If you’re a serious online poker player that hasn’t heard about the Friday 15th April US DOJ (Deparment of Justice) indictments vs the 3 largest US-facing poker sites then maybe you’ve been in France on business all week followed by a weekend break in London. Me too!
DoJ Notice on PokerStars.com
I took today off to recover from all the travelling and have just finished catching up with the thread on DC about it and I’ve reached saturation point on the subject for the time being but figured if I don’t post something about this on my blog, I will lose the opportunity to put a marker in my personal history of poker at around the time of this landscape-changing event.
Here are some links for content on the subject:
http://wickedchopspoker.com/the-new-poker-world-order/
http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/4-General-Discussion/topics/379781-FBI-taking-down-poker-dom
http://alexdreyfus.chiliblog.com/2011/04/16/black-friday-analysis/
I’ve not tried to read the 2p2 forum thread. Good luck connecting to the site let alone wading through this one…
Even though I live in the UK, I panic-withdrew funds on both PokerStars (50% of my roll) and FullTilt (100%) when I first found out about this on Saturday morning. The PokerStars withdrawal was processed to MoneyBookers within a few days (used to be immediate but I guess they are inundated at the moment). The FullTilt withdrawal failed.
I sincerely hope PokerStars sticks around. They are a great company. I’ve not got as much respect for FullTilt but like their software a lot and obviously would like my $500 back.
My heart goes out to all the US players who’s livelihood was just yanked from under their feet. Let’s hope this accelerates legalized poker in the US and there are enough skilled jobs in US’s weakened economy to keep US poker players afloat in the meantime.
Update 18/4/2011 18:55
Video featuring BalugaWhale of DeucesCracked
http://www.nwcn.com/home/?fId=120011709&fPath=/news/local&fDomain=10202
interesting commentary/analysis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cR3ivXpv_A&feature=player_detailpage#t=175s
update 20 April 2011
another recommended summary
http://www.billrini.com/2011/04/16/fallout-full-tilt-pokerstars-pullout/
What the…
ESPN removes poker-related programming and advertising
Barney Frank slams obama administration over this
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/156655-rep-barney-frank-blasts-obama-admin-for-online-poker-crackdown
In a strange twist..
District of Columbia to become first state to legalize online poker
MrSrslySirius satire Party at the DOJ
mainstream commentary
domain names restored to give US players access to deposits
Interesting interview with a leading gaming attorney
Interview with professor i nelson rose
Update 25 April 2010 (a few links from the past days)
Andrew Feldman joined by ESPN Poker columnist Gary Wise, Bluff editor-in-chief Lance Bradley and Poker Players Alliance exec. director John Pappas to discuss the latest developments
ESPN Radio link
Online Poker Shutdown — What’s Really Behind the Department of Justice’s Decision?
leave the gambers alone – John Stossel post
Antigua says US poker shutdown is illegal
Alfonse D’Amato (ex senator) – good post supporting online poker
Absolute Poker issues statement
Update 30 April 2011
last update I’m going to do on this.. a CNN report
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/04/29/exp.tsr.bolduan.online.poker.cnn?hpt=C2
