B2B to ban American poker players

[GoldenEagle]

hxxp://www.b2bpoker.com/page.html?2_2

B2B was best known for its sweet bonuses that were extremely profitable. Some are speculating that this is the beginning of the end. All I know is that I am sure going to miss those bonuses.

[GoSeahawks]

Was it the B2B CEO that was arrested in the US recently? Either way, I don't think they'll be the last site to exlude American players.

[GoldenEagle]

The Bodog CEO was arrested. However, it had nothing to do with poker. It was more do to the fact that he admitted his company took sports bets from Americans in the World Cup.

[SirFozzie]

The Bodog CEO wasn't arrested (he never comes to america for just that reason)..

it was the BetonSports CEO

[Marc Vaughan]

Could someone take the time to explain to me the logic behind a companie CEO being arrested for taking bets from Americans? ...

[SirFozzie]

Easy: it's illegal to accept bets from Americans, because the US government can't take taxes out of it. Between that and the Flimsy excuse "Morals" about people who gamble too much.. they prosecute it as wire fraud

[SirFozzie]

Here's a bit more about it:

BetOnSports has been thrust into the vortex of speculation about the future of online gaming in the U.S. after its chief executive was arrested in the VIP lounge of a Dallas airport on July 16 while waiting for a flight to Costa Rica. The firm suspended trading of its shares two days later.

Carruthers and ten others, including the founder of BetOnSports Gary Kaplan, were named in a 22-count indictment unsealed this week by federal prosecutors in St. Louis. The government says BetOnSports improperly took bets from U.S. residents by phone and the Internet, and failed to pay excise taxes.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Easy: it's illegal to accept bets from Americans, because the US government can't take taxes out of it. Between that and the Flimsy excuse "Morals" about people who gamble too much.. they prosecute it as wire fraud

Hmmm, I've a friend who works on a poker site based in Ireland, he indicated that a load of such sites were leaving America due to some new law/regulation there ... is this related in some way?

[SirFozzie]

exactly.

It's illegal here in america to gamble over the phone (except with "strictly regulated and taxed" Off Track betting places). It's a violation of the wire fraud act. The internet gets pulled in under the same statute.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Could someone take the time to explain to me the logic behind a companie CEO being arrested for taking bets from Americans? ...

Basically... America can't *really* make up its mind about gambling. Expressing our (occasional) proud puritanical streak, we frequently decry gambling as unsavory activity, something that preys upon the weak, and corrupts a society, and we make it illegal. It's technically illegal to participate in even trivial little contests among friends here, by a firm reading of many laws.

At the same time though, we have legalized and regulated gambling of so many varieties, it has become absurd. We have state-run lotteries of all varieties, we have state-sanctioned horse racing and other similar pari-mutuel events, and we have an increasing number of states adopting laws that allow only *certain types* of gambling -- e.g. only native tribes may operate casinos under a treaty, only riverboat gambling is allowable, only certain games of "skill" rather than "chance" are allowed, and so forth. The result is a country that claims to outlaw gambling, but the mesh curtain is perilously simple to see through there.

Now, the various monied interests that have a stake in the current gambling enterprises -- operators of the various casinos (both tribal and commercial), operators of horse racing venues, and so forth -- all have a strong monetary interest in preventing Americans from easy access to gambling "services" from the comfort of their own homes. And so, fueled by sizable contributions and support from said monied interests, many policymakers here have caught religion on this issue, and suddenly feel that we must draw the line, and "crack down" on this sort of corrupting and immoral activity. Thus the recent hubbub among US laws (and threatened laws) to deal aggressively with companies that engage in gambling over the internet, as well as financial institutions that deal with same.

Like most of American politics, it's an embarassing little dog and pony show playing to the lowest common denominator, rife with hypocrisy and lies on practically everyone's part. And the trail of money is, as usual, the easiest way to figure out who the players really are.

[Vegas Vic]

Eurobet is also banning American players now.

[GoldenEagle]

Originally Posted by Vegas Vic

Eurobet is also banning American players now.

Someone suggested that both B2B and EuroPoker knowingly took bets from Americans in their sports book. They are closing as a precaution and I do not think you will see their CEO's popping in the US anytime soon.

[watravaler]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Basically... America can't *really* make up its mind about gambling. Expressing our (occasional) proud puritanical streak, we frequently decry gambling as unsavory activity, something that preys upon the weak, and corrupts a society, and we make it illegal. It's technically illegal to participate in even trivial little contests among friends here, by a firm reading of many laws.

At the same time though, we have legalized and regulated gambling of so many varieties, it has become absurd. We have state-run lotteries of all varieties, we have state-sanctioned horse racing and other similar pari-mutuel events, and we have an increasing number of states adopting laws that allow only *certain types* of gambling -- e.g. only native tribes may operate casinos under a treaty, only riverboat gambling is allowable, only certain games of "skill" rather than "chance" are allowed, and so forth. The result is a country that claims to outlaw gambling, but the mesh curtain is perilously simple to see through there.

Now, the various monied interests that have a stake in the current gambling enterprises -- operators of the various casinos (both tribal and commercial), operators of horse racing venues, and so forth -- all have a strong monetary interest in preventing Americans from easy access to gambling "services" from the comfort of their own homes. And so, fueled by sizable contributions and support from said monied interests, many policymakers here have caught religion on this issue, and suddenly feel that we must draw the line, and "crack down" on this sort of corrupting and immoral activity. Thus the recent hubbub among US laws (and threatened laws) to deal aggressively with companies that engage in gambling over the internet, as well as financial institutions that deal with same.

Like most of American politics, it's an embarassing little dog and pony show playing to the lowest common denominator, rife with hypocrisy and lies on practically everyone's part. And the trail of money is, as usual, the easiest way to figure out who the players really are.

Spot on. Hey you, if I want to gamble, I will, regardless of your laws.