Poker Stars Shut Down

Poker Stars Shut Down – Top Poker Sites Seized

Poker Stars shut down, and bit the dust recently, with the U.S. controlled seizure of Pokerstars.com TLD.

Poker Stars, while being the biggest catch, wasn’t the only target of the domain blitz.  Both Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were hit as well.  All three had this main .COM taken due to 11 people being linked to fraud, laundering, and various other gambling illegalities.

This Poker Stars seizure took place this past Friday, and issued by the U.S. Attorney’s main office in NY.  The report (pdf) goes into the finer details.  The Poker Stars shut down was planned.

All these poker behemoths were under investigation by the FBI for some time now, with the climax concluding with the sensational shut out this Friday.  The news soon went viral.

“As charged, these defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,” - Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

The charges didn’t stop there… The attorney went on to state that these criminals were trying to “circumvent the gambling laws,” and “also engaged in massive money laundering and bank fraud.”

Time will only tell how much of an impact these hit-and-run seizures have had on the companies.  No doubt substantial losses will occur.  But the publicity of the heist will probably lessen the impact.

The Poker Stars shutdown just goes to show how serious the U.S. Government is about enforcing the laws through domain seizures.  As if the file-sharing fiasco wasn’t enough proof, the government is trying to regulate the internet.

Fans of the giants don’t need to worry themselves.  Poker Stars had a wing-man (pokerstars.net) on the benches, as if they expected a Poker Stars shut down.  The Full Tilt shut down, Absolute Poker shut down, had similar backups.  As do all the other top online poker sites.  Online poker survives… for now.