Online poker regulatory bodies issue statements

On Tuesday both the Kahnawake Gaming Commission which licenses Absolute Poker and UB Poker as well as the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, the regulatory body for PokerStars, both issued statements regarding last Friday’s actions by the US Department of Justice and the FBI.

With the DOJ and FBI seizing the domain names of Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute/UB Poker, as well as the indictment of some of the founders and executives, the sites were forced to move to .eu domains and one by one have left the US market entirely. The seizure, and subsequent fallout, caused a mass panic on Friday that lasted through the weekend as players from around the globe tried to withdraw their online bankrolls from the indicted poker rooms.

Now that the situation has somewhat calmed, and European and Asian poker players get back to business as usual -for the most part-it’s the US players that are fearing the worst; that they have not only lost the capability to play online poker, but also the money they had at the poker sites.

In a press release issued on their website, the KGC stated:

“The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (”KGC”) is reviewing the indictments issued on April 15, 2011 by the Southern District of New York against three online poker companies, one of which (Absolute Poker) holds its primary gaming licence in Kahnawake.

The KGC’s principal concern is that players are not adversely affected by the actions taken by US authorities. The KGC is presently engaged in discussions with its licensee concerning the status of player accounts.

Upon completion of its review, the KGC will determine what steps may be required and will issue a further statement at that time.”

The KGC statement was soon followed by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission’s own statement in regards to PokerStars:

“Following developments on Friday 15th April, the Commission is aware of documentation issued by authorities in the USA which makes allegations against PokerStars and some of its personnel. While we are discussing the matter on an ongoing basis with PokerStars and watching developments, we can confirm that PokerStars‘ licensing status in the Isle of Man remains unchanged.

We are aware that PokerStars have suspended the availability of cash-play games in the USA and we are currently endeavouring to ensure that any player who wishes to withdraw money from their account can do so.”

While neither body is putting anything new on the table, or making any definite statements or insuring the safety of players’ online poker accounts; the statements, when added to those of the sites, should help calm some players who are fearful of losing their online bankrolls from this whole ugly incident.