PokerStars, FullTilt, UB & Absolute Poker US play suspended!
Posted by Shannon on Sunday, April 17, 2011
Black Friday as it has now become known has changed the course of online poker as we know it.
Friday morning an indictment against the founders of the three largest online poker sites was unveiled by federal authorities. According to the indictment, the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker have been brought on charges of bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling according to an article on MarketWatch. Restraining orders have also been issued on more than 75 bank accounts used by the online poker companies and their payment processors, as well as five Internet domain names.
In a PDF of the indictment, The United States Department of Justice named 11 defendants, 7 of which show their citizenship in the U.S, 3 in Canada, and 1 was unnamed but resides on The Isle of Man. The U.S. Citizens are listed as Raymond Bitar (age 39), Scott Tom (31), Brent Beckley (31), Bradley Franzen (41), Ira Rubin (52), Chad Elie (31), and John Campos (57). The 3 Canadian citizens are Nelson Burtnick (40), Ryan Lang (36), and Isai Scheinberg (64 est.), who also holds duel citizenship with Isreal. The last named defendant is Paul Tate, whose citizenship and age was unlisted.
The charges include Conspiracy to Violate the Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act of 2006 (”UIGEA”), Violation of the UIGEA, and Operation of Illegal Gambling Business. Each act of violation of the UIGEA carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, 3 years supervised released, and forfeiture of proceeds of offense. The DOJ also brought charges against the 11 defendants for Conspiracy to Commit Bank and Wire Fraud, and Money Laundering Conspiracy carrying separate 30 and 20 year prison sentences, fines of $1 million and $500,000 respectively. In total, at least $3 billion in civil laundering penalties from the poker companies and the defendants is being sought after.
The Poker Player’s alliance released a long awaited statement late Friday regarding the Federal Action against the online poker companies and former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance the following statements. “On behalf of the millions of poker players across the country, we are shocked at the action taken by the U.S. Department of Justice today against online poker companies and will continue to fight for Americans’ right to participate in the game they enjoy. Online poker is not a crime and should not be treated as such. We are currently gathering all of the information around today’s announcement and will offer detailed analysis when the full facts become available.”
Today John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA followed suit releasing his own statement that came with some very strong words. Says Pappas, “Millions of Americans across the country today are outraged over the U.S. Department of Justice’s clear attack on Internet poker. While the government’s focus may be on the companies who operate these games, this is plain and simple a declaration of war on poker players and poker player’s freedoms. Not only are there over 10 million online poker players left without a place to play the game they enjoy, and from which many earn their livelihood, but they also have concerns over the availability of their funds.”
“Let me be clear,” continues Pappas, “online poker is not a crime and the honest poker players across the country will not stand to be restricted from one of America’s greatest pastimes. On behalf of over one million members, the PPA is working hard to protect the interests of our players and is committed to U.S. citizens’ right to play online poker.”
US poker players are encouraged to take advantage of poker rooms that continue to offer the ability to play online. The biggest poker network accepting US players now is the Merge Gaming Network- which offers quality poker rooms such as Carbon Poker & Aced Poker, Carbon Poker is where all the US players are heading and has now become the most popular online poker room. Carbon Poker also recently began accepting players from Australia and New Zealand. Other US friendly poker rooms include SportsBook.com, Bodog & Doyles Room.
Head over to PokerUtility.com to read reviews of all these poker rooms & find out about the latest poker tools
Friday morning an indictment against the founders of the three largest online poker sites was unveiled by federal authorities. According to the indictment, the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker have been brought on charges of bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling according to an article on MarketWatch. Restraining orders have also been issued on more than 75 bank accounts used by the online poker companies and their payment processors, as well as five Internet domain names.
In a PDF of the indictment, The United States Department of Justice named 11 defendants, 7 of which show their citizenship in the U.S, 3 in Canada, and 1 was unnamed but resides on The Isle of Man. The U.S. Citizens are listed as Raymond Bitar (age 39), Scott Tom (31), Brent Beckley (31), Bradley Franzen (41), Ira Rubin (52), Chad Elie (31), and John Campos (57). The 3 Canadian citizens are Nelson Burtnick (40), Ryan Lang (36), and Isai Scheinberg (64 est.), who also holds duel citizenship with Isreal. The last named defendant is Paul Tate, whose citizenship and age was unlisted.
The charges include Conspiracy to Violate the Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act of 2006 (”UIGEA”), Violation of the UIGEA, and Operation of Illegal Gambling Business. Each act of violation of the UIGEA carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, 3 years supervised released, and forfeiture of proceeds of offense. The DOJ also brought charges against the 11 defendants for Conspiracy to Commit Bank and Wire Fraud, and Money Laundering Conspiracy carrying separate 30 and 20 year prison sentences, fines of $1 million and $500,000 respectively. In total, at least $3 billion in civil laundering penalties from the poker companies and the defendants is being sought after.
The Poker Player’s alliance released a long awaited statement late Friday regarding the Federal Action against the online poker companies and former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance the following statements. “On behalf of the millions of poker players across the country, we are shocked at the action taken by the U.S. Department of Justice today against online poker companies and will continue to fight for Americans’ right to participate in the game they enjoy. Online poker is not a crime and should not be treated as such. We are currently gathering all of the information around today’s announcement and will offer detailed analysis when the full facts become available.”
Today John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA followed suit releasing his own statement that came with some very strong words. Says Pappas, “Millions of Americans across the country today are outraged over the U.S. Department of Justice’s clear attack on Internet poker. While the government’s focus may be on the companies who operate these games, this is plain and simple a declaration of war on poker players and poker player’s freedoms. Not only are there over 10 million online poker players left without a place to play the game they enjoy, and from which many earn their livelihood, but they also have concerns over the availability of their funds.”
“Let me be clear,” continues Pappas, “online poker is not a crime and the honest poker players across the country will not stand to be restricted from one of America’s greatest pastimes. On behalf of over one million members, the PPA is working hard to protect the interests of our players and is committed to U.S. citizens’ right to play online poker.”
US poker players are encouraged to take advantage of poker rooms that continue to offer the ability to play online. The biggest poker network accepting US players now is the Merge Gaming Network- which offers quality poker rooms such as Carbon Poker & Aced Poker, Carbon Poker is where all the US players are heading and has now become the most popular online poker room. Carbon Poker also recently began accepting players from Australia and New Zealand. Other US friendly poker rooms include SportsBook.com, Bodog & Doyles Room.
Head over to PokerUtility.com to read reviews of all these poker rooms & find out about the latest poker tools
Tags: us poker rooms pokerstars banned fulltilt banned ub banned carbon poker aced poker bodog poker rooms that accept us players
