John writes in with more about the Neteller arrests, and word of interruption to at least some poker lives:
Hey Dan,
I\’m surprised you haven\’t commented on this yet. Apparently effective Jan. 16th, 2007, the instaCASH option at Neteller is no longer available to US customers. This coincides with the arrests of two former executives of Neteller, who were passing through a US airport, that no longer work for the company. Apparently this was phase two of a plan they implemented last year after the passage of the UIGEA and not related to the arrests.
Interesting stuff. I wonder how this news will further affect online poker. There seems to already be some Chicken Little \”sky is falling\” posts around where people are feverishly trying to get all their money back on home soil in the wake of this news.
-John
Just logged in to Neteller to see if I noticed any difference … was greeted by a screen informing me I could raise my deposit limits. Specifically, \”You are eligible for a higher weekly instaCASH limit!\” the page says. \”Would you like to upgrade … ?\”
Interestingly enough, however, I do have one instaCASH transaction still pending that probably shoulda cleared by now. Note to Adam: It may be another day or two before you get your money.
I can tell you that almost exactly one month ago, PartyPoker informed its contractors that they would no longer be able to pay us via Neteller. And they were pretty emphatic about not using it any more, even though for many of the PokerBlog crew (we finished working Dec. 14) these were to be the last payments they\’d receive. Gotta wonder if this was just coincidence, or if PartyGaming might have been given a heads-up that something with Neteller was afoot.
