Cashflow problems

Online money transfer company Neteller withdrew from the American market after two of its founding executives were arrested by US government officials recently.

Neteller, which was by far the most popular way for American poker players to transfer money from their banks into online poker rooms, had continued to serve US customers despite President Bush signing the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act in October last year.

Former directors John Lefebvre and Steve Lawrence were travelling independently in the US when they were arrested and charged with allegedly conspiring to launder billions of dollars through illegal betting sites. If found guilty both could face long prison sentences.

The news has already had an effect on the web’s biggest poker sites where in the big weekend tourneys numbers dropped sharply. PokerStars’ $1m Guaranteed tournament and UltimateBet.com’s $200,000 Guaranteed had peaked in the week before Neteller’s move. But the following weekend saw a drop-off of some 890 players in the PokerStars’ Million down to 6,742 runners, and UltimateBet’s big tourney, which had broken the 1,000 player mark the week before, kicked off with just 862 entrants. Bodog and Full Tilt followed a similar trend.

Passport to riches?

Since then the sites have seen upturns so maybe it was just a knee-jerk reaction to the news and players have found alternative methods of getting their money in and out of the poker sites.

One such service still serving the US public is ePassporte, but with American pressure on banks and internet providers to halt online gaming there’s no telling how long it will continue to be able to do so.

Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Player’s Alliance, said: ‘The impact has been jarring… recent actions to close down payment processors and to subpoena banks are clear indications that the federal government is pushing the online gambling prohibition.’