Founders of top poker Web sites indicted

Originally posted by freedom12
reply to post by DaveakaRNG
[The third site, Poker Stars, will not respond to any communication attempts either via email or phone.

Tried registering for a freeroll at Pstars and got this pop-up: 'We are sorry, but due to government regulations, playing real money tournaments is not allowed in your area.'

reply to post by jiggerj

I just now registered for a Freeroll on FTP.
I'm not necessarily saying that if I win anything, I will actually ever see the winnings, but it did let me register.
I still haven't tried logging out yet.

Another thing I do not understand at all. I think it was Morder that mentioned in this thread, about someone in Canada not seeing the FBI warning. I haven't asked many, but a couple people in Australia are getting the FBI warning if they try to go to the FTP.com site. At least one of those people, cannot register for the Oz Freeroll, because she can't get onto FTP.com(since you have to register on the site when it is a FR designated to a specific country).

So then I asked someone who was in Canada, and he also said that it seemed fine to him and didn't see a warning. Aside from the fact that the FBI shouldn't be allowed to block it here in the U.S., but how in the hell can the FBI block it in Oz??

Washington Examiner 4/12/2011

A District law to establish Internet gambling through the D.C. Lottery has cleared the congressional approval process, making the city the first U.S. jurisdiction authorized to allow online poker and betting on fantasy sports. At-large D.C. Councilman Michael Brown introduced the idea as an amendment to a December spending bill needed to close a $175 million budget gap in the current fiscal year. The council gave its approval and the 30-day waiting period for Congress to act on it ended last week.

What the.....?????

The law allows the D.C. Lottery to create online poker and other "games of chance" and betting on fantasy sports leagues similar to those already established on the web, officials said. The city's chief financial officer estimates the city could raise $13 million in additional revenue from the gambling in fiscal 2014.

A D.C. Lottery spokeswoman said they're in the early stages of planning and could not immediately comment on specifics.

I am not surprised by this at all, but.... that blatant about it?? I don't know, but it sure looks like a legit site to me.

reply to post by Becoming


this looks like it is going to drag on for awhile...if you can, you should take a vacation internationally, change your address on file to wherever you stay, and cash out like a madman...i dont see any other solution, and this could very well end badly for US consumers (as it ends for anything that involves our fascist government)...

Shut down online poker (used by the masses) but leave Wall St (run by the elite) alone......

What's the difference between online poker and "investment banking".....?

Absolutely nothing....!

Oh sorry there is a difference; if you gamble online in poker and loose, you loose your money, period. If you gamble on Wall St and loose you get bailed out by the tax payer......

This world really is F*****d up.....



MR

To Note:

It is just US based players who are affected, I can still log in & play being from the UK.

An alert popped up telling me I was ok to play but I would'nt be joined in any cash games or tournaments by US players. Im afraid your government is once again taking away another important freedom. I remember when this all started a few years ago when they banned US banks from transfering funds between gambling sites & accounts, but players got around it by using third party companies, now it seems they are going after the heads of those who run the sites, personnaly I cant see how they have a leg to stand on, but as we all know, laws can & will change to suit those who smell blood and the chance of futhering their own income. Just another case of your government wanting total control of what you can & cannot do. I would'nt be suprised to see my own government make a similar move in the near future

I think the only way to fight this is for the poker players in the US is to protest actions of the government. It will be a long legal battle in lots of money will be lost because of this. I am ashamed of the actions US government and can't wait until I can leave this country. Government for the people by the people has perished in the United States.

Originally posted by randomname
shocking, poker websites based in little known canadian native reservations and off shore islands, are charged with embezzlement and tax evasion.

the definition of a sucker are people who play highstakes with the likes of phil ivey on fulltilt, which he is part owner.

if you don't think he can see your hole cards on his screen, or the "random" card generator doesn't favor the poker "pros" then you should have your head examined.

i once had pocket kings, the flop came kka, i bet, the turn came another ace, great i have 4 of a kind with an ace kicker, i bet again, the river came it was a low card. i push all in and get called. guess what the other guy had. all i can tell you is i lost with 4 kings. incase your still wondering he had pocket aces.

another time i was playing and in the span of 5 hands, i saw a straight flush, and a royal flush.

odds of that happening are probably in the billions.

these things are so corrupt and bogus, i can't believe anyone would actually put money up, especially high stakes.

if you want to play poker, go to a casino. at least there all you have to worry about is tipping arrogant dealers.

You sound like the typical fish I want at my table. I would eat you alive with some garbage hands, and you would be ranting about the site being rigged, when it is really just someone adjusting their playing style to beat your nit approach. I play quite a bit, not for a living, but I would say part time, so I think I have a fair amount of experience in this subject to make a good reply to your stupidity. About the odds, a straight flush is somewhere around 40 k to 1 and royal is 650 k to 1. Not billions to 1.

The fact is you will be playing against people from all over the world, who live in different cultures, and have varying levels of education. You probably play at some local card room, or bar league, and do decent. Then yo log online, and play nitty poker, and then get bad beat, and assume the sites are all rigged. Look at how retarded that logic sounds. The site makes money off of raking the games games you play in. Why would they want to cheat you ? What do they gain from cheating you ? They lose a customer if they actually did cheat you. The fact of the matter is you need to adjust your playing style, and possibly do some homework before playing. You cannot swing a gold club one day and make a hole in 1 at mini golf, then jump to the pga tour the next day. A lot of people jump into poker expecting to win, when they don't realize, that there always has to be a loser.

I consider myself to be fairly advanced, and even on some of my best days I play perfect, and get all in with the nuts, and lose 20 out of 25 flips for the day. It happens, if you cannot learn to live with that part of the game, then you will always suck at it.



Here is a hand I played yesterday. Now at first glance you probably have no clue wtf is going on, and you probably think both players are donkeys. This hand took place with 37 players left out of 5000 starters. As seen, I was down to well under 10 big blinds, with an overall M of less then 5, which is pretty much shove any face card or ace high range. Which is what I did. Now the flop I get lucky and hit the 3 outer, turn gives me a solid lock leaving him only the 5 of clubs, as the 5 of spades makes me a flush, thus making this a 1 outer hit on the river for him. This happens all day everyday, is what idiots like you do not realize because you have such a small sample size of maybe 40 hands once a week at the reservation or the bar league. Try playing 6000 hands a day.


PokerStars Game #60844003778: Tournament #383445146, $2.00+$0.20 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXXIII (8000/16000) - 2011/04/14 19:16:18 PT [2011/04/14 22:16:18 ET]
Table '383445146 108' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: frohos (240721 in chips)
Seat 2: bajerakaos (484419 in chips)
Seat 3: ************* (90221 in chips)
Seat 4: namelessaek (263897 in chips)
Seat 5: HELLHANDS (225740 in chips)
Seat 6: Dizgrafix23 (520746 in chips)
Seat 8: Yougotkings2 (392523 in chips)
Seat 9: MBk19 (388836 in chips)
frohos: posts the ante 2000
bajerakaos: posts the ante 2000
**********: posts the ante 2000
namelessaek: posts the ante 2000
HELLHANDS: posts the ante 2000
Dizgrafix23: posts the ante 2000
Yougotkings2: posts the ante 2000
MBk19: posts the ante 2000
bajerakaos: posts small blind 8000
*********: posts big blind 16000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ******** [Ac 2s]
namelessaek: folds
HELLHANDS: folds
Dizgrafix23: folds
Yougotkings2: folds
MBk19: folds
frohos: calls 16000
bajerakaos: raises 466419 to 482419 and is all-in
**********: calls 72221 and is all-in
frohos: folds
Uncalled bet (394198) returned to bajerakaos
*** FLOP *** [Ks Ah 8s]
*** TURN *** [Ks Ah 8s] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [Ks Ah 8s 6s] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bajerakaos: shows [5h 5d] (three of a kind, Fives)
***********: shows [Ac 2s] (a pair of Aces)
bajerakaos collected 208442 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 208442 | Rake 0
Board [Ks Ah 8s 6s 5c]
Seat 1: frohos (button) folded before Flop
Seat 2: bajerakaos (small blind) showed [5h 5d] and won (208442) with three of a kind, Fives
Seat 3: ******** (big blind) showed [Ac 2s] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: namelessaek folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: HELLHANDS folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Dizgrafix23 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Yougotkings2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: MBk19 folded before Flop (didn't bet)




PokerStars Game #60826475961: Tournament #383445104, $3.00+$0.30 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (60/120) - 2011/04/14 12:24:37 PT [2011/04/14 15:24:37 ET]
Table '383445104 186' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: ocuspokerus (5777 in chips)
Seat 2: dirty013 (2385 in chips)
Seat 3: millerørbech (4935 in chips)
Seat 4: Sernas11 (1685 in chips)
Seat 5: BIC1981 (5720 in chips)
Seat 6: ********* (7200 in chips)
Seat 7: Pokornak (9725 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 8: popey0511 (8502 in chips)
Seat 9: 123squire (2745 in chips)
ocuspokerus: posts the ante 15
dirty013: posts the ante 15
millerørbech: posts the ante 15
Sernas11: posts the ante 15
BIC1981: posts the ante 15
*********: posts the ante 15
Pokornak: posts the ante 15
popey0511: posts the ante 15
123squire: posts the ante 15
dirty013: posts small blind 60
millerørbech: posts big blind 120
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ********* [6h 6c]
Sernas11: folds
BIC1981: calls 120
***********: calls 120
Pokornak: folds
popey0511: calls 120
123squire: folds
ocuspokerus: calls 120
dirty013: folds
millerørbech: checks
*** FLOP *** [6d 8d Tc]
millerørbech: checks
BIC1981: bets 480
***********: raises 480 to 960
popey0511: raises 7407 to 8367 and is all-in
ocuspokerus: calls 5642 and is all-in
millerørbech: folds
BIC1981: folds
************: calls 6105 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1302) returned to popey0511
*** TURN *** [6d 8d Tc] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [6d 8d Tc 7d] [6s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
************: shows [6h 6c] (four of a kind, Sixes)
popey0511: shows [Js 9d] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
************ collected 2846 from side pot
ocuspokerus: shows [Qd Td] (a flush, Queen high)
*********** collected 18201 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21047 Main pot 18201. Side pot 2846. | Rake 0
Board [6d 8d Tc 7d 6s]
Seat 1: ocuspokerus (button) showed [Qd Td] and lost with a flush, Queen high
Seat 2: dirty013 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: millerørbech (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Sernas11 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: BIC1981 folded on the Flop
Seat 6: *********** showed [6h 6c] and won (21047) with four of a kind, Sixes
Seat 7: Pokornak folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: popey0511 showed [Js 9d] and lost with a straight, Seven to Jack
Seat 9: 123squire folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Full Tilt Poker™ Supports Poker Players And Its Chief Executive

Dublin Ireland (April 15, 2011)- Full Tilt Poker is saddened by today's charges against its CEO Raymond Bitar and offers its full support to Mr. Bitar and Nelson Burtnick.

Online poker is a game of skill enjoyed by tens of millions of people in the United States and across the world. And, Full Tilt Poker remains as committed as ever to preserving the rights of those players to play the game they love online.

Mr. Bitar and Full Tilt Poker believe online poker is legal – a position also taken by some of the best legal minds in the United States. Full Tilt Poker is, and has always been committed to preserving the integrity of the game and abiding by the law.

"I am surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to bring these charges. I look forward to Mr. Burtnick's and my exoneration," said Mr. Bitar.

Unfortunately, as a result of this action, Full Tilt Poker has decided that it must suspend “real money” play in the United States until this case is resolved. However, Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide peer-to-peer online poker services outside of the United States.

For more information, please call +442032877138

About Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker™ is the host of a worldwide virtual poker cardroom service. It is not in the business of betting or wagering and does not participate in the games as a player. It merely provides a service to those who wish to test their skills against others for fun, prizes or money. It is duly regulated and licensed by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. With innovative graphics, superior customer service and a safe, secure interface, the software is geared to enhance and personalize the online poker experience. Although virtual poker is legal where the games are hosted and played, it may not be legal where individual players are located.

This came up on my screen, and they've frozen all accounts. This really sucks. I've never played for much money, but I love playing, and it does matter if you have something invested in a game or not. The Freeroll games, the one's with no money involved are usually wild, and don't have experienced players. The higher levels you go, mostly the better they play. I love playing poker, it's a game that I find I'm on an equal playing field with any guy. I'm very girly btw, incase you were wondering! I don't think playing live is as much fun, plus I don't feel like going to the local Dog Track to their Poker Room, ugh!

According to ESPN_Poker twitter Wynn casino has backed out of their partnership with PokerStars and Fertitta has backed out of their alliance with FTP.


Good summary of the events thus far

Surely, by now..... some bright mind has figured out how to bypass this 'inconvenience' and can bounce or mask IP addresses, so it appears to come from out side U.S., no?

God dammit, this really pisses me off.

All the 'Home Games' and Poker Houses around town (and the nation) just popped a chubber, as their numbers are likely to increase as folks will be clamoring for way to satisfy their 'card-lust'.

On PStars, I'm hoping the GOYL I satellite'd into is considered a FR, so I still have a shot @ a $100K kitty, tomorrow(!)

Other than that: 1) This needs to be fought/won/rectified soon, or it may be time to 2) move to Vegas, 3) Move...

This country continues to make EVERY wrong decision when it comes to matters of money! EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. These guys are getting indicted, yet not ONE SINGLE arrest has been made on Wall St. to the biggest #ing scam of the American people of ALL time (for the last 98 years) - might be time to claim my Dutch citizenship and get the # out of this economic cess pool.

Originally posted by KnowledgeIsPowre

Founds of top poker websites indicted

www.marketwatch.com

Federal authorities unsealed an indictment Friday against founders of the three largest internet poker companies operating in the U.S., alleging they tricked banks into processing billions of dollars in illegal gambling revenue.

The indictment charges 11 defendants, including the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, with bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling offenses, according to federal authorities in New York.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
ca.reuters.com

edit on 15-4-2011 by Maxmars because: fixed article title

Moral of the story is, Rob a bank and you'll spend a long time in jail, Own a bank and you can rob the nation and destroy millions of lives in the process, like Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs is a name to revile like the word Hitler

Our government must be stopped. I have the right to gamble on line, I have the right to do any drug I want, I have the right to drive without a seatbelt, I have the right to privacy.
We have the right to revolt.

is there any news or rumors on sites like BetUSA or others that are 'Offshore'

like in the Dutch West Indies or the other parts of the Carribean.

I've been haalf heartedly seeking a horse-race site,
but none of them come close to the OTB (off track betting) places like the ones i frequented
when i lived in Phoenix...ohhh, those were the days...

[side-bar]:
on my cash poor weekends (when my accounts had No receipts for work done that week)
i would take $50. bucks to one of my two favorite OTB places, and dutifully win at least a
$80 quinella , perhaps a $100+ exacta, or even a $1,400. trifecta (done more than thrice...)
and that would keep me in the Red Black ! for the rest of the weekend.

but that kinda betting is skill... just as i think that the popular Texas Hold 'Em thats on
TV is mainly skill ..in the art/skill of playing the hand among other players at the table.

reply to post by St Udio


Small sites are hoping to stay open and get some traffic from US players. Sites like cereus say you can still play but currently are unable to withdraw.

ESPN just cancelled all poker coverage. News coverage will remain but shows have been dropped. Thanks USG!!

Originally posted by KnowledgeIsPowre


ESPN just cancelled all poker coverage. News coverage will remain but shows have been dropped. Thanks USG!!

Happen to have a link to an article or anything about that?

Haven't heard ESPN canceled WSOP coverage yet

Originally posted by ViperChili

Originally posted by KnowledgeIsPowre


ESPN just cancelled all poker coverage. News coverage will remain but shows have been dropped. Thanks USG!!

Happen to have a link to an article or anything about that?

Haven't heard ESPN canceled WSOP coverage yet

Ok, spoke too soon. WSOP coverage will stay because Harrahs is the main advertiser, but the other programs which are sponsored by FTP/PS are gone.

reply to post by KnowledgeIsPowre


ok, just wanted to make sure. I saw the article on Bluff about ESPN canceling their Stars sponsored show, but if they stopped showing the WSOP too, that would result in a big drop in attendance this year.

Well thats a good thing, because gambling is more addictive than drugs, and its ruing our culture. So Im happy that these sites get closed down, for the simple reason that people would rather gamble than get a real job.