Online Poker just got busted by the FBI

[CaptainPurge]

The biggest sites....Full Tilt....Pokerstars...Ultimate Bet..all shutdown by the FBI today.
American players now really cannot play there anymore. There was an easy workaround that was used for transferring $$ (cough, ahem i know nothing of this *cough*), and now it's solid that online poker for Americans is done.

Therefore, I'm thinking we'll be seeing an uprise in the MMO community.

Thoughts?

Insults?

Purge.

[ThePrincipal]

it was just a matter of time. It was made illegal in 2006. US companies then moved to places like Ireland and Costa Rica thinking the gov't wouldn't go through the trouble of hunting them down. The problem for the gambling companies is that they were too successful --- the kind of deep pockets that could pay billions in backed taxes, penalities, and fines. They're also going after the company executives like they were bootlegging mobsters, charges such as bank fraud and money laundering, which is awesome. The question for the near 10 million Americans who have played online poker, is whether the FBI is going to come down on them. It is obvious that 10 million people arent going to jail. It's also obvious that any cash balances they have with those companies has been seized and will never be recovered. I would say that is penalty enough. I guess people just need to get away from the computer and just find a casino.

[Drakos]

The biggest sites....Full Tilt....Pokerstars...Ultimate Bet..all shutdown by the FBI today.
American players now really cannot play there anymore. There was an easy workaround that was used for transferring $$ (cough, ahem i know nothing of this *cough*), and now it's solid that online poker for Americans is done.

Therefore, I'm thinking we'll be seeing an uprise in the MMO community.

Thoughts?

Insults?

Purge.

Hate to breake it to you, but the sites are still up, at least the non-real money parts are.

[Musouka]

Yeah, the news reports are stating they just suspended real money play only in the US for the time being. They are still operating in full capacity everywhere else in the world.

Just think of all those people with thousands and tens of thousands of dollars in their online poker accounts, and how they cannot touch that money at all, nor even withdraw it.

[LezChap]

And the government thinks this is their business again...why? *shakes head and mutters sadly about the loss of personal liberties we fought for*

[CaptainPurge]

Hate to breake it to you, but the sites are still up, at least the non-real money parts are.

non-real money. OK sweet. That must've been hard to break to me.

[Kmnh]

aww, my supply of drunk fish will dry up

[CaptainPurge]

And the government thinks this is their business again...why? *shakes head and mutters sadly about the loss of personal liberties we fought for*

cool, what country did you fought for, oh yeah the beginning of the Civil War was celebrated yesterday, 150th, maybe that but off a day.

[Buggss]

And the government thinks this is their business again...why? *shakes head and mutters sadly about the loss of personal liberties we fought for*

Oh please, personal liberties extend only to the things they can trick you into believing you have liberties in.

If everyone had full personal liberties the entire place would be more chaotic than a hen party in the Abyss.

[whitehawk74]

And the government thinks this is their business again...why? *shakes head and mutters sadly about the loss of personal liberties we fought for*

Arnt you a little young to have fought in those wars?
Anyway, you all signed your rights over when you didn't protest against the Patriot Act. Read it & get scared.

[Delt]

Silly Americans. You aren't allowed to choose to gamble....unless you go to Nevada.

[Tumarek]

And the government thinks this is their business again...why? *shakes head and mutters sadly about the loss of personal liberties we fought for*

This is probably the same thing a mobster thinks when he is arrested for selling heroin to schoolkids

[katana_one]

Aw. That bites. My pipe dream of being a professional poker player just became that much more unrealistic. :|

[Marcus-Hawkeye]

I've never actually playered anything on those kind of sites. Did they pay the taxes owed to the government when someone won? If not, I would assume that's why they stopped it.

[katana_one]

I've never actually playered anything on those kind of sites. Did they pay the taxes owed to the government when someone won? If not, I would assume that's why they stopped it.

As I recall hearing about all the hooplah a couple years ago, it seemed like it (originally) had more to do with "values" and protecting Americans from themselves than taxes. I'd have to go look it up tho, but since I never played online poker for real money, I don't feel motivated enough this early on a weekend morning to do the research.

I'm sure if the US government wasn't so short-sighted about it, we could still play online poker and the revenue generated would be a nice chunk of change for Uncle Sam.

[The10man]

Silly Americans. You aren't allowed to choose to gamble....unless you go to Nevada.

And they say organized crime is illegal. Well actually it is unless you get elected. Ever looked at the criminal records of those in congress?

[Hokiewa]

It's actually surprising simple to get around this latest "ban".

It also has absolutely nothing to do with taxes. It has to do with legal casinos, riverboats, and American Indian casinos lobbying Congress. Hmmm, what state is Harry Reid from?......

***edited in***
I will not provide information on how to get around the "ban"

[CaptainPurge]

It's actually surprising simple to get around this latest "ban".

It also has absolutely nothing to do with taxes. It has to do with legal casinos, riverboats, and American Indian casinos lobbying Congress. Hmmm, what state is Harry Reid from?......

***edited in***
I will not provide information on how to get around the "ban"

Let's restate the definition here of the "ban". If you're talking about using an onion server to mask your IP, it still won't matter when it comes to moving real money around if you have a US account. You can probably play on the free sites, I haven't checked, waste of time IMO if it's not for real money.

Quote "The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (September, 2006) UIGEA makes it illegal for any person or enterprise in the business of Internet gambling to accept money transfers for the purpose of "unlawful Internet gambling". Although the UIGEA and the related Treasury regulations do not actually make any Internet gambling illegal, they do give the U.S. Department of Justice additional tools to seize funds and indict companies related to Internet gambling and Internet poker."

For a thorough write-up on this subject which should help DDO readers' curiosity and also a very solid forum of in-depth poker strategy, discussion, etc, see two plus two forums:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/57...ls-faq-651375/

Happy Scale Hunting,
CPTp

[Marcus-Hawkeye]

It also has absolutely nothing to do with taxes.

If they don't pay taxes on winnings I'm sure it has a fair amount of bearing on the decision and probably part of the arguement from casinos and gambling establishments.

[Hokiewa]

Let's restate the definition here of the "ban". If you're talking about using an onion server to mask your IP, it still won't matter when it comes to moving real money around if you have a US account. You can probably play on the free sites, I haven't checked, waste of time IMO if it's not for real money.

Quote "The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (September, 2006) UIGEA makes it illegal for any person or enterprise in the business of Internet gambling to accept money transfers for the purpose of "unlawful Internet gambling". Although the UIGEA and the related Treasury regulations do not actually make any Internet gambling illegal, they do give the U.S. Department of Justice additional tools to seize funds and indict companies related to Internet gambling and Internet poker."

For a thorough write-up on this subject which should help DDO readers' curiosity and also a very solid forum of in-depth poker strategy, discussion, etc, see two plus two forums:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/57...ls-faq-651375/

Happy Scale Hunting,
CPTp

No. Quoting the "law" means nothing, though I get your point.

I'm not refering to masking your IP. It's far more simpler then that to get paid. I'm in the U.S., not masking my IP, and playing on one site mentioned right now.

Just an fyi, I've paid my taxes every year for online cashouts. The two sites I play will either send you the appropriate IRS form detailing your gambling income or an accounting list of deposits vs. cashouts.