Online Poker Black Friday
It happened on April 15th. Poker players trying to log into some of the major poker rooms found that they could not connect to the server. Upon visiting the home page of these poker rooms, some players saw that things were running business as usual. Others received an ominous warning screen, emblazoned with the logo of the U.S. Department of Justice. A quick trip to some of poker's largest forums showed the reality behind the issue - the U.S. DoJ had finally made a move against some of the larger poker rooms out there - more specifically the CEREUS poker network, which includes Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, as well as Full Tilt and Poker Stars. The DoJ had seized these poker rooms' websites, forced them to stop accepting new players from the States, and giving the feeling that the sky is falling on the industry of online poker.
Dubbed poker's "Black Friday," the industry had suffered a major blow. Indictments were handed down, players were left wondering if they would receive their money, and even a few miscellaneous sites had been affected, such as the odd online sportsbook. Players had been left in the lurch, and many players had lost their hobby, and in some cases their livelihood. Why April 15th had been the day chosen we will never know, but it does coincide with the end of tax season. In the end, many questions were left unanswered.
The consequences of Black Friday have not fully been felt, but there are many suspected consequences that will be felt due to the changes in the online poker industry. One major consequence of major online poker rooms being shut down is expected to be felt by the World Series of Poker. Attendance at the WSOP Main Event is expected to be down, especially considering how large the field was in 2010. Some of the smaller events have already suffered from lower entries, and this trend could continue if time goes on. Throw into the mix the fact that some players are essentially out of a job and many players just paid in their taxes without actually being able to get their winnings and what you get is a horrific affair for players who had been making their living off of the world of online poker.
So this leaves players wondering - what now? Can I not play online poker at all? Am I going to get my money back? What's going to happen? We have compiled a brief frequently asked questions over what will happen now that the industry of online poker has been given the finger. There are still many questions we cannot answer, and we are not sure whether or not the industry will ever fully recover from what has happened. What we do know is that legalization and regulation are becoming more and more important, but we are not able to say what will actually happen.
