Poker Player Blog

Absolute Poker in Court—In court this week Brent Beckley, the co founder of Absolute Poker website plead guilty to charges. Beckley admitted before the court that he knowingly filtered American player funds through cover companies so their payment could be processed by American banks. In American online gambling is illegal and most banks will automatically stop any payment to a known poker website. Because Absolute Poker laundered the money through shell companies they manage to process millions of dollars within American borders. Beckley was facing a thirty year plus jail sentence before he plead guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. According to news sources he has worked out a plea bargain with the court system which will assure he spends less than two years in jail. Beckley is 31 years old.

Nevada Passes Intrastate Online Gambling—A month after the news of proposed online gaming legislation was announced, the state of Nevada passed gaming legislation with a unanimous vote. Several Nevada based companies have applied for licenses under the new online gaming law. They include International Game Technology, Cantor Gaming and Caesars Entertainment. It seems the license application processing will open up early next year. Many legislators have expressed concerns about legalizing online gaming at the state level and Nevada attempts to answer those concerns with the guidelines and rules that come with licensing. Site will have to have certain information on their websites regarding problem gambling, tax information and an avenue for conflict resolution. The licensed sites will be thoroughly examined and must make effort to ensure only in state residents of legal age utilize their website.

Wire Act Clearly Defined—After a question of the legality of selling state lottery tickets online the federal government was forced to clarify what was actually covered by the Wire Act. The verdict came back that the Wire Act applied to sports related betting only and had no sway over the selling of state lottery tickets. And because poker has recently been recognized as a card game of skill and so is not considered a sport in the literal or Wire Act sense. This is great news to poker players and pro poker organizations seeking passage of federal laws regarding online poker. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has been working with legislators for the last few years in an attempt to have federal regulation of the online poker industry. The hope is to legalize online poker in the United States and provide regulations and consumer protection for players. And although the deadline has passed to get federal regulation through the house this year, 2012 is looking a lot more promising.