Exactly three months ago on a Black Friday in April, the United States Department of Justice took aim at the three largest U.S.-facing rooms in existence. The dot-com domain names belonging to PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker were seized and funds in nearly 80 bank accounts around the world were confiscated. Three months later, the industry still sits in limbo, as only PokerStars has processed player cashouts.Members of the poker media were laid off and ancillary industries like poker software and poker training suffered significant drop-offs in business. PocketFives.com sat down with Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Vice President of Player Relations Rich TheEngineer Muny to discuss the lay of the land three months following Black Friday.
On the legislative front, the last 90 days have included the introduction of HR 2366, a bill introduced by Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) that would legalize and regulate online poker in the U.S. “Legislatively, it’s good news,” Muny assessed. “When Black Friday hit, we didn’t have a poker-only bill in the House. Now, having two bills is encouraging for us.” HR 2366 has 14 co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle.
Players also have become more vocal in the past three months. The poker community, which some have labeled as apathetic, has begun contacting elected officials in earnest, according to Muny: “Players have been reaching out to their elected officials. We think it’s important they do this not only because they need to hear from their constituents, but also because it reinforces what we’re doing on the Hill. That’s a big improvement we’ve seen in the three months since Black Friday.”
We’ve had numerous members of PocketFives.com ask when they’ll see legalized and regulated internet poker in the U.S. Are we talking about weeks? Months? Years?
“We’re a long shot every year,” Muny candidly reminded us. “That’s the nature of this kind of issue. Last year, we came pretty close when Harry Reid (pictured) was considering proposing a bill. The further we get this bill along, the greater the likelihood will be of that happening again. Players fighting back is good news. It increases the chances of something getting done sooner rather than later.”Some critics of internet gaming charge that the web-based industry could erode revenues at land-based casinos. Muny countered, “All of the evidence we have shows that the online poker game has helped the brick-and-mortar poker game. It’s brought attention to it and helped create the poker boom that started in 2005. We saw a lot more coverage of poker after the online game became popular.”
Three months after Black Friday, U.S. player funds at Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and UB remain frozen. The former had its gaming license suspended two weeks ago and a public hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 26th in London. UB and Absolute Poker remain in operation, but have not commented in recent weeks on when U.S. players can expect to be reunited with their bankrolls.
“Every day that goes by without players getting paid is another sad day,” Muny observed. “It’s one more day that the odds you’d place on getting your money back would go down. On Full Tilt, there’s reason to think it could happen. There are discussions about the site being sold. Regulators have stepped in and taken action, which means that Full Tilt can’t turn their back on the U.S. The bad news is that the site isn’t open and can’t raise cash.”
Joining Full Tilt by not yet having paid back U.S. players are UB and Absolute Poker. The CEREUS Network rooms have stayed largely mum since Black Friday and Muny evaluated, “The media reports seem to be rather scary on how they can’t pay us back. To me, that’s the more questionable one. The PPA put out a statement condemning the cheating there a few years ago; that statement remains in effect to this day.”Muny theorized that poker could nevertheless find a way in the United States going forward: “There’s a market in the U.S. Every time there’s a market and someone tries to stop people from participating in it, the people who believe there’s an opportunity to supply those services find a way to do it. Prohibitions generally fail.”
Friday marked the final day for poker players to file civil claims for their frozen funds. Whether many pursued the legal route, which entails hiring lawyers and shoveling out hefty court costs, remains to be seen. Muny explained, “The fact that you have to hire a lawyer and it’s something that could be perceived as a frivolous claim have caused people to back off. I’m not aware of too many players who have filed. I think there have been a couple of filings by businesses that have had their money seized.”
Also arising on the legal front in the last three months is a class-action lawsuit from four players, including Todd tbt4653 Terry (pictured), under the RICO Act. Terry and company’s suit seeks triple damages and was filed against Full Tilt Poker.Muny was among those pulling for the RICO suit to succeed: “I wish Todd Terry every bit of success with his suit. It’s a tough one to pursue, but I’m glad he’s doing it. You have to prove the ownership structure alleged in the filing, prove that it has the issues outlined in RICO, and then actually get the money. If it were that easy, we would have all have done it.”
Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest fallout from Black Friday.
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