You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
Comments
Just read about it now
i don,t understand why its banned in the US anyway.
Vegas is the home of gambling and celebrated , so whats wrong with a little online poker if its regulated properly
Sounds to me like some greedy business men don,t want to pay taxes (3 billion i heard) and its the little people who will probaly pay for it .
I,ll stick to Sky
However in America it is. So i guess if your in Vegas before they hand you your winnings i guess they deduct tax. This wouldnt be quite so easy online as only one or two nations would be getting taxed the rest wouldnt.
Therefore i guess since they cant tax on it they made it illeagal.
So for all i think the sites may have done wrong, i think the goverment is just bashing for money. I mean you name me one company in the world who could afford to pay $3Bil in taxes and still survive?
Although as many state i fear the worse, if the FBI has taken this on now, really it could well be a knock on effect throughout the world. If they dont act on other sites that dont even operate within the US (e.g. Sky, 888 etc.) then it may well be the case that PS, FTP, UB etc may have a defence against at least one of their charges.
Therefore i likley see most Poker sites having to go to some sort of International Court thing, Much like the piracy things that keep cropping up.
Their going to berry us back to the days where you carried guns to back street games if their not careful.
A few pokersites online or a donzen murders a week over a game of cards. I know what i would choose, but then i wouldnt know how to spend $3Bil.
EDIT: Just read on 2+2 and someone said American taxes due next week. Hmmm, sham if u ask me.
This isnt about taxes. Its about the 3 pokersites still providing service to the US through illegal means. Those pokersites want legalisation and to be taxed so that they can operate freely in the US. Obviously a lot of people dont want this to happen, like the big vegas casinos and anti gambling religious groups/politicians using it as a way to garner support by being anti-online gambling.
This has nothing to do with other pokersites who dont operate in the US so there will be no huge knock on effect apart from maybe migration of players to different sites. Its the US gov going after the sites who continued to operate in the US after the UIGEA. Most likely whats happening is the government is shutting down these sites for a payday and then will introduce state regulated gambling where they recieve most of the profits.
PS, FTP and UB have no defense don. They broke the law by using illegal means to pay out to players. Sky etc dont allow US players so how could PS and co use that as a defense? This doesnt affect UK laws in the slightest. THe only way your gonna notice the difference is if you play on those sites, and the difference will be a lack of US players. The sites arent shutting down and will still offer play to the rest of the world. This only concerns the US. The FBI/DoJ cant change the laws of other countries.
You will also probably find that some of the land based casinos will instantly spring up legally soon, paying taxes etc.
I think this has always been about taxes and nothing more
Until an agreement is reached to legalise it that is.
Some states in America had alledgedly just legalized poker and some land based casinos have launched online.
This is just to lock up more taxes
Scrumdown - Papers are talking about the USA. THis has nothing to do with any other site than stars tilt and UB/Absolute. No otherr sites are affected in any way. This kind of "the sky is falling" talk was exactly the same when the UIGEA was passed and then things carried in as normal. This is a lot worse, but only for americans really. ITs obviously not gonna be permanent either. A billion dollar industry isnt just gonna disappear because of this. All thats happening is the landscape is changing.
Obviously everyone in the dark with regards to whats going on but stars say the money is safe. I think they keep it in a seperate accounts at RBS but im guessing with the massive amount of withdrawals trying to be processed i doubt it will be easy to get money off the site for a while. I wouldnt put any significant sum on there if youre wanting to withdraw it soon. Also you never know how things are gonna change in the near future so its a gamble.
WRT overlays in tournaments; I final tabled two tournaments last night with $10k+ overlays for some decent cashes, and played half a dozen more with $5k+ overlays. Sunday tournaments tomorrow will hopefully continue unadjusted, and the FTOPS event is $3m with $216 buyin. Personally I think this tournament will have upwards of a $1m overlay.
For everyone who says its to do with taxes; it's not. Offshoot is perfectly on the ball here, it's to do with illegal transactions to move money around within the USA after the UIGEA passed.
Elsadog, you are continuing to act like the sky is falling. There will be minimal knock-on effects because its not illegal in the UK for poker websites to process deposits etc, no matter who regulates who, no other webites are breaking the law in their territory thus the USA DoJ have no power and there is no consequences to be afraid of.
Elsa: Your last paragraph is nonsense. How does the fact that they are regulated by the same company have any relevance? The investigation isnt gonna check how rigged the RNG is (no matter how much you want them to.) All they care about is the illegal activity of the sites in the US and how they got round the UIGEA. There is not gonna be some worldwide investigation into poker. Theyre just gonna try and arrest the people at the top and make them pay hefty fines probably.
edit: what coxy said. Also overlays! yay! I cant see them going on too long though.
Hey im a player from the UK, theres been alot of rumours going around the forums that theres gonna be cash out issues from now on. I am assuming these are false, and although there may be issues with players from USA at the moment, UK players are still fine to deposit and withdraw as usual?
/> Thanks for some info
Thank you for your email. We appreciate your concern.
PokerStars is owned and operated by a legal entity licensed and located in the Isle Of Man (a crown dependency of the United Kingdom) and we pride ourselves in abiding by all relevant laws and regulations. The current situation about which you have inquired only impacts US Players.
PokerStars will continue to offer its services to all other jurisdictions. As we are not a law firm, it is difficult for us to advise our customers as to the legal situation in every jurisdiction, however the recent change is not targeted in any way at your jurisdiction.
Most importantly, rest assured your funds are safe with PokerStars and will be accessible to you whenever you may wish to withdraw.
We will keep all of our players up-to-date with any future developments.
We sincerely appreciate your understanding and concern, and thank you for choosing PokerStars.
Regards,
Elias
PokerStars Support Team
Because te government wanted control so they could tax as and when they want.
You can bet your life that sooner rather than later sites will be allowed to operate legally in the US for a price.
Party already paid what, £100 million or something? They will go legite.
Hustlers last night announed they are going to open online and was it washington? who only just announced they are legalising online gambling.
This all comes down to the US wanting to control the gaming industry and governments only ever want control if 1) it benefits its citizens and means they can get more votes from it, or
2) they can make money from it.
I've said little different to you. Putting money into these sites at the moment would be foolish. You have no more idea about the financial implications of all this than I do. Would you put your money into a bank that had just had it's assets seized? I am promoting some caution until things are settled. We will know more next week when those who have tried to withdraw money either get it or don't.
If you want to advise everyone to get in there for the overlays - brave man you.
OH well, That's a relief then!
What did you expect them to say? ''We're all doomed - get your money out quick''
I remember Maxwell telling all his employees that their pensions were ring-fenced and safe. It's the line companies take when they are in trouble. Naivety FTW.
So I wouldn't bother playing any big money games on these sites until we all know what's going on!