Following the news of the indictment against the owners of Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, both Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker have issued press releases. Isai Scheinberg and Paul Tate from Poker Stars, Raymond Bitar and Nelson Burtnick from Full Tilt Poker were charged with bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling offenses. As a result, PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com were seized by the FBI. The press releases by the respective Poker companies are below:
Poker Stars have commented the following:
“As you may have heard, we have had to suspend real money poker services to people based in the US due to legal developments there. These developments are confined to US and not have any impact on your ability to continue our services.”
They stated that “player balances are safe” and that there is “no cause for concern”. The Poker Stars website can now be found at PokerStars.eu and their support email address is now [email protected].
Full Tilt Poker also issued a statement which reads as follows:
“Full Tilt Poker is saddened by today’s charges against its CEO Raymond Bitar and offers its full support to Mr. Bitar and Nelson Burtnick.
Online poker is a game of skill enjoyed by tens of millions of people in the United States and across the world. And, Full Tilt Poker remains as committed as ever to preserving the rights of those players to play the game they love online.
Mr. Bitar and Full Tilt Poker believe online poker is legal – a position also taken by some of the best legal minds in the United States. Full Tilt Poker is, and has always been committed to preserving the integrity of the game and abiding by the law.
“I am surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to bring these charges. I look forward to Mr. Burtnick’s and my exoneration,” said Mr. Bitar.
Despite Full Tilt Poker offering more information in their press release than Poker Stars, both companies have suspended real money play from the US on their poker rooms but will remain open as usual for other countries and markets. To read more about the indicted by the US Department of Justice, please read our initial new post by clicking here.