But really, takes you back, doesn’t it? I would, of course, get my $520 before year-end — no interest though from the Feds for holding it. And the return of Neteller money back in ’07 is a reason many give for their confidence in some day getting repaid by Full Tilt. But when I look back at that case — though Neteller was in many ways the opening salvo in the US fight to shut down the online poker industry — I frankly see why the current round of money seizures are very different, and thus why repayment via Full Tilt is far less likely than the government’s eventual release of Neteller funds.

Looking back at this post, and the original article it was gonna link to, does remind me about issues of virtual currency that the world is still trying to resolve. We couldn’t know it at the time, but what we’re seeing now started out with poker players getting caught up in something that was about way more than poker:

The carefulest of readers may have noticed that Pokerati has shied away from the [tag]War on Poker[/tag] tag, opting instead for the more cooperative [tag]Poker Law Review[/tag]. After all, we’re just trying to come up with a win-win solution for political interests and poker players alike, right? Maybe. But this is really turning into a fight … and I think I’ve been hit!

Apparently the Feds have frozen funds from US Neteller accounts. Huh-wah? That’s what a non-poker blog that tracks the emerging digital finance economy tells me. But is he sure it’s the FBI, and not the DOJ? So I went and checked — no new special notice from Neteller. From there I checked my account, and double-checked with my bank, and sure enough, there’s about $520 stuck in some sort of limbo, legal or otherwise. Word is that my e-cash is now “evidence.”

I’m not sure how my transactions specifically fit into the convergence of the the Wire Act, the Patriot Act, and the UIGEA — particularly as they apply to the case(s) against Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre — but they do reflect three bigger questions that presumably will have to be answered — my guess — by the Supreme Court.

Where does internet jurisdiction end and begin?

The $300 you see deposited on Jan. 13, I put in there straight from my checking account. Interestingly enough, it was for a gambling debt, but not an online one. I owed Adam a little money after a raucous home game, and we had agreed that I would send it to him via Neteller — quick and easy. Well it never got to Adam, so I tried to send it back to my bank. Was told it would take a few business days — that’s standard … but not showing up within 10 days is abnormal.

(My account has also been switched from “certified” to “uncertified,” which also seems a bit odd.)

Now I gotta think that the $220 from Sami ain’t gonna show up either. At least not anytime soon. And that sorta transaction is one that raises a lot of important internet questions — specifically, What constitutes a criminal link?

This money was a straight-up ad deal for something called Rakeback pages. Sari hopes you click it, but really, he is paying for some brand impression and SEO value. I was happy to ablige.

So a link clearly has to be informational. But what about a link with an affiliate code? And what about a link to someone with affiliate codes? Surely if I had an informational website giving you addresses to all the crack houses, that would be legal. Because hey, I have the right to tell you to stay away from there! But if I had a deal with the crack houses to get a little kickback for any new customers I send your way … OK, maybe that’s a little more sketchy.

But is it really? The Dallas Observer makes money selling ads to legally questionable “massage parlors” — which we all know are the dot-net versions of whorehouses. So then the question becomes how many degrees of separation are necessary? Again, I don’t have an affiliate relationship online … but I do have a relationship with someone who does have a relationship. And as far as I know this guy isn’t breaking any laws of the United States — operating completely out of its jurisdiction. But he is clearly doing business with people who stand to get arrested for something that is legal elsewhere.

As for my $520 … I want it back, but I’ll let it sit for now. But that begs a third question … is there such a thing as “virtual evidence”? Or perhaps what constitutes real money?

When the cops raid a poker room, they walk out with a bunch of cash. It is physical evidence to show money is being transacted. But with online money, there is no actual currency. There’s just an ethereal electronic idea of it. Does the US have any less evidence if they let this money back onto US soil?

Your account requires
immediate action

As part of the Distribution Plan, you were given final notice in December of 2007 that you had until January 26, 2008 to withdraw funds from your NETELLER account. You still have 574 USD in your account.

To receive this money, please fill out and submit a request by July 26, 2009 and include your current mailing address. We will begin processing your request and, when approved, you will be mailed a cheque for the full balance.

Please note: if you do not request your funds by July 26, 2009 (at 11:59PM EDT), they will be forfeited.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Should you have any questions, please contact us at uswithdrawals@neteller.com

NEOVIA Financial Plc
(Formerly NETELLER Plc Group)

ALT HED: Neteller 2?

The banks are deflecting blame and criticism, saying they’re simply complying with a federal court’s direction. Not surprising, of course, considering they aren’t really in a position to defy their new dot-gov overseers. The non-poker media probably doesn’t even give a shit about poker players — they just care right now about the relationship between government and banks … but hey, good to know … because just like government officials found a villain in the form of online gamblers to justify fingering its way into the bigger world of cross-border internet commerce, now online poker has a potential villain in bad, old-school governmenting (relying on nearly 50-year-old laws) to justify its immediate need to revise the laws that affect our multimillion-UScitizen industry.

To understand the brass tacks of what just happened and is happening, be sure to read the NYT story here:

Web’s Poker Winners Face Delay in Collecting
(Thanks, Lana, for the link!)

In it we learn:

• Four American banks were hit with court papers — Wells Fargo, Citibank, Alliance Bank of Arizona, and one other — telling them to freeze the funds.
• In part because of the secretive nature of grand juries, it’s not yet clear whether all are court orders or just friendly requests. (Ha.) Wells Fargo’s was an order.
• Four online sites affected — Full Tilt, PokerStars, and two others.
• Southern District prosecutors told at least one bank the funds in question “constitute property involved in money laundering transactions and illegal gambling offenses.”
• The accounts frozen belong to Allied Systems and Account Services, two payment processors (at least one of which seems to be based in Canada).

All fine and dandy (not), but what I found particularly interesting were the very last grafs:

The casinos and poker houses are based overseas, beyond the reach of prosecutors, who have sought to attack the businesses indirectly by going after American businesses that process transactions for offshore casinos or that advertise on their behalf.

Poker sites involved in this latest crackdown make money by taking a small part of each poker pot.

A. Jeff Ifrah, a lawyer representing Account Services, which has offices in San Diego and Canada, said that his client charged a small fee to issue checks to poker players.

Mr. Ifrah said that, to his knowledge, the government “has never seized an account that belongs to players who are engaged in what I would contend is a lawful act of playing peer-to-peer poker online.”

First, yikes if they go after companies that advertise online sites — but I guess that’s the whole dot-net thing. But beyond that, the non-poker world — just in time for Congress — is starting to understand how a rake works … and the relatively new phrase of “peer-to-peer poker online” is a step towards making the difficult distinguishment that online poker is indeed different than online gambling.

Developing …

We’ll hold off on saying too much until we get more solid information, but basically, checks from PokerStars are “bouncing”, particularly with New York banks. Instant E-checks seems to be the payment processor most notably affected at present. However, it’s not just e-checks … paper checks are proving uncashable, too. Reliable sources tell us that this is not just a little snafu, but that it’s the direct result of DOJ enforcement actions somehow connected to the Federal Court in New York’s Southern District.

This is the same court, of course, that handled Neteller way back when, and more recently came to non-prosecution agreements guilty plea settlements with Anurag Dikshit et al. While the Party Poker dudes are officially in the clear,* is it possible the Feds are now saying, hey, that was fun, and we got a lot of money … let’s try it again with those PokerStars guys!?!

The FBI offers more clarity on who’s agreed to what between Party Poker peeps and the Feds here.

The best I can tell, right now Stars seems to be the target. No confirmation on the fates of Full Tilt and UB payment processing.

UPDATE: Problems at Full Tilt, too. (Thanks, Ken, for the info/link!) And Ultimate Bet.

Regardless, whatever shakes down (pun intended), it raises a lot of questions at an interesting time, considering how much big money gets transfered passed between poker players — particularly in the summer — often on an online site in exchange for casino chips and/or bricks of cash.

Might the value of the Euro have just gone up, at least in the poker economy? Seems plausible if they’re the only ones able to convert online bankrolls into real American WSOP buy-in dollars.

* Cases against (with?) two other Party principals, Ruth Parasol and Russ DeLeon, are still pending in the same court.

Another semi-private email went out this weekend to the winners who are still awaiting to be paid out. It says cash is ready to be handed over to its rightful owners — so long as they promise not to sue after they collect. Fair enough … (Presumably reliable super-secret inside sources say the unpaid PokerBowl prize money totals more than $400,000) … Step 2 will be to make-good with team managers and vendors (who might-should-wanna get in touch with this help@pokerbusinessenterprises.com guy so they can square up some invoices).

Sounds plausibly legit, and I happen to fall in this category, so we’ll see …

ALT HED: Netellery?

Click below to read the soothing email:

—–Original Message—–
From: help@pokerbusinessenterprises.com
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 7:23 PM
To: help@pokerbusinessenterprises.com
Subject: [SPAM] SETTLEMENT OF POKERBOWL PRIZE MONEY! (fwd)

===== Forwarded message from help@pokerbusinessenterprises.com =====

\From: help@pokerbusinessenterprises.com
To: help@pokerbusinessenterprises.com
Subject: SETTLEMENT OF POKERBOWL PRIZE MONEY!
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 03:18:13 +0000

TO RECEIVE YOUR PRIZE MONEY IN FULL ON OR BEFORE MARCH 25, 2008:

POKER BUSINESS ENTERPISES IS HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THEY HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT WITH THE PALMS CASINO TO GUARANTEE PAYMENT OF ALL PLAYERS OWED POKERBOWL PRIZE MONEY:

YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SIGN THE ATTACHED RELEASE PROVIDED PRIOR TO RECEIPT OF YOUR PAYMENT.

WE NEED YOUR FULL NAME, ADDRESS, AND A CONTACT PHONE TO VERIFY SUCH NAMES AND AMOUNTS WITH OUR ACCOUNTING.

PLEASE EMAIL US YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION INCLUDING MAILING ADDRESS, DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER AND AMOUNT OWED.

FUTURE OF POKERBOWL:

POKER BUSINESS ENTERPRISES HAS EXTENDED THE DUE DILIGENCE PROCESS AS REFERENCED IN OUR FIRST EMAIL.

AS STATED IN OUR ORIGINAL EMAIL WE INTEND TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL AND PERMANENT ORGAINIZATION WITH STRONG STRATEGIC PARTNERS AND ALL THOSE INVOLVED FROM THE BEGINNING WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PARTICIPATION. WE ANTICIPATE AND HOPE TO BE ON NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION REACHING OVER 200 MILLLION HOUSEHOLDS THIS SPRING.

ADDITIONAL MASSIVE EXPOSURE TO COME VIA INTERNET AND NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS WILL PRODUCE BRANDING AND ECONOMIC OPPRTUNTITIES FOR ALL INVOLVED.

AIRING THE EVENT SHOULD ENSURE PAYMENT OF ANY SPONSORSHIP MONEY YOU HAVE NEGOTIATED.

AGAIN, WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOUR CONTINUED PATIENCE AND COOPERATION TO MAKE THIS A REALITY.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL US AND SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE OF THE POKERBOWL.

PBE

===== End forwarded message =====

We’ll see if it actually arrives. But no reason to believe it won’t. Quicker than I expected. Nice!

UPDATE: Money did arrive. Woo-hoo, pizza with extra toppings it is!

Also on Pokernews, our friend Amy has posted about the new Europe/Asia Neteller Debit Card. Who kept saying it’s all about Europe and Asia?

It’s a geeky corollary to online poker. Fairly similar in many regards, including the use/debate about Bots (read the comments) and of course the potential legal gray-area.

btw, FPS means ‘First Person Shooter’, in case you didn’t know. Pretty much describes any game where you kill/blow shit up.

Thanks for sending, Sommer.

Indeed, the video game industry has a major stake in the evolution of online gambling/gaming and the UIGEA. Already, you can play soccer online — the winner of the Fifa Interactive World Cup scored a $20k payday — and buy additional games on the XBox 360 for credits that you purchase at a brick-and-mortar store. (Interestingly enough, they have a Texas Hold’em game on there — and at a near-prohibitive cost of 800 credits … compared to, say, 150, for other games.) And even though video games are very arguably matters of skill, age-old concerns about cheating become a real issue. Just the other week I took on some punk from New Jersey who had a Ronaldinho with superpowers — like he could run five times as fast as any other player, and shoot missiles on-goal from anywhere on the field.

Now think about Second Life …

This little world in cyberspace has already established relationships with actual businesses and governments — more than US$1 million in transactions every day, Sweden is opening up an embassy, and Reuters has a Second Life news bureau … where one of the things it reports about is the fluctuating value of SL’s monetary unit. People/avatars have opened up poker rooms and casinos in Second Life … but little attention is being paid, probably because a Linden Dollar still is relatively insignificant in the world of international finance … currently trading for less than the Sudanese Dinar.

Call me a web-scrambled conspiracy theorist if you must … but the Neteller case is not about poker … it’s about who will control the currencies of the future.

UPDATE: More on Second Life gambling here. And perhaps recognizing what lies ahead … a Second Life Bar Association has taken shape to represent the virtual people in presumably any court.

Gonzales, of course, is a key factor (if not driving force) behind the crackdown on online gambling. So you gotta think getting rid of him would be a good thing, right? But we should also remember that, especially in the Bush administration’s waning years, just because there is a call for a resignation hardly means it will happen. And when a bureaucracy is troubled, just like a field of donkeys, they are apt to make rash, harmful decisions. So while maybe Gonzales (who was in Houston yesterday) may not be able to explain his mysterious firings, he conceivably could press even harder against online gambling just to change the subject.

My read on Alberto (in the face of growing criticism): total landmine.

NOTE: Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not … PartyGaming’s stock went up 2.5 percent when the NYT story broke.

An interesting site about high-stakes online play.

IGGY is back posting at Guinness and Poker. Good for him … that’s where he belongs. Of course he should know that no one will believe word of his “retirement” ever again.

Another site that previously disappeared has since transmogrified … WPBT headquarters. (World Poker Blogger Tour, for those who don’t know.) Not sure who’s behind the new WIKI or where they’re going with it, but we’ll be clicking every once in a while to see what’s going on. (Go DOT-INFO!)

NETELLER is now pulling out of CANADA (where they are based) and TURKEY (which has arguably the toughest INTERNET POLICE FORCE out there.

Gambling 911 reports that there’s no record of Neteller funds seized by the United States. Disconcerting if true. A Neteller Customer Coalition has formed to, er, do something about it and/or at least have a place to bitch.

CHRIS FERGUSON’s boring table demeanor:

It supposedly SNOWED in LAS VEGAS yesterday.

And that comes just two weeks after the purchase of a DISNEYLAND-size swath of land on the SOUTH STRIP to become the site of a monstrous pee-recycling environmentally friendly indoor water park and “snow dome”. Via some presumably stoked BRITISH SNOWBOARDERS.

American poker money is getting more expensive. ULTIMATE BET has altered its affiliate agreements for US players, subtracting for “overhead.” UB was kind enough to let inform its AFFILIATES three weeks after the policy went into effect:

March 13, 2007

Attention Affiliates… Regarding US Traffic Only!
Effective: Thursday, February 22, 2007

UltimateBet is still holding a strong position in the U.S. market providing poker players from around the world with the very best online poker experience. We are 100% committed to staying in the U.S. and provide your players with the easiest, fastest, secure deposit and cashout options. However, in light of Neteller and other popular ewallets leaving the U.S., our processing fees have increased upwards of 5 times. These costs are higher due to the new and only deposit options available to U.S. customers, some of these deposit options also require UltimateBet to cash guarantee all funds – please note we keep a cash reserve to cover all of our player balances.

Due to this increase in costs, UltimateBet has amended its terms and conditions so we can stay in business to enable you and Ultimate Bet to keep making money and not be forced to leave the US market.

Calculation of Net Revenue has been amended to reflect the following:

All Affiliates are paid on net revenue. Net revenue is calulated by taking the gross revenue an affiliate’s player generates and subtracting any processing fees which can include:
Merchant processing fees;
Charge backs;
Processor default;
Tourney deductions;
Any other agreed upon deductions.
The amount of these deductions will be taken off of Gross Revenue. At that point the remaining number is considered the Net Revenue. You, the affiliate, will be paid based on this net revenue number.

Please see the example below:

Gross Revenue generated by the affiliate’s U.S. players.
Minus Processing Fees.
Minus tourney deductions and any other agreed upon deductions.
= Net Revenue.
You, the affiliate, are then paid their RevShare on this net revenue.

Last, we will combine your U.S . commission with your Non-U.S. commission for your total payment.
UltimateBet has the most competitive merchant processing in the industry – i.e. your customers will be able to deposit and cashout better with UltimateBet than any of our competitors – this means higher customer lifetime values and bigger checks for you that will continue!

By staying in the U.S., UltimateBet is making the commitment to allow you to continue to make money!

Your non-U.S. traffic will not be included in these changes. This is only for U.S. traffic.

Effective: Thursday, February 22nd!

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us!

The UltimateBet Team

Speaking of ULTIMATE BET, I think this is the kind of questionable appropriation of the WSOP LOGO that HARRAH’S says it will frown upon vigorously be trying to stop:

(Note: No offense to MEAN GENE, who is just doing his job.)

Speaking of jobs, PAULY, OTIS, and the SHRINK are kickin’ it in MONTE CARLO.

And Pauly has an awesome interview with the hip-hoppinest PROFESSIONAL KENO PLAYER, who happens to be from TEXAS.

There’s more stuff going on, of course … but I think that’s good for now.

According to yesterday’s press release, Neteller has signed agreements with the US Attorney’s Office and some forensic accountants with Navigant Consulting. The plan: To have a plan in about 75 days.

Sounds good, I suppose. But as one of many Americans (does anyone know an actual number?) whose Neteller money has been seized by the Feds, I’m not banking on much. In fact, read the Neteller FAQ … I know they’re just playing it conservatively, most likely on the advice of counsel, but really, at least a few things are a little bothersome, not just because I want my $520. First, there is no reassurance that, yes, you will definitely get all your money back. They talk about coming up with a plan to “distribute” funds … but really, what does that mean? We’re not looking for you to come up with a socialist system for spreading around a portion whatever capital you have on hand … we are looking for access to our own kizzash, yo!

OK, OK, I know, this is really more on the US Attorney’s office than Neteller, but let’s call a spade a spade. We ain’t gonna see our money in time to use it for the WSOP.

The agreements reached between NETELLER, the USAO, and Navigant pave the way for that process to be established.

Ah, so really, it’s more that you have a plan to have a plan to have a plan. Ah, OK, thanks for clarifying. Long time no money see. Gotcha.

Here’s what irks me about this situation — and it should irk everyone, not just poker players, or at least raise some eyebrows about the future of online commerce. Why do they need the actual/virtual money? When cops raid a drug den (or poker room), they confiscate the money because it is hard, concrete evidence. But in the Neteller case, there is no money, no cash, no physical nothing to actually seize. They’ve got all the records of transactions … so why can’t they let the cash go?

I mean cash doesn’t really exist online … but it exists somewhere. Is this the sort of jurisdiction we want to give American authorities in cyberspace?

First off, happy February 14. If you do a Yahoo! or Google image search for “valentine poker” (quotes excluded) here’s the first thing you see:

HOLLAND has officially legalized online poker, licensing the game to its government-run land-based casino. This development comes shortly after a round of raids on AMSTERDAM home games. (See the connection?)

UTAH has no intentions of legalizing gambling, but the state did amend some recent legislation to ensure that AMATEUR TEXAS HOLD’EM is allowed in bars.

Meanwhile, WYOMING is one step closer to legalizing “social” cash games in bars and restaurants, though big tourney action may still be outlawed.

A lot’s going down in MACAU, which apparently generated more gambling revenue than LAS VEGAS in 2006. This sorta expansion has Virgin pioneer RICHARD BRANSON putting a few billion into the Asian gambling pot.

But Chinese casino mogul STANLEY HO isn’t gonna let the round-eyes gank all his action.

JOHNNY CHAN has plans to eventually open shop in Macau (and elsewhere) — has partnered with the makers of The Block to create “the world’s first poker hotel.” Tourney director extraordinaire MATT SAVAGE is part of his team — we can only hope this doesn’t mean all of China will be taught to do the flop one card at a time.

Here’s a pokery valentine, from CUBA:

Speaking of communism, you probably have heard by now that the US ATTORNEY’S OFFICE has seized $55 million worth of Neteller funds as evidence.

About $520 of that belongs to yours truly. I suppose that makes me COLLATERAL DAMAGE in the [tag]War on Poker[/tag]:

Here is what Neteller has to say about how and when we will get our money.

Amy and the Shrink have an update on the investigation into a seriously BOTCHED COLOR-UP during last year’s WSOP main event.

It coincides with news that HERSHEY’S has been named the Official Chocolate of the 2007 WSOP. Mmmm, two million extra chocolate chips!

POKERTEK, makers of dealerless electronic poker tables, is being sued by TELLIS, a TEXAS-based software company that doesn’t even have a website.

Haley continues to investigate the legal battles between HARRAH’S and FREDERIC SCHIAVO over the rights to WSOP.COM.

This valentine from PKR.com suggests that while a man’s hand may seem stronger than a woman’s … it’s still possible that she’s holding the nuts:

UPDATE: Just re-watched the vid, and the lady actually would need some help on the turn to make her straight-flush.

Did you know the proportion of WOMEN PLAYING POKER continues to grow? The XX-chromosome set reportedly represents 30 percent of online players now.

BRANDI HAWBAKER, cute-as-pie poker girl and Full Tilt nipple-cover model, has reportedly found a new way to fund her bankroll by stripping at SPEARMINT RHINO. (Congrats on the new sponsorship deal!)

Remember, on February 14 and forever …