Just putting this in a blog so I can link it on facebook and twitter, my thoughts are too long to sum up there with character limits. Here are some of my thoughts on the recent DOJ action.

This was something i posted on the DOJ facebook page:

The action taken by the department of Justice on Friday April 15th is
shocking and appalling. You have declared war on an entire demographic of
the American population with the indictment handed down against the
proprietors of the big 3 online poker sites. The department of Justice has
put many individuals out of work many of us who have limited prospects for
alternative employment.

Because of these actions many who play poker for a living are having to
consider leaving the country in order to continue to pursue our career.
This is a completely irresponsible action and I am completely in shock
that any government, let alone the government of the most free and
powerful country in the world. could attack a segment of its citizens in
such a way. To sum it up you have put countless thousands of citizens out
of work while simultaneously freezing our assets. The DOJ has alienated us
such that many of us will never have our faith in the government restored
again. This is truly a shocking action.

Here is my personal story of how this has affected me as posted on the PPAs 2+2 thread dedicated to this subject:

I have been playing poker online since late 2002, I just turned 26 and for the last 8.5 years poker has been my primary source of income. A good portion of my play has been in the live arena but online has always been a big part of my play as well. After a failed vegas experiment in 2009 where I partied away my BR I had to move back to Ohio where I am from and rebuild a little. I ended up taking an entry level nearly minimum wage data entry job to get myself back on my feet. I held this job for 6 months while taking a break from poker. Then in late 2010 I started playing again, primarily online this time.

I had been steadily grinding up a roll and had an offer to be backed for low and mid stakes MTTs online. In January 2011 I quit this job to go back to pursuing my career in poker. Everything was going well I was steadily grinding it out making enough to live on and was just getting to a position where I was able to start saving up some money as well.

Then Black Friday hit, April 15th 2011. The government took away my ability to make a living under the guise of protecting the populous. Now here I am 26 years old basically a college dropout as I have registered for many classes over the last 8 years but usually ended up dropping or failing them because of my poker pursuits and am nowhere near earning a degree. I have little prospect of seeking employment as in the last 8 years I have had 1 job for a period of 6 months, the job I recently quit to play online again. The only way I got this job was through a friend, last summer I applied at least 25 places without even getting an interview before getting that job because of my friend.

To sum it up I am now an unemployed 26 year old college dropout, the government has frozen the assets in my poker accounts and although I will probable someday have access to these funds in the short term I am screwed. I now have maybe 2 months of living expenses that I had withdrawn previously while the rest of my money remains tied up online indefinitely. I have paid my taxes for the last 8 years as well as contributing plenty to the economy through the spending of my poker earnings.

I feel attacked by my own government. The last 8 years I have dedicated myself completely to a career in poker at the expense of almost every other aspect of my life. It took alot of hard work and dedication to become a player capable of making a living at poker. I have invested countless hours in studying and learning the game and gaining the experience necessary to do this for a living. Throughout the last 8 years of occasionally attending class while playing poker I have never found another career that I could see myself doing for the rest of my life and actually being happy. Poker is the only thing I have felt could provide that for me. I have given everything I had for this dream of mine and now its all gone. And I have my own government to thank for that.

I now have only a few options if I want to continue with poker as my career. I can play live at casinos, the nearest of which is almost 2 hours away. Unfortunately this option wont work well for me right now because of the lack of bankroll being its all tied up online. I simply do not have a large enough bankroll to minimize my chances of going broke at the stakes I would need to play to earn a living. Alternatively I am considering a move out of the country to continue to play online, to me its absolutely ludicrous that myself and others have to consider leaving the country in order to continue our jobs. My only other option is to seek employment here but with the economy as it currently is and me having no degree and one job I can put on my resume from the last 8 years I stand little chance of being hired, even at places like walmart or mcdonalds.

I feel persecuted by our government for making a legitimate living and this is a feeling I will likely never forget.