Poker Black Friday & How it Changed the Global Online Gambling
Most people relate Black Fridays with generous discounts and great offers, but this is not the case with poker fans. Those players with over a decade of experience know the real story of the Black Friday poker scandal and how it changed the online poker industry. In 2011, on the 15th of April (Friday), the US federals filed a case against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. This scandalous event was named Poker Black Friday.
In this article, we won’t speak about the best poker gifts that you can buy on Black Friday but for the US government and its super harsh approach towards gambling in all its forms. With the massive digitalization right after the millennium and the popularization of online gambling platforms, new restrictions and legislation were needed to keep all citizens safe from online scams.
First in line were the poker sites because they were the first to acquire vast numbers of players. In the following article, you will find how the government approached the situation and why people call it Black poker Friday.
What Led to the Online Poker Black Friday Scandal
Internet became widely available at the end of the 90s, while the first of its kind poker platform was released in 2001 – PokerStars. This was a revolutionary step not only for poker but online gambling as a whole. From 2003 to 2006, there was a massive spike in the number of online poker players, and this was also the time when the first digital millionaires became true.
The real changes in the legislation came in 2006 when congress officially addressed online gambling and made the unlawful platforms punishable by up to five years in prison. All that was added to the Wire Act of 1961, which prohibits particular types of betting. At the time, none of the poker websites considered themselves in danger because poker was not particularly addressed in the legislation.
The lack of action is indeed what caused the Black Friday poker scandal in 2011. Poker Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker were the three most concerned parties. They all seized operations in the USA and were not able to pay out their US users. Some players waited over ten years to retrieve what they lost in 2011.
Investigation in the Poker Online Black Friday Casefile
As you can probably guess, the list of people involved in the operations of any of the beforementioned platforms is quite long. The heads of the companies and some banks working with them were the primary targets the FBI aimed at. Here are the people who suffered most from Black poker Friday:
- Scott Tom and Brent Beckley from Absolute Poker
- Raymond Bitar and Nelson Burtwick from Full Tilt Poker
- Isai Scheinberg and Paul Tate from PokerStars
- John Campos, co-owner of SunFirst Bank
- Ryan Lang, payment processor
- Bradley Franzer as a payment processor
- Chad Elie as a payment processor
- Ira Rubin as a payment processor
Of course, more people were involved, but these were the names under the spotlight because of their influence over the processes and decision-making in each company after 2006. Despite that, at the time, none of the companies mentioned above felt like doing something illegal, while the federal government had a different opinion. In 2011, when the websites were seized, some made deals with the federal government and continued their operations, while others simply disappeared with their customers’ funds.
The Outcome and Consequences of Poker Black Friday
On the 15th of April, 76 bank accounts in 16 countries were frozen due to the FBI investigation. The domains seized on Black poker Friday were Ultimatebet.com, UB.com, Pokerstars.com, Fulltiltpoker.com, and Absolutepoker.com. Yes, but not all remained closed. On the 20th of April, PokerStars and Full Tilt were back in the game, but they cut off the real-money play from the US market. These two companies eventually became one. That is how they were able to pay out all of their US players.
Long story short, PokerStars was the only company with the needed assests to save itself and pay all of its players from the US. Indeed, they saw an opportunity to expand their business and even acquired Full Tilt Poker, so it was decided to pay its debts too. This is what moved them out of the heat zone. Don’t get us wrong, this didn’t happen for a few days. It took almost two years for PokerStars to be able to cover everything and repay everybody.
Cereus Poker Network, the company that held Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, chose to skip payments while the management disappeared in thin air. Suddenly, in 2017, in less than six months, all users of both platforms were compensated. We can say that the online poker Black Friday echoes over a decade later because this is considered the biggest poker scandal in history.
As you can probably guess, the allegations against PokerStars and Full Tilt were dropped in 2012, right after all payments were made. They did everything willingly to keep some part of their US market share and maintain their reputation as some of the top gambling platforms in the world.
It was tough for the federals to put a decent trial in place because all of the companies in question were situated in different countries. PokerStars is based in the UK, Full Tilt in Ireland, while Absolute Poker is in Costa Rica. As you remember from the list above, many payment processors and banks were also subject to investigation as an accessory in money laundering.
Pro Players and Public Reactions
Many people inside and outside the gambling industry were shocked by the brutal interference of the federal government and the harsh measures applied without any warning or sign. We can definitely say that the US officials caused the bankruptcy and the problematic situation in which the online poker platforms were placed into.
Pro players, famous poker hall of famers, and even the ex-US Senator Alfonse D’Amato expressed their opinion that this is an attack on the poker industry and all players in the USA. They all emphasized that the government is trying to make poker illegal without the public’s consent and, more particularly, all poker fans in the country.
The players were furious because none of them could withdraw their funds from the platforms, while some had massive balances. After all, many pros were also part of the online poker tournaments. We missed mentioning that some famous pro players who promoted the platforms from the Black Poker Friday scandal were also interrogated for being directly engaged in the marketing.
Convictions
Many of you will ask, “but what happened with the case and who got convicted in the end”. Very few people got sentenced at the end of the court case because many accused paid their debts and took responsibility for their actions. The co-founder of Absolute Poker, Brant Buckley, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Ira Ruben was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The last one is John Campos, who was sentenced to three months in jail for processing gambling payments.
| 📛 Name | ⚖️ Sentence |
|---|---|
| Brant Buckley | 14 months |
| Ira Ruben | 36 months |
| John Campos | 3 months |
| Chad Elie | 5 months |
Changes & Impact of Poker Black Friday
The Black Friday poker scandal caused the loss of a significant amount of marketing investments that the platforms were paying for popularization in the States. Roughly that sum was around $200 million. 95% of the online poker market in the US was held strictly by the companies targeted on Black poker Friday. This simply explained means that the FBI literally killed the poker advertisement in the US.
We can’t hide that the whole Black Friday poker operation disrupted the poker world and caused different anomalies in the following years before several states reconsidered their position toward online poker websites. An excellent example of an irregularity is the enormous presence of foreign players at the WSOP event in 2011.
It is essential to mention that five states changed their policies towards poker, betting platforms and the USA online casinos over the last decade and started benefiting from the industry. These are Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Each year, the demand for sports betting and online gambling grows, so we assume that sooner or later, there will be one more major decision on how to proceed with online poker and gambling in general.
FAQ
This article ends, but to refresh your memory and help you find the most relevant subjects, we have gathered the most frequently asked questions about poker online Black Friday. Don’t miss exploring the complete version of each answer by clicking on the jump link situated in it.
