Image from fulltiltpoker.com, pokerstars.com and absolutepoker.com.
Get your popcorn ready for a long legal battle and welcome to my life ~6 months ago. There are reports of both US and non US players not being able to cash out and not being able to play anymore on the FullTilt, PokerStars and AbsolutePoker.
I personally still have ~$8k in full tilt money which I have yet to cash out and I’m not sure I’ll ever receive but honestly I’m thankful this didn’t happen to me when I had $100k+ locked up on online poker sites and I feel bad for anyone who does, but you really should have been prepared for this day after seeing what happened to us Washington based players 6 months ago.
If you’re in a panic and are suddenly unemployed like I was, I’d suggest you start sending out resumes now and/or start developing some skills to make yourself a valuable employee. Getting a job is going to take a number of months most likely and the sooner you start the better. You may enjoy my previous post: Career Advice from a Hedge Fund Manager and may benefit from reading this in depth 2+2 post on When should you move on from poker?
If you’re planning on waiting around and seeing what happens in the legal area praying for a favorable, quick decision DON’T. The state of Online poker in the US fundamentally changed today and it’s going to be months possibly years before we have an idea of where we are headed in the future. Could you switch sites? Could you move out of the country? Sure, but you really need to ask yourself how important online poker is to you in your life. I made the decision months ago that as much as I love poker, I love the place where I live and the friends I have here more. Do you want to subject yourself to shadier and shadier operators and payment processors? You’ll have to do some soul searching and figure out for yourself what’s best for you.
Here’s to hoping for a bright future for online poker.
CNET news article Internet poker giants indicted in U.S. crackdown
2+2 Legislation thread with up to date latest developments
What? No China trip report?