Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
with all these recent changes for US players at fulltilt/ Pokerstars/ Absolute there been some questions in my head, maybe ppl here wud like to give their opinions
1. supposedly Cake/ Merge / Bodog dnt get charged and are able to continue taking US players, who do you think will emerge as the new poker giant with so much of american market up for grabs ?
2. What will happen to the pros based in US ? they gonna endup in legal trouble? do you think they will shift countries because of this as its a case of millions for many of them ?
3. supposedly representatives of fulltilt, pokerstars and absolute are found guilty, can they be jailed? what kind of penalty and to which amount can be imposed on them ?
Posted by SuperNoob: with all these recent changes for US players at fulltilt/ Pokerstars/ Absolute there been some questions in my head, maybe ppl here wud like to give their opinions
1. supposedly Cake/ Merge / Bodog dnt get charged and are able to continue taking US players, who do you think will emerge as the new poker giant with so much of american market up for grabs ?
2. What will happen to the pros based in US ? they gonna endup in legal trouble? do you think they will shift countries because of this as its a case of millions for many of them ?
Well, I can only give my opinions for your first two questions as I have no idea for the #3. I think that Cake Poker will be the new giant as the traffic of US players there is quite huge but it's gonna be tight with Merge...
Then for the pros bases in US, don't if they'll endup in legal trouble as you said but for sure if I am one of them, I would have shift countries as it's a matter of millions and it's also your full time job... if you have to move country to keep working, you MUST do it...
Joined: Oct '09
Location: Lithuania
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 2805
soon i hope we will have all official answers for your questions but they broke some rules and they must be punished for that now party poker and bwin will have really good chanses to increase they players number good luck and have fun
Joined: Feb '11
Location: Canada
Age: 57 (M)
Posts: 753
Posted by SuperNoob: with all these recent changes for US players at fulltilt/ Pokerstars/ Absolute there been some questions in my head, maybe ppl here wud like to give their opinions
1. supposedly Cake/ Merge / Bodog dnt get charged and are able to continue taking US players, who do you think will emerge as the new poker giant with so much of american market up for grabs ?
2. What will happen to the pros based in US ? they gonna endup in legal trouble? do you think they will shift countries because of this as its a case of millions for many of them ?
3. supposedly representatives of fulltilt, pokerstars and absolute are found guilty, can they be jailed? what kind of penalty and to which amount can be imposed on them ?
The problem with question 1 is this, you think that the american government won't go after Cake, Merge or any other site that allows US based players. I can guarantee that they will. The Pro's really don't have anything to worry about. The poker sites that has any of their money, will give it back when this is over. If they do not do this, then there will be thousands of lawsuits. I don't think the gov is looking for jail or prison. I really feel it's about the money. The american gov is so far in debt, over $1 trillion. They need cash now, they almost bankrupt....
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
Very good questions supernoob, of course no one knows the answer for sure to those answers but we can speculate a bit. 1.You are right, those are the only sites for the moment that accept US players for know, as you said it could be a wise move to join forces and create a monster poker platform for all us players to join. Not sure though if they can come a common goal. I also think it's also a complex technical issue. We'll see what happens. 2.I already speculated this on another thread that top us players will move to Europe, at least for the moment, already Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius from full tilt poker play at the table since they are located in Monaco. It would be cool if other will come in Europe. 3.I thin the US only wants to get their unpaid taxes from them and the ceos of both sites will be free. I'm sure the sites will need to pay some huge fees but they'll eventually be back online i US.
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
just hope that they dnt charge cake and merge so that US ppl have somewhere to play at and there wud be more traffic at these sites. but only time will tell if they are charged or not.
lets hope US govt is only after money so that nothing more serious happens to ftilt and pokerstars
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
It's funny that you ask who will be the next site to head up the poker industry for the U.S. To be honest I have no idea, but one thing that's interesting is, I've been getting popups on my PC from Bodog and never have seen them before today. So I believe their fishing for some U.S. business.
As for question 2,another no answer for me, just this comment. I hope they were all paying their taxes because I believe that the government is going to want this type of information from FT, PS and Absolute. I believe the gov will be investigating the U.S. citizens that played on these sites and their winnings. Thhese people should have and will be accountable for paying taxes on the $$ they won. That's what I believe is one of the govs primary requests when gathering data from these sites.
Question 3 kinda falls in with my comment on question 2. Not sure if the site reps can be jailed unless they don't cooperate with the U.S. govs. requests and one of those request is going to pertain to U.S. players and their winnings. The people who played on these sites and won big $$, if they haven't been paying taxes on those winnings they're next in line to be contacted you can bet on this one.
Good Luck to All! Hope we all can play at thesame tables again soon!
Think its about time full tilt poker shared there traffic and players, i know there a good site to play at but there are other options for poker players.
I don't think the pros will have to move country to carry on playing but i think the taxman will be keen to take there earnings off them, feel sorry for phil ivey when he wins like $1 million a month or whatever it is.
If pros cant carry on playing then might aswell ban poker in the us, this is the entertainment, just look at high stakes poker and poker after dark and many more without these pros who would we look upto.
P.s i wasnt answering the questions directly i was just having my say
Joined: Feb '08
Location: Netherlands
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 818
Those are some good questions! My opinion: 1) I'm not sure who will be the next pokergiant, cause i think the US-government will go after all sites who exept US-players, so Cake and Merge are next! 2) I guess as its their income, a majority of US-players will move abroad. In the Netherlands there are strict rules for online poker(and gambling) and many dutch Pro's allready live abroad because of this( a lot in the UK and Monte Carlo) 3) I don't think jailtime is what the government is after, its all about the money
