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sluggo
06-10-2009, 11:33 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An advocacy group for online poker said Tuesday that the federal government has frozen more than $30 million in the accounts of payment processors that handle the winnings of thousands of online poker players.

The Justice Department long has maintained that Internet gambling is illegal, a view that the poker group challenges.

The Poker Players Alliance told The Associated Press that the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York instructed three banks -- Citibank, Goldwater Bank and Alliance Bank of Arizona -- to freeze the accounts.

Documents obtained by the AP show that a magistrate judge in the district issued a seizure warrant last week for an account at a Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco, and that a federal prosecutor told Alliance Bank to freeze accounts.

In a letter dated Friday and faxed to Alliance Bank, the prosecutor said accounts held by payment processor Allied Systems Inc. are subject to seizure and forfeiture "because they constitute property involved in money laundering transactions and illegal gambling offenses." The letter was signed by Arlo Devlin-Brown, assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

In another letter faxed the same day, Devlin-Brown asks that the bank treat the funds "as legally seized" by the FBI, saying that the government has probable cause that the gambling payments of U.S. residents had been directed to offshore illegal Internet gambling businesses.

"The FBI has authority to seize proceeds of specified unlawful activity without a warrant under exigent circumstances," wrote Devlin-Brown -- a process criticized by the Poker Players Alliance.

(http://finance.yahoo.com/news/APNewsBreak-Group-says-poker-apf-15481559.html?sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode)Full article here (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/APNewsBreak-Group-says-poker-apf-15481559.html?sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode)


The good folks at the PPA are fighting this tooth and nail. If you believe that people should have the right to play poker if they choose, please head on over to the PPA's website and lend a hand.

http://theppa.org/

sluggo
06-10-2009, 11:48 AM
Article from today's WSJ:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124459561862800591.html

gls
06-10-2009, 11:51 AM
Outrageous.

This is nothing more than outright theft.

homah
06-10-2009, 11:54 AM
This sort of behavior is nothing new, unfortunately. A couple of years ago the government froze the funds of an ewallet called Neteller and we were lucky to finally get our money back after upwards of six months. It sounds like they are really ramping things up now, but this isn't surprising in the least. We have to be protected from ourselves by the government, naturally.

gls
06-10-2009, 12:00 PM
This sort of behavior is nothing new, unfortunately. A couple of years ago the government froze the funds of an ewallet called Neteller and we were lucky to finally get our money back after upwards of six months. It sounds like they are really ramping things up now, but this isn't surprising in the least. We have to be protected from ourselves by the government, naturally.

Yeah, they'll "protect" me right onto the streets. I count on the money I earn playing poker online to cover a good portion of my living expenses. First they make it nearly impossible to find a decent job and now they want to take away one of the few recourses available.

rockandrollsouls
06-10-2009, 12:01 PM
This is a shame. I play and enjoy online poker, though I do play with small amounts of money because something about a computer shuffle and a company incorporated over seas doesn't give me much faith :D.

I know there are various ways a player can deposit money and cash out, so I'm not sure the freezing of accounts will stop them.

eduardo89
06-10-2009, 12:23 PM
this is so ridiculous...i don't get why they're so opposed to online poker!

rockandrollsouls
06-10-2009, 12:35 PM
this is so ridiculous...i don't get why they're so opposed to online poker!

I have a feeling a couple of their top guys lost some money on Pokerstars. "I had two face cards! I should have won! It's impossible for that guy to river a flush!"

:D

brandon
06-10-2009, 12:39 PM
I lost about $180 about 3 years ago when the government froze the account's at my poker payment processor. I don't even remember the name of it now...

brandon
06-10-2009, 12:40 PM
this is so ridiculous...i don't get why they're so opposed to online poker!

There's big big money in Vegas and Atlantic City lobbying the government to protect their business.

rockandrollsouls
06-10-2009, 12:48 PM
There's big big money in Vegas and Atlantic City lobbying the government to protect their business.

Yea? Then why can't AC get sports betting through? Sure is a whole lot of lobbying....that's why their business is being destroyed by Delaware and PA, one of which who is on the verge of getting table games.

Matt Collins
06-10-2009, 01:03 PM
Was a warrant issued prior to this seizure?

rockandrollsouls
06-10-2009, 01:16 PM
Was a warrant issued prior to this seizure?

Did you read the text of the original post?

No1ButPaul08
06-10-2009, 01:53 PM
I lost about $180 about 3 years ago when the government froze the account's at my poker payment processor. I don't even remember the name of it now...

Was it Neteller? That was the other big seizure of poker money that the DoJ has seized. About 6 months after Neteller was seized they unfreezed the money opened it up for a one-time withdrawal

brandon
06-10-2009, 02:14 PM
Was it Neteller? That was the other big seizure of poker money that the DoJ has seized. About 6 months after Neteller was seized they unfreezed the money opened it up for a one-time withdrawal

Yep you got it. I tried to do the one time withdrawal thing and never received my money.

Matt Collins
06-10-2009, 02:24 PM
Did you read the text of the original post?Naaa... who RTFA these days? :rolleyes:;):p:cool:

ItsTime
06-10-2009, 02:26 PM
I pulled my money out of poker right before neteller was frozen. I got lucky.

Not everyone loses their homes playing poker, some PAY FOR their homes playing poker ;)

sluggo
06-12-2009, 01:34 PM
Vote here to get Judge Napolitano to cover this story on Freedom Watch:

http://freedomwatch.uservoice.com/pages/16625-freedom-watch-show-ideas/suggestions/217968-the-federal-government-s-war-against-online-poker

LibForestPaul
06-12-2009, 05:53 PM
online poker, or online offshore poker, I know US officials have an ongoing spat with Antigua. WTO actually found against US and has pretty much ruled Antigua can retaliate as it sees fit (economically)...i.e. Not recongize IP, trade agreements, etc.

Second I thought certain games were not considered games of chance, like Poker and Blackjack, vs slots.

tangowhiskeykilo
06-12-2009, 07:08 PM
Why the fuck should it matter what the hell we do on our own time with our own cash? My country sickens me. I officially disown it for numerous reasons.


Where liberty is, there is my country!