Obama has been President for over two years and has done nothing to stop this nonsense. So why does he get a pass? Also very few in Congress even took a stand with this issue. Pretty crappy all around. Plenty of blame to go around. But nice to see you jumping to the President defense for some reason.

seriously, what do you mean by "a big favor"?

i assume you mean "big favor" because the house always wins in gambling, right?

that is not true with poker. in poker you are not playing against the house. obviously poker is beatable, just look at how many pro poker players there are out there.

basically obama is as bad as buch on this.

this is the worst info i have ever recieved..i hve played pro poker for 13 years before internet gambling i was grindidng it out at the tables...as far as obama doing me a "BIG FAVOR" that is totaly false for myself as my only source of income is from online poker...also i am now stand to lose te money in my poker account i am going to lose well over 200k in my poker account..we are losing our freedom this is not fair game..obama is taking away american's freedom..who is he to say i cant play poker....

No Obama is doing a favor for Harry Reid and Harrahs. FullTilt and Pokerstars were always going to be eliminated even if that previous Internet Poker bill passed, because Harrahs wants their customers.
So we're seeing a sample of what was going to happen to them. The fact is these Pokersites think they have a loophole around the law and it will have to be litigated. Of course thug Obama and his croonies Chicago goon tactics is to get the executives and lock them up and just make they sell out their US customers and shake them down without a trial.

Joe:
I couldn't be happier that the Feds are clearing your proverbial "table". Maybe this will teach lazy folks like yourself that there's no such thing as easy money. Now go get a job -- I hear Denny's is hiring.

Thank you for being the only place I can find information about this.Pokerstars or any other place says nothing.

I really wish journalists/bloggers covering this issue would fact check. It is NOT illegal to play on or to operate an online poker site in the U.S. (with the exception of Washington State). What is illegal (though I don't think it should be) is for U.S. financial institutions to tranfsfer funds for online gambling. As the act in question does not even define gambling, that becomes an even greyer area, as poker is defined as a game of skill in some jurisdictions and as a form of gambling in others.

for those blaming Obama.. Bush passed it as a Midnight ruling. Those are very hard to undo unless you find other ways or loopholes. It takes a lot of time and effort to undo a midnight ruling. As an online poker player I am very upset. There is a lot going on soon in the online poker world and they picked the WORST time to even do this. A little warning would have been great, also there are other ways to do it than shutting down sites, especially when there is bills that are already there just waiting to be voted on.

Nice pandering Jay. Thought you were better than that. Just exactly who voted for that law? Who was in control of congress then? And, just exactly what branch of government votes for laws before a president is asked to provide final signature/blessing? Finally, how hypoctirical of all to pretend online gambling is bad while governments sell lotto tickets, promote Keno in bars and generally cater to the gambling habits of the poor.
What's going on with you. Are you losing perspective?

Hey hey joe,

Poker isn't easy money, most pro players spend 3 to 5 years studying the game before they even start to see rewards of thier long, hard work. You have no idea what your talking about. Why don't you apoligise. But I know how your need to look down on people, and look down on what you are afraid of or don't understand. We could just replace "poker player" with "black" couldn't we? Or how about "druggie"...those lazy druggies. You're lazy, and you psychologically project your laziness on others so you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror. Your behavoir is not unique, I've met many people who call me lazy, then I find out it's just all the lazy people are psychologically projecting onto me.

P.S. What's the "big favor"? I'd like to hear it. Cause to me it seems the fascist, psychopathic, pathological lying Republicans are taking money out of other people's pockets.

If anyone wants to more know about money laundering and bank fraud, follow George Herbert Walker "poppy" Bush every moment since he hatched.

I have always been interested in the banking scandals of the early "Reagan" years. Palmer Financial, Sunrise Savings and Loan, BCCI. So I figure since I can't smooth call a KQ suited from the button in a 3 dollar sit and go anymore, I will have to forge for myself, a kinder, gentler hobby.

who is this writer and how did this story make it online? Complete jibberish!

What ever happened to responsible journalism? This is one of the first few results when I googled for more information on this subject. Please get your facts straight and maybe research before you tell people to "trust" you, which even though this is a blog, you are representing a news source and are already in a position of trust without having to ask it.

I have never been to the site before so maybe this is a regular occurrence.

Online poker is not and has not ever been illegal. It the the processing of payments that was made illegal after being piggybacked to a port security act.

Furthermore,why even bring Obama into the coversation? In fact he is an avid poker player and supports the fact that poker is a game of skill. Poker is not much different from playing the stock market - those who are more informed and skilled will always have a positive expected gain.

Shame on you Mr. Hancock for disrespecting your profession and misinforming the masses that count on you for information. Hopefully you will take more pride in your work in the future.

I've heard you out and I do apologize. It is unfair of me to jusge what another man does for a living and/or how he makes his money. I just don't like gambling and was taking it out on you. It was out of line; I'm sorry, man.

Big Favor?

Sounds like the author is following the usual script that less informed writers follow... in that online players are just "gamblers being ripped off." Poker is a game of skill, and I there is a mountain of evidence to support that notion, including consistent winners (and losers) at the poker table. Beyond that, it's just another liberty being taken away from our citizens. Bush? Obama? They both deserve equal blame. What a disgusting abuse of power.

These companies have operated fraudulantly from their begining. Does anyone believe they are operated from Ireland, Isle of Mann, Antigua? Fraud.

I guess it would be helpful if you'd explain how you feel how the Obama FBI is doing everyone a favor.

Look at all these comments! I wonder how many of Jay's readers work in the financial services industry? Speaking from first hand knowledge, they're the biggest bunch of compulsive gamblers I've ever seen, and these comments absolutely wreak of financial services insiders.

I knew a manager who took out a second mortgage on his house to go to Atlantic City, and another one who got into so much trouble with an illegal bookmaker that the owner of the company paid off his debts and turned him into his own personal indentured servant.

Why couldn't this entire industry have been allowed to fail and flushed all these scumbags into the gutter where they belong?

Why is this a good thing? Please explain why it makes sense that our government says that it is ok for me to play poker at 10 different card rooms located within 30 minutes drive from my house in Seattle. But the same government won't allow me to partake in the same activity from the comfort and safety of my home over the internet.

How this shows up as one of the top results on Google for "online poker" is beyond me. Do us a 'big favor' and don't write about what you do not know. People make a living via online poker and have been doing so for years, how having that taken away is seen as a 'big favor' by you Mr. Hancock is beyond me. These sites have been around for years with many happy players yet you make it sound like they have been ripping people off the entire time.

Poker is not gambling. When was the last time you seen a pro slot machine player? or even a pro scratch game player? never? me either. If poker was gambling there wouldn't be anyone making any sort of predictable, consistent, income. It takes skill to be able to do that. Skilled poker players are able to assess risk just like an investor would when playing the stock market. And don't forget the human element of poker, I never bluffed my way into winning the lottery.

land of the free home of the brave... lies.

Pretty desperate excuses from Obama fans here. Yes, the provision was slipped in another bill in conference in a stupid way in 2006. However, the Obama Administration has a lot of discretion whether or not to bring a prosecution or whether to consider it unimportant compared to low priority. In addition, while it does take effort to repeal a law, repealing it clearly wasn't a high priority.

Obama has to find ways to fund his pie in the sky entitlement ideas, why not go after a small minority that has several billion.... several billion will buy a lot of votes in 2012.

Obama is like GWB, but without any semblance of leadership... he goes on TV in January to scold us about our unsustainable debt, then proceeds to send a budget to congress with 1.6 trillion in borrowed spending.... unreal.

"However, the Obama Administration has a lot of discretion whether or not to bring a prosecution"....

you couldn't be more right, look at happened at the Holder justice department when they refused to go after the new black panther party... this administration picks and chooses its battles... it chose to go after online poker... maybe the illegally confiscated money will end up funding the communist-in-chiefs reelection campaign.... why not, everything else he skirts in the constitution nobody makes a big deal about.

The GD "law" was buried in a bill for port security. Who is going to vote against that bill? lets just blame the government and not a specific person.

[...] No you guys, George Bush outlawed online poker[...]

Mr. Tea,

For you and the others that categorized poker as gambling and then go on a rant under this assumption - poker is NOT gambling. That is why the government has not and will not challenge the game of poker in the legal system as to defining it as gambling or a game of skill. Poker would win without a doubt.

There has been an anticipated blackout period for these poker sites for the government to institute a "regulatory process" which in actuality was a push by Harrahs to strong arm into the market but it was never expected to be this aggressive.

The perfect storm hit when the Aussie payment processor exec was arrested and fears of the March 25th Steve Wynn and PokerStars partnership sent the powers that be over the edge.

What is surprising to me is after numerous comment regarding the gross misinformation in this article, there has yet to be any corrections.

To begin with, the title of the article is a complete lie. You are losing credibility every second this is left uncorrected.

And here's the big favor

"Of the billions of
dollars... approximately one-third or more of
the funds went directly to the Poker Companies as revenue through
the "rake" charged to players on almost every poker hand played
online."

If Bush made slavery legal again, and Obama did nothing to change it, who would you be upset at?

The guy who has no power to change it anymore? Or maybe they're both jackasses who shouldn't be president?

Our country is TRILLIONS in debt. Online poker players say, "Please, tax us and stop giving us problems" and the government responds, "Naw, we're cool".

Who is this policy helping? I can play a game for $5 or even $1 online. If I drive to a casino, I'm already out $20 in gas, THEN I have to buy in for at least $100-$200 dollars.

No, sorry. I won't be re-electing anyone who's currenly in office come 2012.

And what I see is my compulsive 21-year-old son, along with thousands like him, finally lifting his face from the computer screen, in a daze, saying "What the f--- happened here?" And then going outside, seeing the spring flowers. Maybe even thinking, for the first time in his life, of participating in the political process. And freed, at last, of the $70K in "makeup" that was destroying his young life.

The president doesn't decide what laws are passed. So, George Bush didn't pass this law. That was up to Congress, and only one Democrat out of the entire House and Senate voted against it.

But the president does decide who to hire as a attorney and Obama hired Preet Bhahara. This case is being brought by the executive branch of the government -- not congress. Obama is in charge.

Why did we vote for him, if we want to pretend that he isn't President?

Why the sudden move against online poker? Did it have anything to do with the proposed Barney Franks Bill, the Wynn-Pokerstars alliance or was the timing simply a coincidence? Considering the billions involved, I think it would be prudent to "follow the money and the money guys".

Why the sudden move against online poker? Did it have anything to do with the proposed Barney Franks Bill, the Wynn-Pokerstars alliance or was the timing simply a coincidence? Considering the billions involved, I think it would be prudent to "follow the money and the money guys".

Hmmm, we should all e-mail our congressmen/women and senators and tell them to repeal this bill, its retarded. Think about the tax money the US could take in to help our fucking DEBT CEILING EVERYONE DOESNT CARE ABOUT. check this blog out, think this guy has it almost pinpointed to what i think about things in this country. http://hubpages.com/hub/FullTilt-Poker-Stars-fall-when-will-FB-and-MySpace-follw BUT , i would have said more...

Hmmm, we should all e-mail our congressmen/women and senators and tell them to repeal this bill, its retarded. Think about the tax money the US could take in to help our fucking DEBT CEILING EVERYONE DOESNT CARE ABOUT. check this blog out, think this guy has it almost pinpointed to what I think about things in this country. http://hubpages.com/hub/FullTilt-Poker-Stars-fall-when-will-FB-and-MySpace-follw BUT , i would have said more...

Nice article. I agree these sites need to be shutdown....

The Major poker sites have many charges against them. Bank Fraud, Money laundering, theses charges have nothing to do with poker. They will be shut down in the US forever. Time to brush on your live play boys. Local casino's look for a boom.

NO Jay Hancock is wrong. Congress is the only entity that can pass laws. Didn't he learn anything in school?

The fact that the sites end up with 1/3 of the money through rake has nothing to do with cheating and it is in no way a "favor" that Americans can no longer partake. How stupid. That percentage is derived from the fact that 90% of the players (approx.) are losing players. In other words, 90% of the players are passing the money back and forth among themselves (till GOOD players manage to take said money and pile it up, not passing it back) In the back and forth, the rake accumulates....I beat the rake consistently, beat 95% of the field over 5 years--and the sites make a hell of a lot less rake off of players like me...for the simple reason that I rarely put my money in with the worst of it. Luck be damned, poker is a game of skill, and it's a skill very few have.