Poker Legal Issues
There are many unanswered legal questions currently swirling around the world of poker. Is poker a game of chance or luck? Is it illegal to play poker in the United States? In what countries is poker fully legal and regulated? We'll attempt to answer some of those questions, and more, in this section.
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Full Tilt Poker Update: FTP, GBT, DoJ Continue to Finalize Deal
It’s been over nine months since the US Department of Justice dropped a nuclear bomb on the online poker world on “Black Friday”, and nearly seven months since the last hand w...
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Bwin.Party Soars After DoJ's Wire Act Revelation
It was a very good day for Bwin.Party (parent company of Party Poker) today, as shares of the company soared nearly 23% on the London Stock Exchange.
The catal...
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Department of Justice: 1961 Wire Act Only Applies to Sports Betting
An opinion from Assistant Attorney General Virginia A. Seitz that will likely have a dramatic impact on the online gambling landscape in the United States was made available t...
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Absolute Poker Co-Founder Pleads Guilty
One of the co-founders of Absolute Poker, Brent Beckley, has agreed to a plea deal that will see him spend 12-18 months behind bars.
Brent Beckley was one of 1...
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Sheldon Adelson Gives the Thumbs Down to Online Poker
A number of big names, including Gary Loveman (CEO of Caesars Entertainment Corp.), the Fertitta Brothers (Station Casinos, UFC) and Donald Trump, have been vocal in their sup...
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"Super Committee" Close To Failure, Taking With It a Chance to Legalize/Regulate Online Poker
The Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka "the super committee", was formed this past summer in the United States as a result of the Budget Control Ac...
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AGCC Revokes Three Full Tilt Poker Licenses
The last minute plea by Jeff Ifrah didn't work.
Earlier today, the AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission) released a press statement in which they announc...
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The Full Tilt Poker Hearing Rolls On
It now appears that the AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission) won't be rendering their decision re: Full Tilt Poker until early next week (at the earliest).
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Full Tilt Poker Hearing Concludes; Company Awaiting Decision from AGCC
The two day Full Tilt Poker hearing in London has reportedly come to an end. The company is now awaiting a decision from the AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission).
...
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DoJ Alleges That Full Tilt Poker Was a Massive Ponzi Scheme
Earlier today, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) released an amended "Black Friday" civil complaint. Howard Lederer, Rafe Furst and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson were all added to t...
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Full Tilt Poker Hearing Set To Continue on Tuesday
It's now a little after 7:30 pm in London, which means that the first day of the Full Tilt Poker hearing has now drawn to a close.
Today's hearing was held "in...
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Resumption of Full Tilt Poker Hearing Just Hours Away
The AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission) is set to resume the Full Tilt Poker hearing in just a few hours (9 am London time).
The hearing is set to be h...
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Full Tilt Poker Hearing Set to Resume on September 19th
According to the AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission), the Full Tilt Poker hearing is set to resume on Monday, September 19th.
The hearing will take pla...
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Friday Night News: Full Tilt Poker, WSOP Sponsorship $ and More
1. Full Tilt Poker.
Earlier today, EGR Magazine released an article titled "FTP Bidder looks to buy UK and Irish assets only."
According to an ...
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Full Tilt Poker News: Update From the AGCC, French License Suspended
It's been almost a week since the AGCC (Alderney Gambling Control Commission) suspended Full Tilt Poker's licenses. Full Tilt was shut down almost immediately after the AGCC m...
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Full Tilt Poker To Re-Open With a License From The KGC?
Earlier today, a bomb was dropped on Full Tilt Poker and its customers after the Alderney Gambling Control Commission announced that they were suspending the licenses of vario...
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Big News Coming Soon From Full Tilt Poker?
I'm not a big fan of writing sensationalistic headlines, but it certainly seems as though there is something big brewing at Full Tilt Poker. After weeks of silence from the co...
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Tiltware Responds to Phil Ivey Lawsuit
Phil Ivey sent shockwaves through the poker world on Tuesday after it was revealed that he was launching a lawsuit against Tiltware LLC, which is the software and marketing co...
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Phil Ivey Releases Statement, Announces That He is Suing Tiltware
Earlier today, eyebrows were raised when Phil Ivey elected to skip the $25k Heads-up No Limit Hold'em event at the World Series of Poker.
A few hours after the...
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Full Tilt Poker's Latest Update to US Players
Many people were expecting that Full Tilt Poker was going to drop some positive news this week regarding the status of payouts to US players. There were rumors of upcoming pos...
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Report: Department of Justice Unfreezes Single Full Tilt Poker Bank Account
Earlier today, Tony G had this to say on Twitter:
"Huge news on the FTP bank account in Ireland today. I rate 99.5% for USA players to be paid out. Some news mu...
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"A $60 Million Shortfall"
Earlier this week Bradley Franzen, who was one of the 11 people to be named in the "Black Friday" indictments, appeared in a Manhattan courtroom and pled guilty to a number of...
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Quicktender/UseMyWallet Goes Down
Quicktender/Usemywallet, a popular virtual e-wallet company that many people used to deposit and withdraw from online poker sites, discontinued service earlier today.
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Bodog Makes the Switch to Bodog.eu
Bodog hasn't yet had their domain seized by the Department of Justice, but they are clearly expecting it to happen.
Earlier today, Bodog started redirecting th...
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The Department of Justice Strikes Again
The Department of Justice, via the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland, has struck again.
Earlier today, the Department of Justice pos...
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Pokerstars: We've Returned $100 Million+ To US Players So Far
Pokerstars circulated a press release earlier today in which they revealed that they have returned over $100 million to their US customers over the past couple of weeks.
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UB/AP Announces Agreement with US DoJ
According to a press release that was circulated earlier today, AP/UB (now apparently just known as "Absolute Poker") has reached an agreement with the US government.
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More Waiting Lies Ahead for US Players on Full Tilt Poker
Nearly three weeks have passed since "Black Friday".
Pokerstars allowed their US players to start withdrawing their funds last week, and it seems as though thi...
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Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker Enter Into Agreement With Government; US Players To Get Their Money Back
Online poker players in the United States have had to deal with a great deal of bad news since "Black Friday" - finally, here is some good news.
The United Sta...
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"Black Friday" Fallout: Online Poker Traffic Down 23% From Last Week
Pokerscout.com (link below) has released their Weekly Online Poker Traffic Update which provides a very interesting look at the online poker industry post-"Black Friday".
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bwin.party, Others Soar in First Day of Trading After "Black Friday"
While many online poker players in the United States were trying to come to grips with the new post-"Black Friday" reality over the weekend, shareholders of companies such as ...
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Going Through Changes
The poker world was permanently altered this past week after the Department of Justice and FBI brought multiple charges against the founders of Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and...
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Just to Clarify Something..
There has been a lot of talk about Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and AP/UB being "down within the next 48 hours".
Andrew Feldman of ESPN posted these two Tweets ...
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The Shit Hits the Fan
Earlier today, US prosecutors dropped a nuclear bomb on the online poker world after announcing that they had charged the founders of Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and AP/UB wit...
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New Jersey Governor Vetoes Online Gambling Bill
The dream of having New Jersey become the nation's first intrastate Internet gambling market? Dead, at least for now.
Earlier today, New Jersey Governor Chris ...
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Anurag Dikshit Sentenced To One Year of Probation
PartyGaming co-founder Anurag Dikshit traveled to New York earlier this week to learn of his fate from a U.S. District Judge.
Dikshit, who pled guilty in 2008 ...
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The Week Ahead: It's Do or Die For Harry Reid's Online Poker Bill
With Congress expected to adjourn by the end of the week, online poker players in the United States should know by Friday at the latest whether or not they will be able to pla...
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Harry Reid's Online Poker Bill Down, But Not Yet Out
Thursday was another day of hand-wringing for US online poker players as the saga surrounding proposed legislation to legalize online poker in the United States continued to u...
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Is the Reid Poker Bill Dead?
A massive head fake took place on Wednesday afternoon after a Las Vegas Sun blogger reported that the "Internet Poker Act of 2010" had "fallen off of the agenda".
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Esfandiari Still Leads Five Diamond World Poker Classic, More on Harry Reid's Internet Poker Bill
1. It's all Esfandiari at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Antonio Esfandiari continued his strong play at the Five Diamond World Poker Clas...
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Live in the State of Washington? Pokerstars Is Now Blocking You From Real Money Games
Pokerstars released a statement earlier today in which they announced that they "would cease providing real-money poker to residents of Washington State."
Poker...
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Federal Grand Jury Investigating Full Tilt Poker?
According to the Financial Times (link below, you may have to register to read the article), a federal grand jury in Manhattan is investigating Full Tilt Poker and "could brin...
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Clonie Gowen's Civil Suit Against Full Tilt Poker Dismissed
According to Pokernewsdaily.com (link below), Clonie Gowen has been denied in her civil suit against Full Tilt Poker (and its related companies) by a United States District Co...
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Internet Gambling Hearing Set For Thursday, EPT Prague Update
1. Internet gambling hearing set for Thursday.
The House Financial Services Committee is set to discuss two internet gambling bills at a hearing set for Thursd...
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Canadian Man Charged In Online Gambling Payment Processing Case
According to a Department of Justice press release issued earlier today, Douglas Rennick has been charged with "bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling offenses". Re...
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$30 Million Plus In Poker Player Funds Frozen By US Government
A few weeks ago, many US-based Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker players started reporting that recently deposited checks had been bouncing.
Not only that, but th...
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More on the Minnesota / Online Gambling Situation
Yesterday the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the Alcohol Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) announced that they had served written notice to 11 national and regio...
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PartyGaming Agrees to Non-Prosecution Agreement with U.S. Authorities
PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan announced in a conference call that his company has entered into an agreement with U.S. authorities.
Under the terms of the agreement, ...
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Motion to Dismiss Filed in Clonie Gowen / Full Tilt Poker Case
Late in 2008, Clonie Gowen shocked many in the poker world by filing a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker.
The suit, "Gowen vs Tiltware LLC, et al.", was filed in...
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PartyGaming Soars on Settlement Talk
PartyGaming turned in one of its strongest days ever as a publicly traded company on Tuesday, soaring over 27% to close the session at 176.50.
This was an even...
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Anurag Dikshit, Co-Founder of PartyGaming, To Plead Guilty To Gambling Charge in US Court
Anurag Dikshit, co-founder of PartyGaming (parent company of Party Poker) and its largest shareholder, will reportedly be pleading guilty to a charge related to illegal "web b...
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Commonwealth of Kentucky vs "141 Internet Domain Names" Ruling Upheld; Seizure Order Amended
Judge Wingate's ruling was handed down earlier today regarding the Commonwealth of Kentucky's move to seize 141 of the biggest online gambling URLs in the industry. The decisi...
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Ruling Expected Soon in Kentucky Gambling Domain Case
A decision is expected to be passed down shortly by Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate in the ongoing gambling domain name saga. Kentucky Governor Steve Beshea...
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Natalie "TheV0id" Teltscher Drops Lawsuit Against Pokerstars
Natalie "TheV0id" Teltscher agreed to drop her lawsuit against Pokerstars after the company produced evidence that undeniably showed that Ms. Teltscher hadn't been playing on ...
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US Government Seizes $24 Million From Bank Accounts Linked to Bodog
Forbes is reporting tonight that the US government recently seized $24 million dollars from "bank accounts linked to Bodog".
According to the article (linked be...
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PartyGaming Reportedly On Verge of Huge Settlement with the Department of Justice
The New York Post reported on Saturday that PartyGaming PLC (parent company of Partypoker.com) may be close to a settlement with the United States DoJ.
Rumors s...
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World Poker Tour Lawsuit Settled; No One Really Cares
The World Poker Tour announced late last week that it had settled a lawsuit involving some of the top poker players in the world.
This lawsuit, which was filed ...
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Epassporte Officially Pulls Out of Poker Business
When we last left you, there was a great deal of confusion running throughout the online poker industry. According to various rumors, Epassporte had stopped servicing poker tr...
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Epassporte Shutting Down Their Service to Online Poker Players?
This story is still breaking, and we are still waiting for responses from the various poker rooms that we have emailed on this matter. We will update this page as we hear more...
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US and European Union Reach Deal in Online Gambling Dispute
You may have read this headline and thought that a great piece of news was about to be delivered. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
The European Union today ...
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Shawn Sheikhan Wins Reprieve in Deportation Case
It's happy times right now in the Sheikhan household as a judge terminated deportation hearings against the poker player, citing a lack of adequate documentation.
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Michael Gracz and Chris Bell Busted at Private Poker Game
Another day, another underground poker game bust.
This time it was Michael Gracz, Chris Bell and 69 others that were busted, as police raided a private poker t...
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Bodog Has a Really Bad Day
When Bodog started experiencing problems yesterday, most people (myself included) just figured that they were having some temporary website difficulties. When the problem pers...
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Aurangzeb "Ozzy87" Sheikh Gets Busted by the Police
Well-known online poker player Aurangzeb "Ozzy87" Sheikh was busted by the cops on Tuesday and questioned by the FBI.
Sheikh aroused suspicion after he was spot...
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Now 888 Holdings Is Talking to the Feds
First Partygaming announced that they were going to be voluntarily talking to the US Department of Justice regarding their online gaming activities in the US prior to the pass...
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PartyGaming Talking to the Feds: What Does It Mean for You?
Partypoker released a statement today, saying that they were voluntarily talking with the USAO for the Southern District of New York. It is not known exactly what they are tal...
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Empire Poker Suing Party Poker?
Why is Empire Poker suing Party Poker? What happened to cause takeover talks between Party Poker and Empire Poker to break down so quickly?
First off, let's sta...
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Future of WSOP in doubt; Federal Marshals Raid Binions
Poker exploded in popularity last year due in large part to Chris Moneymaker's victory in the 2003 WSOP. Chris may not have a chance to defend his crown, as this weekend, US m...
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