On April 15, 2011 the United States Department of Justice by way of the US Attorney’s Office in New York started a major crackdown on illegal online gambling (and, let’s face it, all online gambling in the United States is illegal). Even though the Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act has been in place since 2006, online gambling has existed in full force in the nation. This is especially true for online poker. There has not been much of an effort to truly go after online poker. O course, playing poker online in the United States is not illegal. It is illegal, though to play while wagering real money, and millions of dollars each year are spent playing poker online for real money. The United States’ federal government made their move in a big way. They went after three of the biggest and most popular online poker sites in the world, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker. The handed the three online poker sites and eleven online poker and American bank executives indictments on money laundering, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit these acts. This has all but shut down the online poker industry. Millions of avid online poker lovers are without a home. The aftermath has been huge. More indictments of smaller online poker sites have been served. Sponsorship deals have ended. Possible partnerships have been put on hold. Luckily, American players (or former American players) will be able to get their money back, even if it does take a while.
Here is one group that has been affected that no one really talks about, the professional poker player and those who ar able to maintain an income playing poker online. Many of the world’s top professional poker players not only depend on sponsorships from online poker sites, but they also earn a substantial income from the games they play. There are also millions of other Americans who are making money online. Some clever and dedicated college students are putting themselves through school with their online poker winnings. What happens to them.
A report from the poker and gambling publication Canadian-poker.ca mentioned that some of them may head north and move to Canada. Canada has several jurisdictions that allow for professional online poker play. Daniel Negreanu may be one of them. Mr. Negreanu is considered to be one of the world’s top poker players. He plays both online and in live tournaments. He is a member of the Poker Stars Pro Team. He is also a native Canadian. There are plenty of rumors that he and others like him could move to Canada or spend a substantial amount of time there, so that they can continue to play poker online professionally.
There are plenty of professional poker players that hail from Canada. They are able to split their time from their new home in the United States (usually Nevada) and their old home in Canada. Once back home they are able to pick which jurisdiction they like best. The only question left is, will they stay with the same online poker site. Mr. Negreanu and others play on an indicted site. This could cause them trouble in the future.
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