The United States government has decided that it needs to the save the country's online poker players from themselves and have gone after three of the largest site on the Internet - Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and Poker Stars. The FBI seized the domains of the sites and are arguing that the sites accepted payments from U.S. players, which it claims is a violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
Unfortunately for the government, the question of online poker's legality has never really been challenged until now and the United States may be in for a rude awakening as to what is legal and what is not.
Naturally, this is bad news for online sports bettors, as the government indictment against those involved in an endeavor that is not actually classified as illegal, seems to indicate that no softening of its stance regarding sports betting is coming in the immediate future.
Read Online Poker Sites Under Siege in the New York Times.
Photo: Phil Ivey is a frequent poker player at Full Tilt Poker. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Comments
We need the help of all Poker players. There is now a facebook page that has been started to deal solely with this seriously impacting latest poker issue. It is to be the players voice where they will receive ALL available information and contribute their views. It is committed to firstly retrieving all monies owed and then the long term stability of the game. We care about the players not the owners of the sites or Government. Please support by joining the page and tell others. Once we get the numbers on the page we have ideas to share.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/USA-online-poker-forum/123902074354258