Online Poker News

In the wake of the US Department of Justice and FBI’s onslaught against online poker sites offering games to US players there have been many twists and turns, with arrests, domain name seizures, payout difficulties and high profile players speaking out about the various issues in the world of poker. However the question on everyone’s lips is just how badly did Black Friday affect online poker and the players?

We know that Cereus Poker Network, home to both Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, are just about down and out for the count. Other poker sites that were affected by the FBI’s clampdown included; Doyle’s Room, True Poker, Full Tilt and PokerStars but all of these sites are still offering games of real money poker, just not to US players. No one can deny that US poker took a massive hit but online poker as a whole still looks in good shape, with the rest of the world still bluffing and shoving from their PC’s

By not taking his seat at the WSOP Phil Ivey is giving up a lot on behalf of his fans who have lost money through the shutdown of the three online poke sites in black Friday! He is in the middle of a dispute with Full Tilt Poker about the customers that poured money into the site before the federal government shut it down. That money still hasn’t been returned to the rightful parties, and fans are upset.

In today’s sports world, athletes will sign on with companies, but never take a stand, only collecting the pay cheques. Ivey, on the other hand, has taken the situation very personally, trying to get money back from players who have had it kept from them by a site that is no longer in use. It’s a noble gesture, especially considering that Ivey has dominated the World Series of Poker, essentially giving up millions of dollars to take a stand for these consumers. You can’t help but respect that.

Since its introduction in 1995, the global market for online gambling has grown rapidly, bringing in more than $25 billion in revenue in 2009. It was estimated to reach nearly $30 billion, before U.S. authorities announced a major crackdown of online poker by seizing five major gambling websites and indicting 11 individuals involved with the sites, on April 15, 2011 this has had a major effect on the market in the USA.

Internet gambling has officially been illegal in the U.S. since 2006, as legislation prohibited banks from handling payments related to online gambling. The current crackdown saw three major sites have their sites seized and their executives face prosecution over allegations they tricked banks into believing transactions were not gambling related. They also operated companies that hid offshore to try and avoid U.S. regulations. However, online casinos in Europe and other parts of the world do not have such problems and the online poker sites in the UK are fully licensed and are entirely legal.

Casino news seems to have been dominated recently by the revelations that three online poker sites had been closed down in the US, but contrary to what many may think, the online poker sites here and in Europe are open for business and healthy, completely unaffected by the problems in the US.

Although two of the three sites, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were content to settle the online poker shutdown with the US government by agreeing to never offer gambling for real money inside the United States again, a third and lesser talked about company is taking a much harder stance on the situation. It would appear that Harold Lovell, the Finance Minister in Antigua, is not prepared to let Absolute Poker surrender their rights inside the United States without an appeal to the World Trade Organization. Thankfully we are able to get on with a hand or two of online poker and let the US sort out its own problems.

The world of online poker has literally been stunned by the news of the crackdown on three major online poker sites in the United States who are being charged with fraud. A number of people who are connected with the three sites, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars have been charged with illegal gambling, money laundering and bank fraud.

Naturally, European online poker players and visitors to online casino rooms have become worried by the events that have taken place across the “pond” but, here in Europe, there are inbuilt regulations that safeguard poker players using fully regulated online casinos. Much of what has happened in the U.S. may have been due to the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) which was passed making it illegal for U.S. banks and credit card companies to fund online gambling. An unsealed indictment in a Manhattan Federal Court Friday showed that some of the online gaming sites have been disguising payments to get around the law.