Quite a surprise - Any insider's advice?

[SternSwiss]

Just read this today







Anyone has a bit of a story to inform us?

[rad6]

wow is this for real and are we next lol?

[ChineseIrish]

Jesus Christ, it is for real


this is from one of the websites

"This domain name has been seized by the FBI persuant to an arrest warrant in Rem obtained by the United States attorneys office for the southern district of New York and issued by the united states district court for the southern district of new york.

Counducting, Financing, managing, supervising, directing all or part of an illegal gambling operation is a federal crime (18 U.S.C S 1955)
For persons engaged in the business of betting or wagering, it is a federal crime to knowingly accept, in connection with the participation of another person in unlawful internet gambling, credit, electronic, find transfers, or checks. (31 U.S.C SS 5363 & 5366)

Violations of these laws carry penalties of up to 5 years inprisonment and a fine of up to 250k USD"

Firstly, one must ask how the hell any poker website can monitor every single individuzl on every single table


Second, I think we will be ok because the network is registered outside the US...........not sure will stop the feds though

[tictalk]

Any members worried check here

UK Border Agency | British citizenship

[tattmando]

disturbing read indeed.

[heyyou]

Originally Posted by tictalk

Any members worried check here

UK Border Agency | British citizenship

Haha nice. I've been seriously considering immigration the past 24 hours. I hope this all blows over. I don't understand the whole "evils of poker" debate. I'm just glad I play more here than at FT and PS. Does any staff have a reply to this? Or does anyone else for that matter know more about this than the apathetic news stories floating around now?

[Amber30]

does it mean we might be getting a flood of new players looking for another site?
there are some professional players who play on those sites..it could be good for op66..
HI Tatt x

[akire]

oh noooooooooooo I will lose more chips to the professionals ??????????????????????????????????????
I dont have to worry, I dont play for money, or can they get you for just playing poker?

[CaptainSandy]

I'va always wondered how players from the US managed to play on the cash side when internet gambling is illegal over there. I guess the answer is they were breaking the law.

[heyyou]

Originally Posted by akire

oh noooooooooooo I will lose more chips to the professionals ??????????????????????????????????????
I dont have to worry, I dont play for money, or can they get you for just playing poker?

No it's "gambling" that's technically illegal, so play chips won't get you arrested lol

When will politicians realize that poker is a game of skill? A skilled poker player is more guaranteed to make money at poker than a casino is on a slot machine. Hardly "gambling" IMO

[SternSwiss]

Originally Posted by heyyou

When will politicians realize that poker is a game of skill? A skilled poker player is more guaranteed to make money at poker than a casino is on a slot machine. Hardly "gambling" IMO

Yeah, here in Switzelrand they made all tournaments held not in official casino illegal, sending thousands to unemployment, clubs closing down, etc. on the excuse it was a luck game and that those when played for money can only be allowed in Casinos (while our national swiss card game where people pay lots is of course tolerated).

What is funny, is first they had officially let them flourish but then a powerful political lobby (casinon loosing money + politicians loosing taxes) made them reconsider.

Shame on these illegitimate people!

[DukeOfDeath]

There's still no definitive answer from anyone on staff. What's the official stance? Lava? Anyone? I'm from the US and play real money. I'd like to know something.

[TheTexan]

Originally Posted by DukeOfDeath

There's still no definitive answer from anyone on staff. What's the official stance? Lava? Anyone? I'm from the US and play real money. I'd like to know something.

I am not an owner and therefore not in a position to state what the requirements are for US players from Everleaf pursuant to this case. For the final word on how this is being handled you will need to consult the 24/7 support tab.

With that being said, according to the article there are several issues with the sites mentioned.

The issues regarding this article are the following:

1. These sites allowed US play for cash money and processed payouts in such a way as to show services or goods as the source of the charges, rather than gambling deposits or proceeds. Hence that is fraud according the the US DOJ.

2. A bank in the US was knowingly processing these payouts and deposits as purchases of merchandise on the customer's credit cards. That would be bank fraud according to US DOJ.

3. The domains involved were under US law and were temporarily seized during the issuance of warrants. My limited understanding is that they have been returned at this point and that all current US players are no longer being allowed to play cash money games and are entitle to cash out any funds in their accounts.

The US DOJ is seeking a cash payment from these organizations in the millions of dollars in fines. I would encourage you to do your own research and the question seems to be hotly debated even among lawyers as to what the law actually says and means to US players. Most conclude that the law has nothing to do with the players unless you have an ownership stake in the profits of the site but have more to do with banking transactions that move money to and from these sites without reporting them for tax purposes.

Edit, below is the response from the system support people:

In relation to your query,

Per our network policy as stated on our website we ask all members of the US to be aware of there own state law when it comes to online gaming.

Also our License is fully legal and held in Malta with the Gaming and Lottery Association.

[DukeOfDeath]

Bump? One of my first posts ever. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.