Archived January 2007 US Online Poker Updates
For latest occurences please visit the US online poker updates page.
Updated Wednesday Jan. 31
8:43pm – Something called Youteller was launched by London based Seed Capital Ltd. They were given authority to operate as an ewallet by the FSA and open in March. This was posted in their press release
“We have no overseas branch in a NAFTA-country like Neteller or Citadel, so we are not affected by US legislation,” underlined Schweitzer.
6:16pm – Latest rumor has it that Neteller payments have been pushed back yet again. Support is telling people it could be 6 months from now until withdrawls are received.
6:08pm – Chexx Inc has left the US market. Some poker sites were using them to issue checks.
2:07am - Mansion poker is officially out of the US market as of today.
1:54am – I read an article on Foxnews today and also noticed another article had been posted at gambling911. It mentioned online gambling and how the DOJ needed “New Priorities” not New Prosecutors. Seven US attorneys were asked to step down earlier this month. Fox News said the move was politically motivated and questioned the priorities of trying to rid online gambling and regular porn.
1:52am – The EU is expected to challenge the new US law calling it “Protectionism” which could go to the WTO.
Updated Tuesday Jan. 30
2:14pm – This was posted by egrmagazine.com today. They track all casino and poker industry news. More arrests could be on their way. 
“According to sources in Washington DC who have spoken to eGaming Review, the US authorities are on the verge of unsealing another set of indictments against a high-profile US-facing betting and gaming operator.”
Updated Sunday Jan 28
11:58pm – Western Union has been emailing gambling sites and warning them that their services should not be used for gambling deposits.
1:13am – PokerStars has removed Western Union from their deposit options and added MoneyGram.
Updated Saturday Jan. 27
6:59pm – Some people are saying that Wirecard is already working and works where Mastercard is accepted such as Poker Stars
2:52pm – Fulltiltpoker.com added something called Wirecard which is supposed to begin taking US customers February 1st.
2:54am – Neteller just stated that EFT’s will not go through until the end of February (if we’re lucky). 
1:54pm – I just got an email from Bodog.com saying they will be getting rid of the reload bonus in order to continue offering free deposits and withdrawls. The changes are expected to take place January 29th. I guess this takes care of the rumor that they will be dropping US players after the Super Bowl. They wouldnt be making these changes if that were true.
Updated Friday Jan. 26
2:20pm – Ezipay, also known as Payspark, is reported to be backing out of the USA for all customers including the ones who previously had accounts.
1:55pm – Fulltiltpoker.com has added CashTransfer as a deposit option. Either that or I’ve just never seen it before.
Updated Thursday Jan. 25
3:24pm – Ewalletxpress seems to be doing some very strange stuff. This came in the newsletter they sent out yesterday. It looks like they are setting up all US customers with a Canadian account. Thank you Joe for sending in the update.
“All U.S. customers will have an active Canadian currency (CAD) account in which all deposits will be converted and deposited.”
This kind of goes back to my theory about when the regulations are passed. I still believe that once regulations pass and the goverment sees what ewallet’s are allowing US customers to, in one way or another, deposit into gambling sites….they will force banks to disallow business with those companies. So is this attempt worthy of the effort by ewalletxpress? To be honest we’ll just have to wait and see.
2:36pm – Rep. Chris Strow has introduced the legislation to get rid of felony charges for online poker players in Washington. The legislation, Bill 1243, is waiting to be heard in the House of Commerce.
Updated Tuesday Jan. 23
10:18pm – Another ewallet bites the dust. Atmonline seems to be leaving the US. This is the message a customer received today and sent to us to have posted.
“ATM Online is currently not taking any deposits right now. Please email mysupport@myatmonline.com to have any of your questions resolved. We will get back to you with any issue regarding a previous deposit. You may also continue to withdraw any of your balance in the withdraw section.
Any PENDING ONLINE CHECK will be CANCELLED and not PROCESSED. If you currently have a balance in your account you may deposit it at a Merchant that has ATM Online in its cashier. This does not apply to FAST CASH credit.
Anybody who has done a Rapid Collect (Moneygram deposit) or an EMT will be contacted directly. These transactions still can be deposited at a Merchant that uses ATM Online in its cashier. Please check your intended merchant’s cashier page.
We will post an update in the near future. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Regards,
Management
1:42am – Here is a brand new fox news video report talking about the latest US Fed actions. They interview a former federal prosecutor. She sums of the recent things that have happened.
Updated Monday Jan. 22
7:00pm – Payspark (Ezipay) was added to the list of sites not take NEW US customers.
6:56pm – Ecocard was verified to be staying around today. They are more popular for online casinos.
Updated Sunday Jan. 21
8:36pm – The latest happenings with the Department of Justice are that they are ordering large investment firms, banks and law firms to hand over information of those connected with online gambling.
Updated Satuday Jan. 20
8:14pm – Since not much happened today (weekend) I thought I’d post this video about a pissed of neteller (US) customer. The guy is definately a bit crazy but it’s worth a good laugh. (youtube video)
12:53pm – Mansion poker sent out an email that sounded like they were leaving US players. Support said they were not leaving but because Mansion poker doesn’t have any way to support US based deposits they sent out the email. So, they are still taking players and people with funds in their account can still play but people with no money in their account won’t be able to deposit until they find an ewallet that accepts US players.
Updated Friday Jan. 19
5:49pm – BetonBet had dropped out of the US market. They said they were voluntarily doing this because their US customers have found it almost impossible to deposit.
Updated Thursday Jan. 18
11:38pm – Absolute Poker has verified that InstaDebit and Nexum are officially abandoning the US market.
9:50pm – Using my feeble brain to put two and two together it seems like Instadebit is going to start a specific state wide ban (possibly the 11 states some gambling sites don’t accept). Meanwhile Poker Stars and Full Tilt are pushing very hard for their players to use ePassporte.
7:53pm – Michael Bolcerek of the Poker Players Alliance made a statement about the Neteller fiasco at pokerplayersalliance.wordpress.com. It seems the reason for the arrests were due to illegal sports betting transactions. Here is a direct quote.
“The district court concluded that the Wire Act concerns gambling on sporting events or contests
and that the Plaintiffs had failed to allege that they had engaged in internet sports gambling.”
7:27pm – This is what Instadebit support just stated over the phone.
“We are having problems with certain states. Some states won’t be able to use our services as
of right now. We don’t know which states are being affected but hope to have it all sorted out shortly.”
7:08pm – Poker sites are now adding Western Union and Wire transfer capabilities. Poker Stars has always allowed Western Union and Bodog.com just added Wire transfer and Western Union to their deposit menu today. Full Tilt Poker has not yet added
Western Union or WT. I give Western Union two thumbs down for fees.
6:00pm – According to the latest rumor/news Instadebit will be shutting down to US players. Support says it’s business as usual but we all know how “In the know” they are.
3:07pm – Poker sites are now directing their players to ePassporte and for ewallet providers. This site is about to get huge and as many of you have experienced, their servers are crashing due to visitor overload. Very interesting times right now.
3:04pm – It was confirmed, Central Coin is out of the US market.
2:54pm – Central Coin might also be leaving the US market. On the homepage of their site it says the website is unoperational. Either that or they got flooded with new customers and the servers crashed.
2:48pm – Poker Stars is no longer accepting echecks, Neteller or Central Coin.
Updated Wednesday Jan 17
10:14pm - I just got off the phone with epassporte. Their policies will not change because of the Neteller incident. We will be calling the above ewallet providers to see if their policies are going to change. Everything should be completely updated by late night tonight or by morning time.
9:01pm – Neteller is officially out.
6:41pm – Citadel Commerce and MyCitadel has stopped accepting transactions with US gamblers.
2:58pm – A moderator at twoplustwo has posted that Neteller will stop accepting US based transactions within 12 hours. According to the post there will be a 2 week allowance for players to withdraw their money. As always this is speculation until Neteller actually releases the final word.
2:02am - Bodog has suspended the use of Neteller.
12:13am – The previous post has been confirmed. Neteller has halted the use of InstaCash for US gambling deposits. While the regular deposit methods are still available this may be signs of Neteller’s demise in the US gambling market. Here is the US
InstaCash FAQ just released by Neteller. Also Neteller issued this statement.
“At the end of 2006, NETELLER began reviewing the instaCASH payment option, which resulted in the
decision to retire this product from the US, effective January 16, 2007. As such, instaCASH is no longer
available to US members.”
SPECIAL Update Tuesday Jan. 16
7:56pm – Neteller’s instaCash option was disabled by Neteller at Poker Stars (a US accepted site) from what I hear. The normal neteller deposit option is still working.
SPECIAL update 2:31pm – The neteller co-founder arrests have been stated by the New York District attorney as being arrests due to the creation and operation of a payment processor that instigated billions of dollars in illegal gambling transactions.
Neteller stock trading was suspended following the news break. It remains unclear how Neteller will proceed with their current US gambling stance.
Updated Monday Jan. 15
9:17pm – The two co-founders of Neteller have been arrested in the US according to Gambling911.com. The investigation reportedly went back a few years. Both had resigned awhile back but have large stock ownership in Neteller.
6:16pm – Fireone (Firepay) is going to be delisted from the stock exchange on February 12th. It will
be interesting to see what they’re planning.
Updated Sunday Jan. 14
1:44am – Another good question has been brought up. How will banks block ACH / EFT transactions? I read at twoplustwo that a “code” will be used similar to how credit cards are blocked by gaming sites. It’s the only efficient way the bank can do it but it sounds like it’s very feasible and likely to be how the regulation will work.
1:32am – I just saw that Prima sites which say they are on the 11 state ban aren’t exactly following their own rules. Why say it if you’re not going to implement it. Hmm.
Updated Thursday Jan. 11
12:57am – Pinnacle Sports has stopped all US transactions today. They stated that the main reason was because many banks were no longer doing business with them and they were finding it difficult to facilitate transactions. This is a big blow for sportsbettors.
Some are fearing that we could see this start happening with bigger sites like Poker stars.com which currently accept US players. To be honest I think they are in for the long haul but this Pinnacle sportsbook was a shocker but sportsbooks and poker are looked at much differently especially from a legal prospective.
Updated Wednesday Jan. 10
8:38am – Betonsports Plc was cited for contempt of court after not appearing in court for an arraignment. Carruthers is still under arrest but others like Clive Archer, the Marketing Director, are nowhere to be found. Players have yet to be paid for money in their accounts after the whole fiasco went down.
2:33am – I read on The Poker Players Alliance Blog that Michael Bolcerek will be speaking at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States on January 12th. The blog post didn’t go into details about what he will talk about but it made me feel good when I read it. It’s nice to see that he’s still going full force and is passionate about what he does.
Updated Tuesday Jan. 9
11:51pm – Watch out for phishing Moneybookers email scams. I’ve gotten two of them in the past 2 days saying “We are once again allowing gamblers from the United States to access and deposit into their accounts. You just need to log in and verify information bla bla bla.”
Updated Thursday Jan. 4
1:15am – There was some really good news posted at gambling-law-us.com in the FAQ section. Chuck Humprhey who runs the site has been following the US gambling issues for some time and most of the big sites seek him out for advice. Here is something I found that looked very optimistic. The important parts are highlighted.
FAQ 6. “So we only have until July to play?”
On this issue I’m actually much more optimistic than most people. We probably have much longer than July. First, there is no penalty if the regulations are not implemented on a timely basis. As a tax professional, I see Congress write this kind of language all the time for various tax statutes. Sooner or later, usually much later, the IRS gets around to writing the regulations. There are some tax statutes written in the 1980s which had similar regulatory language and the IRS is still operating with temporary regulations! Also, remember that regulations must be submitted for comment, rewritten, submitted for final comments,
and then are printed in the Federal Register — all before they have the force of law. This is the good news; it’s quite likely that the regulations will not be implemented by July 2007.
snippet from www.gambling-law-us.com/Articles-Notes/Fox-UIGEA.htm
Looks like the rumors of February might be false.
Updated Wednesday Jan. 3
5:53pm – Party Poker is really bouncing back after dropping US players. They signed a deal with Playtech and announced an expansion into Asia. Because of this their shares jumped almost 12%.
