Feds Freezing Online Poker Payouts

Feds Freezing Online Poker Payouts:

"Feds Freezing Online Poker Payouts
by Warren Riddle — Jun 11th 2009 at 2:20PM


Although gambling is illegal throughout much of the United States, online poker has exploded in popularity and managed, for the most part, to avoid government interference. Online casinos are typically operated from overseas, safe from prosecution, and can also be considered a 'peer-to-peer' activity, not a transaction between a bettor and a casino.

Despite the gray poker area, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has begun instructing financial institutions to freeze the accounts of payment processors who dole out online casino winnings. So far, those assets include $33 million owed to 27,000 players on four prominent Web sites, including PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com. (They could just tax those earnings to bolster depleted government coffers, but what do we know?)"