Black Friday, Today and Beyond

On April 15, a day now known as “Black Friday,” the poker world was turned upside down. On that day, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation released an indictment charging the founders of the three major online-poker sites — PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet — with violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006. The sites, which circumvented UIGEA rules to service U.S. customers, were charged with bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Along with the indictment came the seizure of each site’s U.S.-facing Web page. Facing roughly $3 billion in civil money-laundering penalties and revenue forfeiture, all three sites cut off ties with U.S. players. The UIGEA prohibits gambling businesses from accepting payments from bets via the Internet. For years, the poker industry has argued that the UIGEA is a murky law, and has asked the U.S. government ...

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