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Very Good Article Online poker |
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Highcard Canada. May 17 2010 03:39. Posts 5428 | | |
Federal prosecutors are again indicating they mean business in going after the online poker business. Their strategy is focused on the industry's payment processors, the folks who move the money among players, banks and poker companies.
The U.S. Attorney in Manhattan struck a big blow on Tuesday by getting Douglas Rennick, 35, a Canadian payment processor, to show up in New York and plead guilty to violating the Wire Act by processing more than US$350-million in the U.S. for Internet poker companies and other online gaming firms.
The plea deal hits the biggest online poker companies offering U.S. play, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Rennick agreed to forfeit US$583-million, funds that partly belonged to players of those and other companies. PokerStars and Full Tilt reimbursed the players after federal prosecutors froze funds handled by Rennick in June 2009.
Rennick faces 12 months in prison and is slated to be sentenced in September. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan declined to comment on whether Rennick is cooperating with any ongoing investigation. Rennick's plea agreement only says it is conditional on "subsequent conduct prior to the imposition of sentence." The question is whether Rennick's plea deal is part of a prosecutorial strategy that is going after only payment processors, or the online poker companies as well.
As Forbes pointed out in February, the owners and operators of the biggest online poker firms are an open secret -- and many of them can be found regularly playing poker in Las Vegas or promoting their companies at U.S. events shown on television.
The U.S. online poker industry services 2.5 million Americans who play and bet US$30-billion annually. Since PartyGaming exited the U.S. online poker market, it has been dominated by PokerStars and Full Tilt, a company associated with famous poker players like Howard Lederer and Christopher Ferguson.
The online poker firms take the position that online poker does not violate any U.S. laws, but the Justice Department has consistently said that facilitating for-money online poker is illegal. Speculation that the Obama administration's Justice Department would not pursue online poker cases as aggressively as was the case during the Bush administration appears to be receding.
Still, U.S. law is vague enough on the issue of online poker that the Justice Department has appeared reluctant to confront online poker firms directly and in court. Federal prosecutors have been much more comfortable going after payment processors. In April Daniel Tzvetkoff, the Australian owner of another payment processor used by online gaming firms, was arrested in Las Vegas and charged by federal prosecutors of bank fraud and money laundering.
Rennick's legal problems began last June when the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan froze US$34-million owed to at least 14,000 players from companies that processed payments for poker games hosted by Full Tilt and PokerStars, which both reimbursed its players. The companies targeted in the seizures included Rennick's Account Services Corporation, which had US$16.3 million in an account at Wells Fargo frozen. Rennick tried to contest the seizures in federal court in San Diego with the support of the Poker Players Alliance, a Washington, D.C., lobbying group whose chairman is Alfonse D'Amato, but Rennick was indicted by federal prosecutors shortly afterwards. Rennick is forfeiting the frozen funds as part of his plea deal.
http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=3028850
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| I have learned from poker that being at the table is not a grind, the grind is living and poker is how I pass the time | |
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government is just super pissed off that they aren't getting their cut. obviously has nothing to do with morals, integrity, skill or any other bullshit they come up with.
i'm surprised canada hasn't started taxing their "gamblers" yet |
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DooMeR United States. May 17 2010 04:32. Posts 8562 | | |
where is the good part of this article? :| |
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| I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance, by running away from the scene of an accident. | |
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joLin United States. May 17 2010 06:36. Posts 3818 | | |
| | On May 17 2010 03:32 DooMeR wrote:
where is the good part of this article? :| |
this =(. |
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Bejamin1 Canada. May 17 2010 14:31. Posts 7042 | | |
They don't deserve a cut. The players put in 100k and the rake takes out 20k or more. Then the 80k left gets re-distributed to the players. The players suffer a net-loss.
The only profit shown is by Pokerstars, FTP, and all the others. Companies that actually make money off our backs. If they want to go after the companies to eventually try and tax their profits then fine but not the players no way. Frankly Pokerstars has enough money from not paying any taxes on their profits to throw money at these lawsuits and reimburse players whenever they want. With loads of players that rake over 50K a year it's really no problem for them. |
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| Sorry dude he Jason Bourned me. -Johnny Drama | |
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Perisie . Jul 24 2010 19:57. Posts 801 | | |
wut wut? the US govnment just stole 600 mil from random poker players, is what i got out of that |
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 Poker Streams | |
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