Poker Forum

Canadians too affected - another reason to sometimes regret our close links to the U.S.

No Football, No Poker, High Gas Prices, No Drilling, Middle East Turmoil, High Unemployment, Massive Government Corruption, Central and South America going communist and hooking up with Middle East State sponsors of Terror, Illegal Immigrants and the "La Raza" invasion of America, Debt, Debt, Debt, China owns the U.S., cant smoke a cigarette anywhere, Extremely high taxes on everything, Economy killing government regulations, The Forced Redistribution of Earnings by OUR Government, Gubment sCroul eduMactions-we are not even in the top 15 of EDUCATION anymore, ..........What do I think? I think Obama's America SUCKS! He has made all of these problems MUCH MUCH worse than ever before. It is Obama's Justice Department that did this. Do some research and see what else Obama's Justice Department has done to OUR freedoms since that Manchurian Candidate stole the election. Yeah, stole it. Just like that coward thief Harry Reid stole Nevada! Obama wants complete control of the internet, including taxes and a KILL SWITCH! A KILL SWITCH just like the kind used in Egypt during their so called "uprising." Wake Up People, we are under attack by outside forces and their number one weapon is Barrack Husein Obama, who is spending millions to keep that stupid birth certificate thing CONCEALED.

This whole poker thing is just a symptom of the diseased that infects America and threatens to destroy us all.

i'm one of those players that just enjoy the game online. the comments by doyle and jean robert i find appauling considering that online poker increased there prize funds and popularity

There are other sites that still allow USA poker players I just wont mention the names like an idiot cuz you know the government will shut them down as well. I knew all that advertising on Espn from Tilt and stars would come back to bite them . It was bes t to stay under the radar. Hopefully this gets resolved soon where online poker is regulatd and taxed.

And for the folks hating on Doyle Brunson for speaking his mind . Show some respect . He has accomplished more in his lifetime then you will ever do in 10 minutes.

Thank you for the conservative rant
This anti-internet-poker legislation was pushed through in 2006 by the Bush-Cheney "administration". Bush-Cheney are the coward thieves who STOLE the 2000 election in Florida. Yeah, do some research. Jeb Bush was the governor of Florida, where the election shenanigans took place. But that wouldn't raise an eyebrow from frothing Republicans would it. Stupid birth certificate thing? How about Bush's stupid cocaine use thing. Not that Obama is really any difference, the Bush gang still run the government and Obama is just their current pantomime puppet. The whole poker thing is just a symptom of the disease that America is infected by. So was Bush a symptom of America's disease. You want to blame Obama for Middle East turmoil, high taxes and debt debt debt? How many trillions are your taxes spending to commit mass murder in Iraq and Afghanistan. THAT'S the reason for massive debt and poor economy. That was caused by Bush-Cheney. Not that Obama is doing anything to stop it, he is as I have said merely another puppet of the Bush gang. He isn't ending it, but he certainly didn't start it. We are not under attack by outside forces, we are under attack by INSIDE forces. Yes INSIDE JOB is the keyword. It was an INSIDE JOB in Florida 2000, it was an INSIDE JOB in New York 2001.

The disease which infects America and is destroying all of us is ignorant stupidity. I agree it's too bad you can't smoke a cigarette anywhere. Those who wish to smoke cigarettes should be allowed to smoke as many as they want, as long as they don't blow it in the faces of the rest of us who prefer not to die from lung cancer. The sooner you morons cough up your black lungs the better off the world will be.

What I am doing? copying and pasting my letter to Senators and sending them to Every politician I can.

Sent to TN senator, and have now started to filter through the politicians in favor of taking our money.

I am saddened that the government has decided to take my initial investment and use it to help their cause of not having to REALLY balance the budget!

You and your cohorts have all but stolen millions of dollars from the very people you claim you are protecting from internet gambling. And by doing this, you hurt who?

I will not wait for the time that an IRS agent stands next to me at the casino slot machine waiting for my initial 17 cents to pop out 34 cents,then have him grab my arm and state I can not play another penny til the government gets 1/2 cent.

So with this said I will make my new full time job, advising others how to vote in upcoming elections by using all media available to me.

The good people in the United States are tolerent of the politicians they vote in, and not ignorant enough to believe what politicians say relly means anything at all.

The President can talk all day and night about how things are better in this country to those that live this country's life every day and think we are fooled by the words and not the actions.

WE ARE NOT STUPID!

We the people of the United States have proven in the last two years that if we voted you in, we can, and will vote you out in a heartbeat.

Our patience are growing thin and our tolerences are not near what they were just a couple years ago.

We will be expecting from you, proof through the media that you care enough to resolve internet gambling issues without having to rob YOUR VOTERS blind in the process.

Respectfully yours,

Seragato57 (Kevin)

I cannot believe that some of you are blaming the government especially the one person that blamed Obama. The current laws were signed into effect in 2006 by a guy named Bush. A) it's illegal to take funds from US residents for online gambling and B) these clowns circumvented that system illegally in the worst manner you could imagine. I doubt any of the "allegations" are not true. Off to jail they will go and no more online poker for real money. You all can practice your skills with play money for the weekly game in the garage. The law is the law, get over it.

While it is a sad day for on-line poker players. If you want on-line poker, go to your Congress Person's web site, leave them a message supporting bringing the "Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act" as proposed in 2009 to the floor of Congress for a vote. (It was killed by Conservatives in Committee). The go to your Senators sites and send them a message supporting bringing the "Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act" as proposed in 2009 to the floor of the Senate for a vote. Obama has already stated that he would not veto the bill if it was passed.

This is absolutely crazy. For the life of me I can't believe they're going after online poker sites and not the bankers that created the whole financial crisis. I'm angry, and I recommend everyone sign this petition and pass it on: http://www.angrypokerplayers.com . An online petition wont do much, but its a start. I recommend everyone contact their representatives in congress and give them an ear full!

Guys if you want to play a usa poker site that is going no were and you can play 24/7 and get what you win come try out bluffspokerclub.com and play for free and win real cash & prizes, asked for me i will help you any way i can, good luck

i saw this before when bugsys shut down thats why i am at bluffspokerclub.com come join us in live chat at www.bluffspokerclub.com

"There is many a slip twix the cup and the lip." [Shakespeare I think ...] From the poker online free-for-all days of the 2000's to the 2015+ where it will be all regulated, there will be a number of "slips" and this is just one of them. The revenue stream is too large for even the U.S. to ignore. The DOJ will not do the smartest thing possible, fine the three sites severely and sequester a portion of that income stream pending a legal definition of poker as "gambling". The DOJ would make tens of millions on the interest on that sequestered income stream while the courts define poker's gambling status but that is not the DOJ's job, which brings us to the DOJ's job.

In the universe of people that break US laws, there are the tough people to get such as drug racketeers, organized crime, human trafficking, & a long list of people that need arresting. There are also a number of "soft" targets that require virtually no work where agents and AG can relax in their offices confident of success and political points. Poker is a "soft target".

The political angle is important to understand because there are reputations at stake now in the DOJ NY office. The only way that the DOJ will back down is with a direct, grassroots political action on a very broad front. The DOJ will act imperiously, of course, pointing at the banks and the law as they see it. The political action has to be clearly directed at the right to play poker online aka "freedom". Vote for the candidate that endorses the right to play, period. The PPA needs every person to sign up and I do mean "every person" including wives, husbands, and voting children of players affected. Give the PPA enough voters signed up and elected officials will take notice.

The goal is for online poker playing to be allowed, regulated, and taxed in the U.S. which is such an important income stream that it should be done right away if the current US government is serious about debt reduction. This goal will be a tough fight and only occur after PokerStars & FullTilt settle with the DOJ, hopefully with some sort of sequestered income stream from the rake as part of the deal, because as that sequestered deposit grows, the temptation for regulation becomes more viable. Just my two cents.

Meanwhile, online players will be hooked up to VPNs pretty fast to play in Canada.

Accusations of fraud, double dealing etc not withstanding, this ruling seems motivated by a pure malice towards the personal freedoms enjoyed not just by American poker players but by internet users generally.After all if the CEO of a drinks company is found to be fraudulent you don't stop drinking your preferred cola. If the gate is left open on this and resistance is not forthcoming by both the poker players and the internet community at large then all manner of restrictions can be introduced on a ' moral crusade ' ticket which can then be used to curb wider freedoms. Is this really what US citizens want? Are you not the home of the free? Freedom of speech and action is to be defended not just of those we approve of but of those we don't, otherwise it is no freedom at all.

I tried to deposit $500 on UB.com about a year ago and my bank declined. When I called UB.com they told me to use prepaid, international debit visas. I had to buy 10 $50 visa cards. I know, stupid on my part, but I wanted to try out the site....Anyway, When I checked the balance on gift card site, 5 listed payments to a music download site and another was something else, can't remember. None of them were charged to UB or anything poker related.

Agree or not, they definitely said FU to the laws and were pretty blatant about skirting them to make BILLIONS. I'm not sure most people realize the HUGE amount of rake pulled in by these sites.

Poker will return to the days of PreMoneymaker poker within a few years. Online poker will fade, the pros will be a thing of the past as at least 90% will have to move on. The fish tank just got cleared out when the US player got banned. Without the online companies pushing the advertising all over TV, the ESPN and FOX SPORTS broadcasting stop all poker content eventually and then the poker rooms dry up even more than they did with the recession. Places like Cincinnati with 3 area indiana casino rooms and a 4th to be built right down town cincy - there will not be enough players to share among the 4 rooms, somebodys gonna close. I would say most casinos, outside Vegas, AC, LA and a few others, will have closed their poker rooms within 5 years. Its more expensive for a casino to host a poker room than a floor of slots or even high level group of basic table games.

Anyway, I am very curious to see where these poker pros, some of whom surely have ownership in these companies - I wonder what happens to them....If the GOVT wants the billions of dollars back from these companies, the money is not gonna be hard to find..

The real sick secret is the MILLIONS and MILLIONS these people like Ivey get for being their face. Without Ivey, Hansen, etc...these sites don't make it.

These companies make BILLIONS with a B - these poker pro faces are getting paid. Strike that. WERE getting paid.

Just looking Poker Stars tables who is playing and those free to play COUNTIRIES- RUSSIA-BULGARIA-PAKISTAN-BRAZIL-IRAN-CHINA-FINLAND-MOLDOVA-LUXEMBOURG-BELARUS-HUNGARY-SPAIN-UNITED KINGDOM -CANADA-UKRAINE-GREECE- And rest of the world We at United States Home of the Brave And Land Of Free what a joke. and we wand fredom for other countiries lol simple things are out of our hands taken by our goverment while iranian russian pakistani chineis malasian can talk about our freedom at pokerstars or any other internet poker room playing poker while we watch them SAD DAY FOR UNITED STATES AND OUR FREEDOM

I am a retired old man. I have a good income. I enjoy the sport and competition and entertainment and the winnings of online poker. Winning makes me happy. Online I can play for $10 or less per day if I chose to. Now at the casino I need $100 buy ins or more. Our government is stupid, They may have book knowledge but they are real life experience just plain stupid. They have absolutely no clue as to what we need or want... but they think that they know what's best for us. So they just jam it up our ass and down our throat. Bullshit !!

It was only a matter of time for this to happen. When I first started playing poker online in 2007 I had to use a non bank issued debit card to load money into my PokerStars account. About 1 year later the debit card transactions stopped working. More recently, in order to load money into my PStars account I had to make a western union wire transfer to someone outside of the U.S.(costa rica). PokerStars gambled and they lost. They gambled that legislation would pass to legalize internet poker. They knew they were providing a service here that was not quite legal. I guess the pot became to big for them to fold. What they should have done from the very beginnig was travel here with a business model and present it to key political players. How could this government turn down the incredible revenue stream from this business. Afterall, who's more greedier than Uncle Sam?

Make a cash deposit onto a Poker site, and it's instantaneously retrieved from your bank account. Want to withdraw funds (if even that same day, and moments later), and you might wait months before seeing some, or any of the requested amount. What does this say about "THE BIG THREE"? Has all of their power and influence in Poker just been smoke and mirrors? How do they define customer service?

Surely, Poker and "THE BIG THREE" will be discussed in top business schools around the World for the next hundred years. In today's modern society, how can $Billion businesses get away with taking in customer money, and not have in place, appropriate or necessary safeguards to see that customers are provided immediate, if not assured, access to their account balances? How does that company's power and influence help me? How do they explain the lack of safeguards to protect me (the customer) from their business' misfortune? Does on-line poker receive a "free-pass", a double standard, when it comes to customer service?

What's crazy is, even though all this is going down the way it is, poker consumers will dive in head first once the flood gates open back up. It'll be insane, The first days when sites start up again will experience more users than ever before. And customer service experts will be dumbfounded for a long time to come. A lesson in gaming customer service, and how "chance" versus "risk" plays a role, unprecedented in any business, from any industry across the world.

Poker players have strength in numbers, 2012 is coming, our votes will be important, we can use this to our advantage.