Everleaf was forced by the department of homeland security to stop serving the us. Here is the announcement from minted:

It Pains me to have to write this but .....*I always promised I would be Open, Honest and Upfront I have just come from a conference call with one of the directors at Mintedpoker who has been liaising with the network until late this afternoon, a communication will be released tomorrow that will state that the network will no longer be able to facilitate US players. I do not yet know the time scales, but it will be swift due to threats made to the network regarding legal action if they continue to service the US poker community. Several weeks ago when the network lost one of the US processors, some of the processed funds were held back by what is now clear as the Department of Homeland Security, they have now also issued a letter to decease and desist operations in the USA, under threat of legal enforcement against the network. (I do not know these details). The network owners have today sought legal advice and also met with the LGA, the Maltese Licensing Authority, who have advised them that due to the nature of the threat and the current climate, the network needs to withdraw its services from US customers. I really understand how this will worry our players especially those in the US, but I also wish to reinforce thatALL*monies held by*ALL*poker players, US and rest of world, are secure and ring fenced. I have been informed that the Network and LGA will now commence proceedings with Homeland Security, as to how these funds are returned to players, hopefully once agreed the cash out process will be swift, so as not to cause undue stress to the parties involved. I do not have many other details to give you at this point in time so please bear with me, as always I will be here to help if possible. All European funds are safe and the European network will continue, the only noticeable change will be the network will shortly change all accounts into Euro accounts and of course the American players will be missing from the tables. I know my feelings wont help anyone effected really, but I also wanted you to know that personally I am gutted ! Not for Mintedpoker we can continue, as a European based poker room, but for the thousands of American players who have quite happily supported us and made Mintedpoker their home. Poker has been part of my life for 20+ years and I was introduced to it in the USA, it seems wrong to me that the people of the US are now forced into non participation or one with a narrow choice of participation. I really want to thank the US players and wish you all the best with regulation, which I hope wont turn out to be a disaster, or poker and to some extent freedom of choice in the US really has ended. All communications from the network I will post up here .

So who is next?

Looks like player to player transfers are no longer available for anyone as well as there is a 2000 euro a month cap on withdrawals.

Frankly im not surprised.... other US sites will be next IMO

lol department of homeland security this time

 

Originally Posted by boneralert

Just curious what the source is here. I have no email from Minted, there is no mention of this on the Minted homepage, and I was able to login as usual. Would really like to know where this came from.

Here is the 2+2 link with the message from minted neal:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28.../index535.html

did you read the new tos?

18. No person who is resident in Malta, France and USA may open an account, play, or in any other way participate in the ELG offerings and/or services.

I don't see how this network will survive. Their customer support, cash out conditions, and general angle shooting by more than one skin is horrible. The only reason they were able to get away with this is that they continued to service US customers. GL people in the US that have money on this site collecting, I hope it doesn't turn into another UB or FTP in that regard.

 

Originally Posted by boneralert

Just curious what the source is here. I have no email from Minted, there is no mention of this on the Minted homepage, and I was able to login as usual. Would really like to know where this came from.

I got the email from my contact at MintedPoker. I think they sent it to all current and former partners

 

Originally Posted by jppp5039

yeh this news cost me my backing deal on Merge. He is backing out because he fears Merge is next, i sure hope not.

Hard to say, but it wouldn't be a surprise at this point if Cake and Merge received similar letters. It's hard to know if we don't know exactly what was in that C&D letter and if Merge/Cake are doing similar things. But if it's just about continuing to offer poker in the US, it seems likely those companies got letters too

Just an update, not meant to scare anyone. There are reports on 2+2 on how some us players can't log in as well as being told to "contact authorities" to cash out. I think this is going to end ugly.

 

Originally Posted by vicvegas007

Just an update, not meant to scare anyone. There are reports on 2+2 on how some us players can't log in as well as being told to "contact authorities" to cash out. I think this is going to end ugly.

The majority of US players cannot log in. There was a player that reported they could log in and claimed that he could play. I think that is why everyone is going to be locked out because maybe their software does not allow for just the ability of logging in and not being able to sit at the tables.

I'm just excited that the United States is the BIGGEST drug dealer on the planet. They completely control the heroin trade because they control all the opium in Afghanistan. I wonder why they have soldiers protecting those fields hmmmmmm.

I wonder if the United States is secretly selling opium/heroin?? They would never do something like that right?? LOLOLOL

I have been worried lately that Bodog and Merge just happen to announce big tourney series running at the same time and that it might be one last chance at a cash grab before they are shut down. Also Lock poker offering western union and bank wires now all off a sudden as withdrawl options. Could be a last ditch effort by them to get more money on the site before shutdown, hope I am wrong tho

 

Originally Posted by The Smoking Pimp

I have been worried lately that Bodog and Merge just happen to announce big tourney series running at the same time and that it might be one last chance at a cash grab before they are shut down. Also Lock poker offering western union and bank wires now all off a sudden as withdrawl options. Could be a last ditch effort by them to get more money on the site before shutdown, hope I am wrong tho

Ya like met's & rush poker lol? Can we see this letter thats supposedly from the dhs to put an end to site corruption theories? Is it posted anywhere or will it be? I'm recently under contract for online play & this obv plays in.. Mods help? Is merge next, any info? Merge is where I play, do they have the same flippant attitude as bodogavada or whatever the hell that thing is now & have no concern for the govt? Of course nobody knows but any reliable info would be greatly appreciated.

In this instance the US government was actually doing players a favor!! The Everleaf network sounded super sketchy from what I've read. Pretty much all the sites are super sketchy these days tho.

Waiting 6 weeks on cashouts from Merge and playing exclusively against US players sucks balls. It has really taken A LOT of the fun outta poker.

I look forward to the day when these corporate fatcats finally get all the political BS worked out and get some legit sites up and running again in the US. It will still suck being restricted to interstate gaming but at least there will be a huge new influx of fish and we will finally be able to cashout again in a timely manner.

 

Originally Posted by ChameleoN89

i cant move up in stakes because im trying to keep such a small br so not much gets frozen if merge gets screwed :\

Ya you too, I wonder how many of us there are. Not cool.

Found this on 2+2, not sure what to make of it. Truth or bs?

By newb07:

OK, I just called the LGA and talked to Jason from the license relationship department.

To summarize my thoughts and our conversation:

- It seemed like I was the first phone call they have received and he was barely aware of the situation (or at least he said). Granted, he doesn't work in the complaints department, but this was still surprising they haven't received a lot of phone calls. They work until 4:15 everyday of the week and it's just past 4:15 there right now, so calling today won't help, but I encourage everyone to call tomorrow. The level of urgency in his voice was non-existent, and phone calls can change this.

- He reassured me funds are required to be segregated but could not assure me guaranteed repayment (because "they can't control company actions").

- He stated Everleaf was operating illegally in the USA this whole time, as companies licensed in Malta are not allowed to service the USA. When I mentioned to him there are quite a few Malta-licensed companies still operating in the USA, he explained that they will be subject to annual fines of "thousands of dollars." He went on the state that they cannot police every company's actions 24/7, so actions such as operating in the USA are generally discovered during the annual audit process. It appears to me Malta just looks the other way on this issue, as 30 seconds of research could uncover which sites are serving the USA.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, he strongly encouraged me multiple times to email their complains department at complaints@lga.org.mt. He said this department basically has all the power and is able to do things such as revoke a license if they do not pay out USA players (he did not state they would definitely do this, but he did offer it as a possibility on his own). Everyone - please send a productive, yet urgent email to this address. He stated they were likely to respond to my email tomorrow.

Cliffs:
- Everyone should call the LGA (if calling from the USA, the number should be dialed as 011-356-2546-9000).
- Everyone should email complaints@lga.org.mt
- Seriously guys, putting pressure on the LGA will in turn put pressure on Everleaf to do the right thing and ensure all players are paid out in whole.

Here is the link to the thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28.../index539.html