By Jerry Whittaker

Apparently in response to the US DoJ indictments which took place on the 15th April, against Full Tilt Poker (amongst other sites), the Alderney Gambling Control Commission has negated this sites license pending a hearing. Paddy Power is a famous sports betting site, and like most British betting sites, they love a proposition bet. One of the latest wagers they are taking money on, is that Full Tilt Poker will not reopen for real money online poker games after the hearing in London on the 26th July. If you read this article in time and are keen to take a wager; the odds are 8/1. Personally I agree with Paddy Power and believe they could safely offer even more attractive odds.

I don’t believe that the only reason for the Full Tilt Poker license being revoked was the DoJ indictments – but then this is just my opinion, which is also speculation. The AGCC had from the 15th of April to revoke this license and only did it months later on the 29th June?

In the meantime Full Tilt poker had re-opened their site again for business and ostensibly to allow US players to close their accounts, and make withdrawals of the funds owed to them. The withdrawals were not being processed and all kinds of sh#t was going down. I believe that it was time that this online poker brand was shut down, before things got even worse, and that the AGCC did the right thing. One week later the French regulator – ARJEL also shut FullTilt.fr down!

The AGCC is apparently conducting their own investigation and speculation is running rife. They were the second largest online poker site in the world at the time, and reputed to have owners in Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and other big poker names. People closest to this site, seem to also be oblivious as to what is really taking place also. The fourteen major players who make up Team Full Tilt have been tight-lipped about any action, although just prior to the license withdrawal, Phil Ivey had spoken up and was apparently suing the site, not only on behalf of himself, but on behalf of other players who not been able to withdraw funds. He also demonstrated solidarity with these players by boycotting the WSOP 2011, citing that if his fellow players did not have buy-in funds because of Full Tilt, he was also not prepared to buy-in.

In the meantime Jeff Ifrah, who is Full Tilt’s lawyer, has told certain reporters that a European deal is imminent for this site. In other word, some fool wants to buy it. This may or may not pave the way for players who have not been paid to get their money out – but we very much doubt it. In the meantime class action, and copycat suits are being dealt onto any Full Tilt poker tables that litigators can find.

By Jerry Whittaker

There are many online card games, but the most popularly played of all is online poker. If you are an avid US player you will have noticed by now that PokerStars; the biggest site of them all is no longer accepting US traffic. They are not the only sites to be affected, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet were also closed down by the FBI and the domain names were seized on the 15th April. A day which online card games fans are now calling “Black Friday”.

While PokerStars and FullTilt are up and running again, they cannot accept US traffic, mainly European and UK facing fans (some other countries are also allowed). There are still a handful of US poker sites to choose from, but as to the wisdom of playing at any – we can’t even make a guess?! Many PokerStars online professional poker players are making other plans, some are even thinking of relocating to other countries.

In a Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office press release, eleven people have been indicted, some online poker room owners, the others from payment processing firms. The few which live in the US were arrested while Raymond Bitar (FullTilt) and Isai Scheinberg (PokerStars) do not live in the US, and are at liberty. 75 bank accounts have been frozen across 14 countries – these are linked with illegal payment processing. U.S. Attorney Pret Bharara accuses the sites and their principals of “bribing” or “tricking” banks into processing payments; engaging in bank fraud and massive money laundering.

The charges against these businesses and people concerned are very serious even though the poker operators are licensed in offshore locations. Although UIGEA apparently codifies the illegality of processing online gambling financial transactions, all members of PokerStars and FullTilt are being allowed to remove funds from their accounts. One would certainly think that if these online card games activities were that illegal; that ALL monies would be forfeited to the FBI; because players using these accounts are just as responsible for breaking the law. But once again the inconsistencies of the law and the US government in particular, have come to the fore. U.S. Attorney Pret Bharara actually had the cheek to say “All this in an effort to facilitate withdrawals and cash-outs to American players, in contravention of U.S. law.” So, this is crazy stuff – are payment processors even processing cash outs…surely they shouldn’t be?

Charges against the 11 defendants include conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering and all kinds of violations. They are talking about “up to 30 years” in prison and million dollar fines. The U.S. Attorney has also filed a civil lawsuit to recover $3 billion.

We already believed it to be a dreadfully sad state of affairs that US players were supposedly not allowed the freedom to play online card games such as poker and blackjack for real money – but it goes much deeper than that. This is all about politics and money, and it appears as though playing poker for money in “the land of the free” is only considered to be morally deficit, if it is played online.