# Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker Seized by Feds **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 15, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533 "2011-04-15T19:41:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/41 "2011-04-20T18:58:42Z")
Reuters has the story, too: [U.S. allows 2 of 3 shuttered poker sites to reopen](http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/20/poker-fraud-idUSN2015204520110420) It will take a while for the DNS stuff to work its way through so you can access the sites. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/42 "2011-04-20T19:01:59Z")
Well, reopen to allow people to get their money out, but not to play anymore. The client software worked without the web domain anyway, I issued cashout orders within an hour or so of this stuff going down. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/43 "2011-04-20T19:15:32Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > as your quoted portion clearly points out. Yeah. Since I’m not clear on how what you quoted and emphasized disputes any point I was making, I’ll leave that part aside. > [@](#): > > I’ve been playing online poker for a living since it first began, so I am somewhat knowledgeable about it. As far as I am aware, there have been **no** real problems with money laundering except for the current situation. You do realize that just because you’re not aware of something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, right? By definition, **all** the parties who participate in any such activities have a vested interest in keeping it from becoming public knowledge. Being in the online poker world as long as you have been, you are no doubt aware of the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet cheating scandals. If you followed any of that at all, you should also be aware of the murky underworld and shady dealings that were obscured by the multiple shell-companies and supposed “regulation” by that jurisdiction’s tribal gaming commission. And these were the third and forth largest online poker companies in the U.S. market - what kind of corruption and questionable practices might lie under the surface of the smaller outfits? Maybe some things will come to light, since it appears that the recent crackdown was in large part due to cooperating witness, [Daniel Tzvetkoff](http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/web-kings-life-on-the-line/story-fn6ck45n-1226039907165). (further tales of shady dealings and intrigue are associated with that name) As an aside, one thing that caught my eye about these recent developments was the indictment of the banker from St. George, Utah who allegedly accepted investments into the bank and a bonus for himself in exchange for providing a friendly outlet for the poker sites to process payments through. I haven’t dug any further, but I am certain I remember there being some connections to Saint George, UT in the AP/UB cheating scandal. It could be nothing but coincidence, but it sure seems fishy. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/44 "2011-04-20T19:22:47Z")
> [@Implicit](#): > > Offshore online gambling sites don’t provide the US government with any of this tax revenue. Didn’t the US gov’t more or less drive the sites offshore? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/45 "2011-04-20T19:28:15Z")
What would stop American players from opening accounts with Canadian banks and using those funds to fund thier Poker site? ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/46 "2011-04-20T19:43:48Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Didn’t the US gov’t more or less drive the sites offshore? They never had the option of setting up their operations in the US, since the strong lobby of the bricks and mortar casinos/race tracks/etc. resulted in governments (state and federal) refusing to license online gambling in any form in the US. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/47 "2011-04-20T20:10:14Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > What would stop American players from opening accounts with Canadian banks and using those funds to fund thier Poker site? My father has done business in Canada for years and he has bank accounts in Canada. He made it a joint account (with me) a few years back (for estate reasons). I have thought about funding an online poker site through this account, but Dad would not approve He is not against gambling but he is against breaking federal laws. (former FBI agent) If ad when I inherit this account, I do not plan on closing it. This is one of the reasons. anyways, I have a (very) small balance at Pokerstars. for the time being I am not planning on doing anything with the money. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/48 "2011-04-20T20:42:09Z")
**voltaire** , my point is that the whole money laundering thing was just a red herring put out by certain killjoy moralizing law enforcement types. Pretty much nobody else considered it a real concern. Cheating is beyond the scope of my statements. People don’t cheat only at online poker, people cheat at just about everything. **Lamar** , even if you had a foreign bank account, that still leaves the fact that you can’t connect to the real money games when you are physically in the US. There are ways around it but it gets pretty technically hairy and isn’t something a casual small stakes player is likely to get involved in. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/49 "2011-04-20T21:10:32Z")
[PokerStars FAQ Statement](http://www.pokerstars.com/usaplayers/faq/) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/50 "2011-04-25T05:23:33Z")
Game Show Network Preempted most (but not all) of the poker programming this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533/51 "2011-04-25T13:39:58Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Game Show Network Preempted most (but not all) of the poker programming this weekend. Grr. I crawled into bed, flipped on the TV, hoping to hear the dulcet tones of Kottah or that other guy… only to hear Bob Saget and 1 vs 100. Dammit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pokerstars-full-tilt-and-absolute-poker-seized-by-feds/578533.md?page=2)