None of this is super-confirmed — government officials don\’t work \”on the record\” over the weekend — but here\’s what we are hearing from presumably reliable sources regarding payment troubles at PokerStars and elsewhere:
(Again, this is all subject to factual revision — the news-gathering process can be messy business — but it\’s definitely not a joke like our \”news\” of the Russ Hamilton/Full Tilt banner endorsement. Question marks added on stuff we\’re less clear about; grain of salt knowing some sources may have a \”message\” they want out there.)
- The DOJ is spearheading the effort to shake
downup PokerStars payment processors, with authority from New York\’s Southern District federal court. - $14 million has been frozen (in a Sacramento bank?) in either one or two accounts — the account(s) of a third-party payment processor — affecting 5,500 PokerStars players.
- These people have supposedly been notified not to cash any checks they\’ve been issued, and their online accounts have been credited.
- No need for a panic or a run on online banks — $14 million may or may not be being covered by a friendly non-PokerStars-ish entity, which should be made available in a matter of days.
- Online poker indy big-wigs planning aggressive counterattack in court tomorrow.
New York DA (?)Somebody will be seeking injunctions on the federal action(?), suggestingrogueoverzealous Dept. of Justice prosecutors are overstepping their bounds, similar to the way they did going after Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
