Poker Suit Unlikely to Get Thrown Out

A federal judge isn’t about to throw out a case against illegal gambling on the Internet, according to a report in Business Week. The judge said he’s doesn’t find it likely that the indictment, which involves three separate online poker companies, will be dismissed altogether. The attorneys for the defense had made such a motion but it remains to be seen what the judge will determine.

The Claim

The defendants were arguing that a law in the United States that makes it illegal to accept payment for online gambling doesn’t apply to poker. The judge isn’t likely to toss out the indictment based on these statements, so the case could move forward. If it does, the trail will begin on March 12.

The case involves a total of 11 defendants. The charges are serious, involving money laundering and illegal gambling.

The US has a contentious history with online gaming. While many Europeans enjoy the freedom to gamble at online poker establishments and other gaming providers to their heart’s content, residents of the United States live under severe restrictions on this activity. There has been a lot of blame spread around, from lobbying by the US gambling industry to lobbying by activists opposed to gambling of any sort. Whatever the source of the problem, US gamers have a much harder time of it finding a place to play a few hands of poker online.

The case against the online gambling establishments affects the sites Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars. The case is U.S. v. Scheinberg, 10-cr-00336, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

What Do Gamblers Do?

There are online poker establishments available to US gamblers, but there’s nowhere near the amount of choices available to them as there are to gamblers in other parts of the world. The payment methods are usually far fewer in number, though some services will allow US gamblers to use their services to participate in games.

Online poker establishments haven’t been the only ones that have been the targets of US prosecutors. Online sports betting and other establishments have also felt the heat. Even casino programs that don’t allow players to bet with real money have been the targets of criticism in the US, though there is a significant amount of people who would prefer that they had the same choices that gamblers in other nations enjoy.

Whatever the reason for the restrictions, companies that do business in both Europe and the US are certainly aware of the potential of online gambling. According to a report in ZD Net, Facebook, the busiest site on the Internet, is considering supporting online gambling in the UK. In the site’s Rumor section, it was reported that the social networking giant may be opening up its pages to online gambling due to the popularity of the activity. In the US, of course, users would not have the same freedom to participate in online gaming on the social networking site, or in most other places, for that matter.