news yesterday isn’t enough for poker players to stop doing what they love. If you are based in the USA and are looking for an alternative to get in on the action, there are many choices still available.

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