The independent, non-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics believes Bachus was “betting” the stock market with privileged information, the Washington Post reports.

OCE says they’ve been looking at the current Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee for more than a year to confirm suspicions that, essentially, Bachus, an active trader, was operating like a stock-options superuser! OK, maybe not exactly, because you gotta think Bachus woulda banked more than a few thousand bucks here and there if he were truly the Russ Hamilton of Wall Street politics. But still …

DC Power Broker? A leader in the cause of stifling online poker, seen here with his wife at an event honoring Rafe Furst and Phil Gordon, two Full Tilt Poker pros.

Regardless of whether or not this level of OCE censure might ultimately land Bachus in prison a la Martha Stewart (it’s often a fine line between unethical and illegal) Bachus’ woe is a big win for poker because such allegations alone effectively neutralize his power and influence on Capitol Hill. In the War on Poker, Bachus has been a General for the other side post-UIGEA, and twice before has shown the ability to stop online poker legalization efforts in their tracks by persuading other members to line up behind him on our issue. But not this go-round, it would seem …

DOJ prosecutors keep moving up their ladder of bad guys in the unlawful internet gambling case against Isai Scheinberg et al. Brent Beckley, the 31-year-old father of two and a co-owner of Absolute Poker, told a Manhattan judge he did indeed lead a company that deceived US banks to circumvent US law, and acknowledged conspiring with others to commit bank and wire fraud. Beckley will likely serve 12-18 months in prison as part of a plea agreement, Reuters and the New York Times report.

This probably doesn’t bode well for other Black Friday defendants who face more severe charges and still haven’t stepped foot into US court. Though I haven’t seen actual documents on this one yet (readers please feel free to send a link or pdf), I’d be willing to bet (on this-here internet?) that the plea deal does not cut Beckley any slack because Absolute Poker patches said “dot net”.

Still trying to wrap my teeth around the latest chapter in the saga of the Rise and Fall of Full Tilt Poker, with the Bernard Tapie Groupe in France saying the DOJ has given them a thumbs up on the purchase of certain Full Tilt assets … with which they’ll supposedly be able to make-good with Full Tilt’s non-American players and resume non-American operations.

So if this is correct — and we can talk later why we presume more truth in this story than others before it — Preet Bharara and his top-ranked American prosecution office wouldn’t have to worry about the Euros … which would be good for the DOJ, I presume, because who needs to mess with the foreigners and the incredibly complex international litigation and trade wars they potentially bring … especially when the real prize Preet seeks is closer to $1 billion.

For a better understanding, be sure to check out Wendeen Eolis’s latest piece in Poker Player Newspaper — Decoding Full Tilt Poker – DOJ – Tapie Plans — which provides a much needed sobriety check and skillful reading between the lines. Even though she may not be on the frontlines like Subject:Poker, as a Manhattan legal consultant in her non-poker life, Eolis has been down to the battlefield a time or two … and seems to understand ways the Southern District of New York more intimately than most.

The Tapie deal does offer the first glimmers of light at the end of a long tunnel, but it seems American players might wanna hold off on calls for “ONE TIME!” lest they become self-fulfilling prophesies of disappointment and despair. Because for any justifiable exuberance over the likelihood that European and “rest of world” players might see PokerStars-style payouts before the end of 2011 … American players with online poker (bank?) accounts in limbo now know only that the DOJ will be looking at them separately in determining who’s a “victim” and who is Isildur1 who’s potentially a less deserving accomplice.

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?

This letter, from two senators coming from very different camps on the Internet gaming issue, is a very interesting document both for what it says and for what it doesn’t say.

What it says is that the Department of Justice has been lax in pursuing foreign private Internet gaming operators and that this has “led to a signficant and growing perception … that the Department of Justice thought that the case [against operating Internet poker and other Internet gambling websites] was uncertain enough that it chose not to pursue enforcement actions.” The senators state that it’s important for the DOJ to pursue “illegal Internet gambling” in the United States “aggressively and consistently.” Most notably in this paragraph, Senators Kyl and Reid assert that Internet poker websites have been offering online play to Americans for many years “with apparently no repercussions.”

I can’t know what the senators meant to convey by this language, but as drafted, some of these claims are puzzling. Yes, the DOJ has perhaps not been as consistent in its pursuit – or not – of various Internet gaming operators. This owes as much to the fragmented nature of law enforcement in the US as anything else. (The Attorney General could convene a unit or task force to pursue Internet gaming across the various federal districts, but this seems unlikely. I don’t think that’s what the senators are after here, anyway.) But: a lack of aggression? Apparently no repercussions? Setting aside all state actions against Internet gaming, federal prosecutors across the United States, and taken as a whole, have been pretty busy. They have hounded operators, and those working with them, that are taking what the DOJ perceives to be illegal bets and wagers. There are the current federal indictments in New York and Maryland. There have been previous indictments in New York, Utah, and Missouri. There have been forfeiture orders sought and granted in federal courts in New York, Washington, Maryland, Missouri, and California, to name a few. The DOJ has collectively taken highly aggressive steps to disrupt operators’ businesses in the United States, with huge repercussions for those operators (many of which have decided to leave the US), payment intermediaries (many of whom have been indicted and/or shut down), and players (who have huge difficulties getting their money, if they can get it at all). No-one can deny that federal law enforcement has had a huge impact on the US-facing industry since 2006. It seems strange to me to call this a lack of consequences or aggression when the opposite appears to be true.

The Kyl-Reid letter goes on to cite concerns that the senators have with “the spread of efforts to legalize intra-state Internet gambling and the spread of efforts to offer such intra-state gambling through state-sponsored lotteries.” They call the efforts by intra-state gambling advocates and boasts about the DOJ’s “effective consent” by unnamed officials from various state lotteries “troubling.” They finish by asking the Attorney General to work with them to strengthen penalties for those who break the law, to see what modifications would be helpful to the DOJ in its fight against Internet gambling, and to either: a) reiterate the DOJ’s longstanding position that federal law prohibits gambling over the Internet (including intra-state gambling); or, b) if the DOJ’s position has changed, to consult with Congress before finalizing such a new position.

The request to restate the DOJ’s position is an empty one. Cleary the DOJ’s position has not changed. The New York and Maryland indictments both rely on the Illegal Gambling Business Act and respective predicate state law violations. The indictments in Maryland don’t rely on UIGEA (the New York indictments do), but the affidavit in support of the seizure warrants in Maryland relies on both UIGEA and the Wire Act. Some believe that the New York indictments signal that the DOJ knows that the Wire Act doesn’t prohibit Internet poker or casino games from being offered. If true, that’s as far as the DOJ will go, i.e., they just won’t invoke it, without comment one way or the other. The DOJ has consistently taken the position that the Wire Act applies to all Internet gambling, irrespective of the In re Mastercard decision, and this letter won’t change that. This in spite of the fact that, as many have pointed out before, the UIGEA expressly allows intra-state gaming, a point that is unsurprisingly not addressed by the senators. (That carve-out likely only gets intra-state gaming out of the UIGEA, not the Wire Act, but the point should still be addressed.)

What do the senators not say in this letter? They don’t say that the DOJ’s position “that all forms of Internet gambling are illegal” is the law of the land or that they agree with it. They clearly state that it’s the DOJ’s view. They also say precisely nothing about efforts to regulate and tax poker at the federal level.

What is the upshot of this correspondence to the Attorney General? I think it’s this: the senators are letting the DOJ know that it is to continue with its current policy. Kyl and Reid don’t necessarily endorse that blanket view of the application of the Wire Act (for example), but it suits their purpose to endorse tough “enforcement” from the DOJ. So what is their purpose, then? I suspect it’s to remind the DOJ that the legislative branch is calling the shots on the development of Internet gaming policy and, further to that power, to warn the states away from adopting their own intra-state gaming programmes. Kyl and Reid may also be signalling that they will support an Internet poker bill in Congress, perhaps even this year. Reid and the AGA already appear to be on board with a poker-only bill, and Kyl seems to be lining up with them. I agree with Jon Ralston’s conclusion on this (here); I just disagree with him that Reid and Kyl want an explanation for the Maryland and Manhattan federal indictments. They want nothing of the kind. In fact, I think the senators would be fine with further indictments being pursued.

The timing of the enactment of such a bill, if it happens, is still highly uncertain. Some colleagues of mine in the US that I greatly respect seem to believe that it has a better-than-even chance of happening this year, which I initially found surprising, but they could be right. Any federal i-poker bill could use one of three vehicles currently before the House of Representatives – the Barton, McDermott, or Campbell bills – but it will likely look very different from any of those drafts by the time it passes. Reid and Kyl will be the ones co-ordinating and signing off on the drafting of such a measure, for as long as Kyl is around, at least.

If my read on this is right, it affirms that pronouncements by politicians in general – and by Harry Reid in particular – are rarely what they may at first seem.

The surge actually goes down on a Monday and Tuesday, but do days even matter any more when Americans can’t compete against the rest of the developed world on Sunday?

The Poker Players Alliance moved up plans for a Washington DC member fly-in scheduled for September to later this month, May 23-24 … where the official call to action is supposedly to hit Congress hard to legalize online poker and do it quickly … if not before the WSOP then at least some time in 2011, maybe, please? Click here for details on the fly-in, and here for what you can do from afar to support what should be poker’s biggest political assault on Washington DC ever.

Congress has seen the numbers — millions of voting-age American players, a $6 billion US industry, $10-40 billion in tax revenue (over 10 years), thousands of jobs — and most members know they won’t face much backlash at the polls for opposing internet prohibitions and allowing online poker the same protections as other forms of legal recreation. But what they may not realize is why it may not be so cool to wait a few years to fix things, nor how many non-criminals have been hurt by recent DOJ actions, which are rather unprecedented in that the case against online poker operators ultimately hinges on a thusfar unsettled matter of what legally defines gambling and/or games of skill.

I think for the PPA, beyond reinforcing sensible-government arguments, they plan to get their members on message — because as more and more sign on with positions the PPA first advocated after the UIGEA, the game of legitimizing online poker has evolved — while getting Congress to realize the need for more immediate action because:

• This is total bullshit!
• Never before has the government seized so much money belonging to so many American citizens not accused of any crimes.
• “They took our [frickin’] jobs, bro!”
• We’re not talking about just online pros who contribute nothing to society, we’re talking about people who made their livings in a fully legitimate industry that’s been decimated by a government slowroll.
• No new taxes!
• Do you support holding American money hostage while the administration dedicates resources to prosecute a victimless crime that hasn’t even had a court officially declare it illegal?
• What if the another country did the same thing to Americans? “Tough luck?”
• Come on, what is money laundering?
• How could it be illegal when these companies are all over FCC-regulated TV?
• Have you read Steven Levitt’s research? Pretty sure this makes the whole “crime” thing moot.

OK, my talking points might be a little off target. But for all the hubbub in Congress about internet gambling over the years, few have considered much of the above … so what’s the point of waiting with so many billions on the line?

*THIS PODCAST ABRUPTLY CUTS OFF AT 2:20 MARK. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THIS. 80 MINUTES ARE MISSING*

Strategic decisions notwithstanding, the PPA sees the federal indictment of close associates to some of their board members as an attack on poker, and are positioning themselves as a rebel poker alliance.

That’s my take, not theirs, on the video statement put out by their Executive Director John Pappas. And below is additional statement from the PPA that many players have been clamoring for.

PPA Defends Millions of Americans’ Right to Play Online Poker

WASHINGTON, DC. (April 16, 2011) – John Pappas, Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, issued the comment below on behalf of the millions of Americans affected by recent federal action taken against online poker companies.

“Millions of Americans across the country today are outraged over the U.S. Department of Justice’s clear attack on internet poker. While the government’s focus may be on the companies who operate these games, this is plain and simple a declaration of war on poker players and poker players’ freedoms. Not only are the over 10 million online poker players left without a place to play the game they enjoy, and from which many earn their livelihood, but they also have concerns over the availability of their funds. The PPA believes that no players’ money should be jeopardized by this prosecution.

“Let me be clear, online poker is not a crime and the honest poker players across the country will not stand to be restricted from one of America’s greatest pastimes.

On behalf of over one million members, the PPA is working hard to protect the interests of our players and is committed to U.S. citizens’ right to play online poker.”

###

About The Poker Players AllianceThe Poker Players Alliance (www.theppa.org) is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of over 1,000,000 online and offline poker players and enthusiasts from around the United States who have joined together to speak with one voice to promote the game and to protect poker players’ rights.

Though I hardly recall why specifically, something about this visitor seemed peculiar enough for me to wanna preserve the moment. ith the benefit of hindsight, I’m sure I was just kidding.

The attempt to regulate and license Internet gambling tries to move another step forward on Tuesday with the markup of HR 2267 in the House Financial Services Subcommittee. The markup is scheduled to start at 10am ET, with HR 2267 currently listed third on the list of seven bills.

The last time a bill regarding Internet gambling made it to a markup vote in the Committee (2008), it “lost” by a vote of 32-32. Doing a little bit of research by using the PPA Congressional Ratings website, the 2008 markup vote, and previous hearings, there are currently 34 Yeas, 21 Nays, and 16 Undecided on the bill.

Democratic Yeas – Frank, Kanjorski, Gutierrez, Velazquez, Watt, Ackerman, Sherman, Moore (KS), Capuono, Hinojosa, Clay, McCarthy, Lynch, Green, Cleaver, Bean, Moore (WI), Hodes, Ellison, Klein, Wilson, Perlmutter, Donnelly, Foster, Carson, Childers, Minnick, Adler, Dreihaus, Himes, Maffei

Republican Yeas – King, Paul, Lance, Campbell, Lee

Democratic Nays – Meeks, Baca, Miller, Scott

Republican Nays – Bachus, Castle, Royce, Lucas, Manzullo, Jones, Miller, Capito, Hensarling, Garrett, Barrett, Neugebauer, Price, McHenry, Putnam, Bachmann, Marchant

Those listed as undecided include those who voted against the bill in 2008, but have either signed on as a co-sponsor to HR 2267 or sent a letter in support of Internet poker.

Democratic Undecided – Waters, Maloney, Speier, Kilroy, Kosmas, Grayson, Peters

Republican Undecided – Biggert, Gerlach, Campbell, McCotter, McCarthy, Posey, Jenkins, Paulsen

To add your voice of support of online poker, check out www.standupforpoker.com and call, write or Tweet your local member of Congress.

14 arrested — “at least,” authorities say — presumably to be charged with traffic-ticket offenses. Though you never know with Harris County … they’d be up for Class A capital punishment there, I suspect, if that dang constitution didn’t get in the dern way.

Not clear on what the FBI’s involvement was here. The Feds generally haven’t gotten involved in these sorts of local raids throughout Texas. And in general this raid seems a bit peculiar as there supposedly hasn’t been any sort of crackdown for a few years, a Houston player tells us.

Some basic info about what was known as the I-45 South game:

It’s a very large game that’s been running for many years. They have $2,000 freerolls every night. Games running from 1/3 NL up to 5/10 on a regular basis.

Also a bit odd/lame … commentors in this news report seem intent on naming names and tattling on other games that may or may not be involved in the Houston poker underground but have yet to be raided. Cool raw video footage though, if you want a closer glimpse of handcuffed players.

Don’t know many details, other than that the ISPs were given a list of banned sites, supposedly including some biggies … but the only known name so far has been Victor Chandler.

Sounds taxy. Anyone have Isai Scheinberg’s number so I can give him a call and say, yo, Mr. Moneymaker, what’s up? Surely he’s gotta know, or maybe live down the street from someone who does …

The ISPs were given 48 hours to respond, and several reportedly have already asked for an extension to a week.

ALT HED: Israel is the New Kentucky?

Stossel outs himself as a recreational poker player in an episode of his namesake show on Fox Business that aired Thursday: Bans on Betting.

The show re-aired throughout the weekend, and will be on one more time tonight, Sunday, at 10 PM ET.

His efforts to bring the online gambling issue to the fore last week extended far beyond his own show. Here he is on The O’Reilly Factor:

While Stossel makes quite the issue of state lottery hypocrisies, O’Reilly seems to have little clue about the prominence of internet gambling, and thus presumably how big and evolved the industry has become. However, the speed in which someone can go broke seems to be important to people who don’t get the awesomeness of Rush Poker.

Also check out his latest syndicated column, which ran in newspapers across the country last week: Leave the Gamblers Alone!

In it he speaks to Chad Hills of Focus on the Family and Andy Bloch representing the online gambling side. I’d typically include a blockquote here, but almost every paragraf leads to another one worthy of cut-and-paste, so just click and read the whole thing. (Kinda cool that he ledes with a bit about police raiding a VFW hall — hey, I know where he learned about that!)

You’ll likely see more of this debate moving forward. Mix the timing of the main event with the UIGEA deadline, some criminal investigations, and legislation … and suddenly media who don’t rely on online-poker-site press releases have a storyline with some teeth. And if any players regularly seen on TV end up in handcuffs — “Perp Walk with the Pros” — then they’ve really got a few hedlines, for better or for worse. In some respects, the attention that would bring could be huge for ESPN ratings! actually help the online poker industry finally get what they’ve long wanted, albeit probably not the way they wanted.

Of course, with the mainstream media trying to get a handle on poker issues, they’ll undoubtedly get a few things wrong. But in bringing our issues to light, Stossel’s recent TV appearances provide a pretty good read on where things currently stand for online gambling … and where poker interests may have fallen short in getting the message out that we all practically know by heart.

A few examples become obvious on Megyn Kelly’s daytime show, America Live:

* Kelly claims 2/3 of American public want internet gambling to stay illegal. I’m pretty sure there are studies out there that say exactly the opposite, but for some reason she didn’t get word of those, and pretty much dismisses Stossel when he questions the veracity of her numbers.

* Stossel brings up odds, and why the lottery preys on poor people. This woulda been a good time for him to explain how poker is different from other forms of gambling … apparently not everyone understands that.

* Stossel is a string-bettor.

* Barney Frank wouldn’t appear on Stossel’s show. WTF? Supposedly because Stossel offended him with a joke, but I’m wondering if we won’t be seeing Barney for some reason or another until after June 1.

And then on Varney & Co. on Fox Business:

* He explains the crackdown on payment processors.

* Again, more lottery talk.

* They discuss setting up a poker operation online … at which point Stossel jumps on the personal freedom issues, but doesn’t clarify that the example given couldn’t apply, because poker isn’t played against a house.

* Tax revenue shouldn’t be the big reason for legalizing online gambling?

* Gambling a better vice than marijuana? Hmm, that’s a tough call …

Much credit to @RichMuny and @TheEngineer2008 for making these videos easy to find.

Online Poker War Heats Up
The Department of Justice bags a Canadian payment processor in its fight against online poker. Are the big online firms next?

Interesting … these biz-media guys may not really get poker, but they do listen to The Poker Beat presumably understand a thing or two about multi-national finance and how putting rich white guys behind bars can be good for traffic circulation.

Generally, the poker world has always celebrated when the big online companies always got some mainstream media attention. But who knew there could even be a story without a press release from Full Tilt or PokerStars?

I saw a horrifyingly disturbing video several weeks ago. In it, this dude is getting fucked by a horse … I know I know … not even gonna link to it. (Forget NSFW, this is NSFHumanity, let alone lunch; trust me, you don’t even wanna google “2 guys 1 horse” … unless you happen to enjoy YouTube reaction vids to interspecies snuff films that show a man dying after literally getting ripped a new one by a 900-pound equine lover.)

Crazy thing is, this Darwin Awards ceremony took place on a farm in Washington State, which apparently has some of the most lax laws anywhere against bestiality — in fact no laws, and thus no charges were pressed against the men who ran an underground bordello for zoophiles. (Seattle Times, fyi, safe to click)

A little stomach-wrenching legal perspective as the Supreme Court in Olympia prepares to consider the felonious nature of the very toughest state law anywhere against online poker. Later this month, the court will be taking up the 2007 case of Lee Rousso vs. State of Washington, where an online poker player challenges the constitutionality of Washington’s 2006 Internet Gambling Ban.

Click here to read Rousso’s original complaint. He filed seeking a declaratory judgment on the legality of playing poker online, as opposed to other forms of online gambling that are specifically illegal (sports betting) or legal (horse racing and lottery). His primary beef seems to be that the IGB violates the federal Commerce Clause. He also calls out the questionable political backscratching between representatives and the casino industry that he claims was really behind this law that infringes on his liberty.

Heavy stuff in the balance …

As the court prepares to hear the case — not sure who won then lost, but these matters almost always require a suck and re-suck to get this far — the PPA is gathering a force to turn whatever happens on May 27 into a media event. Rousso, who happens to be the PPA’s Washington State Director, is set to testify, and cheering him on from the steps of the Supreme Court will be Al D’Amato, John Pappas, and Phil Gordon (the only Team Full Tilter who lives in Washington State). They hope to rally enough local PPA members to turn online poker issues into a noble courthouse spectacle.

Click below to read the PPA press release:

To be fair, even though the storyline being pushed is that this wretched law puts poker on par with child molestation, that’s a touch misleading. Playing online poker is just a class C felony in Washington — with the same 5-years max in prison and $10k fine as small drug crimes, possession of stolen property, (non-grand) theft, witness tampering, and DUI. Far more prison time for child-molesting and other Class Bs.

But still a crime that strips people we know of their full citizenship nonetheless … and the kind of law that needs people like Rousso to stand against it … unless, of course, online poker players in Wash-State are just fine and dandy being criminals (on paper) while distinctly more atrocious acts exist outside the justice system’s reach.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2010

*** Media Advisory***

Poker is Not a Crime: PPA to Hold Rally Outside Washington Supreme Court

WHAT:
Lee Rousso, PPA’s Washington State Director, will deliver oral arguments to the Washington State Supreme Court on May 27th, and the PPA will hold a rally and press conference outside the courthouse immediately following the hearing.

In Washington, playing poker online is now a felony–like child pornography or heroin possession–making any of the over 800,000 Washington residents who can legally play poker in card rooms look like hardened criminals if they play online. Russo is challenging the constitutionality of the law, arguing that it violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which reserves to Congress the right to regulate interstate and international commerce.

Professional Poker Player and Washington native Phil Gordon and PPA Chairman Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato will join with Washington State members of the PPA at the rally to show their support for Rousso’s efforts to keep poker legal.

WHO:
Senator Alfonse D’Amato, PPA Chairman
Lee Rousso, Washington State Director of the PPA
Phil Gordon, Washington native and Top National Poker Professional
John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA
Local PPA Members

WHEN:
Thursday, May, 27, 2010
Approximately 10:00am PDT

WHERE:
Washington State Supreme Court
415 12th Ave SW
Olympia, WA 98504-0929

The arrest of Daniel Tzvetkoff had something to do with that.

Also BJ and Gary look at actual numbers in comparing/contrasting the WPT to the EPT. All while assessing whether or not PokerStars is taking over the world. Plus Liv Boeree kicking arse as Huff celebrates the glorious life of Gang Starr.

The Poker Beat
4/22/10

Dude … it’s gettin’ hot here in the US … specifically in Las Vegas.

Yesterday federal authorities arrested Daniel Tzvetkoff, a 27-year-old Australian national “on charges that he assisted illegal internet gambling companies by processing approximately $500 million in transactions between U.S. gamblers and internet gambling websites and disguising the transactions to the banks so that they would appear unrelated to gambling,” according to a statement from the DOJ’s Southern District of New York.

Illegal internet gambling companies? Yikes …

Tzvetkoff, as founder of Intabill and ACH System, faces up to 75 years in prison for bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to operate and finance an illegal gambling business, and … get this … for processing fund transfers in violation of the UIGEA.

I’m pretty sure that’s the first ever indictment to bring up UIGEA charges.

About a year ago the Australia Courier-Mail reported that Tzvetkoff owed Full Tilt, PokerStars, Ultimate Bet, and Absolute Poker more than $30 million as the overextended, ostentatious Gen-Y tycoon’s personal empire was crumbling. Then, Full Tilt (through Kolyma Corporation) sued Tzvetkoff in Australian Court, saying his company Intabill owed them $52 million.

Before his arrest, he was saying Full Tilt tricked him into a bad deal and his lawyer doublecrossed him. He blamed the economy for a multi-multi-millionaire having to declare bankruptcy earlier this year. More on the pre-arrest rise and fall of an online poker payment processor here.

I mean for chrissakes, he drove a Lamborghini with the license plate “BALLER”! And when a bank repossessed a competitive race car of his, they got everything except its $100k engine, which had been stripped out and hidden.

Click below for the official word from the DOJ:

United States Attorney Southern District of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 16, 2010

AUSTRALIAN MAN CHARGED IN MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT
WITH LAUNDERING HALF BILLION DOLLARS
IN INTERNET GAMBLING PROCEEDS

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, JOSEPH DEMAREST, JR., the
Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and JAMES T. HAYES, JR.,
the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of Homeland
Security’s United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(“ICE”), announced that Australian national DANIEL TZVETKOFF was
arrested in Las Vegas this morning on charges that he assisted
illegal internet gambling companies by processing approximately
$500 million in transactions between U.S. gamblers and internet
gambling websites and disguising the transactions to the banks so
that they would appear unrelated to gambling.

According to an Indictment unsealed this morning in
Manhattan federal court:

In early 2008, TZVETKOFF began processing gambling
transactions in the United States through the Automated Clearing
House system (“ACH system”) which allows money to be
electronically transferred from a gambler’s U.S. checking account
to an internet gambling company simply by the gambler going to
the internet gambling company’s website and entering his bank
account information. TZVETKOFF and his co-conspirators processed
more than $543 million in ACH transactions between February 2008
and March 2009, the overwhelming majority of which were on behalf
of internet gambling companies. TZVETKOFF then arranged for the
funds received from gamblers to be wired offshore for the benefit
of the gambling companies. TZVETKOFF also invested approximately
$27 million from these ACH transactions into an online “payday
loan” company that offered consumers high-interest, short term
loans that typically carried an annualized interest rate of more
than 500 percent.

TZVETKOFF and his co-conspirators induced U.S. banks to
provide ACH services to internet gambling companies by disguising
the transactions so that they would not appear to be gambling
related. To accomplish this, TZVETKOFF and his co-conspirators
created dozens of shell companies with names unrelated to
gambling — complete with phony web sites that made the companies
seem legitimate — and represented to banks that the ACH
transactions were on behalf of these companies. On May 3, 2008,
one of TZVETKOFF’s co-conspirators in an email told TZVETKOFF
that he had hired programmers to develop “unique” websites for
the shell companies so that if someone was “checking the
companies out there is absolutely no way to tie the companies
together.” TZVETKOFF responded: “This is all perfect!”

In March 2009, TZVETKOFF stopped processing internet
gambling transactions after leading internet gambling websites
accused him of stealing approximately $100 million from them.

The Indictment charges TZVETKOFF with four counts,
including bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to operate
and finance an illegal gambling business and to process
electronic funds transfers in violation of the Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. If convicted of all counts,
TZVETKOFF faces a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison.
TZVETKOFF, 27, was arrested this morning in Las Vegas
and is expected to be presented in Las Vegas federal court later
today. This case has been assigned to United States District
Judge LEWIS A. KAPLAN.

Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the FBI
and ICE for their assistance in the investigation. Mr. BHARARA
said that the investigation is continuing.

Assistant United States Attorneys ARLO DEVLIN-BROWN,
JONATHAN NEW, and MICHAEL LOCKARD are in charge of the
prosecution. This case is being handled by the Office’s
Organized Crime Unit.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely
accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty.

10-130
###
-2

[via justice.gov]

Here’s the actual complaint, filed two weeks ago in Franklin Circuit Court. You’ll see they spell out a host of alleged infractions by Full Tilt according to Kentucky state law against the citizens of Kentucky. And thus, they’re seeking to have all rake and player losses refunded.

They’re also calling out the company and its principals in harsh terms, saying Full Tilt is based on a series of shell companies to conceal their identities and avoid legal responsibilities, and labels Full Tilt defendants as “shams” and “alteregos” of each other and different individuals. We’re guessing they don’t have much case law on the role of avatars and multiaccounting Terms of Service agreements in poker. No word on whether or not Joan Rivers will be called to testify.

They’ve named other sites as well as having committed the same alleged crimes — including Doyles Room, Ultimate Bet, PokerStars, TruePoker, and more than 100 others. This way, should they win their case against Full Tilt, they’d be able to apply the same ruling to all these other online poker entities upon identifying who they are.

This is all happening as the Kentucky Court of Appeals considers arguments claiming that Imega has no standing to represent online poker defendants any more than NAMBLA would have standing to represent Catholic priests.

But lest you think the state of Kentucky is simply anti-poker, next month is the Derby Poker Championship — “Go All-In for Kids and the Climate” — an event hosted by Phil Hellmuth, Robert Williamson, III, and Denny Crum. Perhaps even more fascinating are the sponsors: Jim Beam (wouldn’t the WSOP kill for that relationship?), TwinSpires.com (Kentucky’s ready-to-go online gambling site), and UB.net.

You be the judge … good poker face on Spencer Bachus (R-AL) as he and his wife congratulate Rafe and Phil for their good great work fighting cancer?

Perhaps one of poker’s staunchest political opponents is softening … Either that or it’s hard to oppose money for cancer, especially at an event sponsored by Pfizer.

Prevent Cancer’s Spring Gala, where they present this award, is one of the bigger annual DC fêtes. Some details on the event itself:

Our 2010 Spring Gala will be held March 12 at the National Building Museum, our theme is the Indelible Impressions of India.

The Prevent Cancer Foundation Annual Spring Gala is widely recognized as one of Washington’s premier events, attracting more than 800 guests from the business, diplomatic, government, medical, sports, media and social communities.

The 2010 gala will be held under the honorary patronage of Her Excellency the Ambassador of India, Meera Shankar.

BIZBASH Washington has recently recognized the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Annual Spring Gala as one of the Top 100 “must attend” charity events in Washington, DC!

The folks behind PreventCancer.org specifically honored Rafe and Phil for their work with Bad Beat on Cancer, a charity well-known in poker circles, and one the foundation credits for helping the organization vastly expand its reach over the last several years while raising more than $3 million for cancer research.

Prevent Cancer takes no shame in loving on poker. The 6th Annual Bad Beat on Cancer charity tournament is May 4. It’s one of the organization’s biggest fundraisers, and thus one of the biggest poker-minded DC shindigs of the year.

Phil Gordon is the official host.

No word on whether or not Bachus intends to play in that event, nor how many rebuys he’d have on hand.

ALT HED: Play with the Politicos

Also, check out Rafe’s blog. Not exactly the kinda thing you’d expect Bachus to embrace.

Here’s the story from the Naples News:

Feds investigate Naples man in money laundering probe tied to online gambling

It may or may not be coincidental that the the Feds have arrested Michael Olaf Schuett’s for money transfers directly related (allegedly) to online poker just as the state is taking a closer-than-ever look at the game with eyes on its revenue potential. It’s also not clear if Schuett’s been charged with anything yet, or is just being held because he is a foreign national flight risk with felony charges pending.

Here are some plausibly relevant names, and highlights that jump out at yours truly:

• Michael Olaf Schuett, or Schütt, is the guy they’re after. He’s a 29-year-old German whose visa expire in April. A federal judge has ordered him held in Lee County jail without bond.
• He lives in a pretty sick oceanfront condo.
• He’s been married only a month to a 28-year-old woman he’s known for only nine months. Her name is Jennifer Sherman.
• Feds allege that since opening accounts in 2007, Schuett has transferred about $70 million to 23,000 people, mostly Americans and supposedly online poker winnings.
• The giveaway was dozens of checks being received daily via Fed Ex.
• People cashing checks sent to them from Schuett claim they are online poker winnings.
• Secret Service is the law enforcement agency involved.
• Agents are seeking to execute search warrants and seize allegedly ill-gotten property, such as fancy cars and watches.
• The complaint lays out a web of money transfers between businesses and banks and players.
• Lots of American and Canadian banks in play. Key company serving as go-between: Bluetool Ltd. out of Germany.
• Supposedly no direct allegations in the complaint against any online poker sites, but the Naples News reporter was able to connect them to transactions from Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute.
• Three specific players — Corey Drury, Darren Elias, and Derek Dubois — get named as receiving money through Schuett’s legally questionable operation. All three have public profiles on BluffMagazine, PocketFives, CardPlayer, and PokerPages.
• As banks became hip to the set-up, Schuett tried to create a new accounts to hold the money, claiming to be a real estate investor — a story the banks didn’t buy.