Well, at least it's not a deposit issue now....WTH????

[troysteelerfan]

I posted awhile back about the deposit issue I was having at P* and not being able to use "Echeck" method.....now it appears to be worse.   I logged in about 10 minutes ago to P* went to register for a tourney and the following message popped up on the screen.

We are sorry but, due to government regulations, playing real money tournaments is not allowed in your area.

hmmmm.....so I try to go to a ring game and what do you know pretty much the same message ...

We are sorry but, due to government regulations playing real money ring games, is not allowed in your area.

What the heck?? Anyone else having this issue??

[Buzzerbeater]

Look around.  The government raided P*, FT and Absolute/UB.  All us players have been blocked from RM play on P* and all withdrawals have been frozen.

[troysteelerfan]

Hadn't seen that - been busy with other stuff (kids' sports, masters' classes, and other stuff) - but still can't believe I missed that.

[Buzzerbeater]

It's a mixed bag.  Some of us have less than $100 on there.  A couple of people have several hundred.  A friend of a friend recently had a great run and is up to ~$7000, but now he can't access any of it.

[troysteelerfan]

I was just texting a friend who plays as well - he mentioned that he had been following some tweets from Tom Dwan and that Dwan had tweeted (according to my friend) that he felt they would have to pay out the money eventually....whenever that would be - if I had serious money in there (like $7000) and I couldn't access it I would be major league ticked.

[stooks99]

A good example of how long this could take would be the NeTeller stuff from a few years ago.  Everyone got their money back, but it took a couple of years.  Don't hold your breath.

[Martini]

Yeah, I suppose if they didn't return money to US players then players in other countries are going to be wary about doing business with those sites.

[William]

 I guess no more Pokerstars Pros from the US then either.

They might want to work out some kind of deal where the pay gambling taxes before the site's reopened to US players.

That will mean the government will take 30% of your winnings though.

[troysteelerfan]

Yeah, I suppose if they didn't return money to US players then players in other countries are going to be wary about doing business with those sites.

I found one article on this subject that believes these sites will be shut down WORLDWIDE - and has anyone bothered to go to the websites and see the "WARNINGS" posted - if not go to fulltilt.com or pokerstars.com or ultimatebet.com and check it out

[72]

hmmm business as usual for me and us Canadians. Overheard players talking all night about this happening while at the casino last night. Most of them said they don't want to play at sites where Americans aren't allowed to play. The games dry up and aren't very juicy without them.

[holdemholmes]

Most of them said they don't want to play at sites where Americans aren't allowed to play. The games dry up and aren't very juicy without them.

And here all along I thought the Russians were the fish.....

[Rudycub23]

I'm very shocked to hear about this.  Just another thing to pin on the Republicans, who snuck in the UIGEA in the port security bill a few years back...

I guess I got lucky, though.  I haven't been playing online for several months, and I decided to clean out my FT account, to the tune of $1500...

[troysteelerfan]

I'm very shocked to hear about this.  Just another thing to pin on the Republicans, who snuck in the UIGEA in the port security bill a few years back...

As if there isn't enough to pin on them already  

(Click to show/hide)

Don't want to turn this into a political thread but couldn't resist since I am not very happy with that party right now here in Ohio, or anywhere else for that matter

[Rudycub23]

As if there isn't enough to pin on them already  

(Click to show/hide)

Don't want to turn this into a political thread but couldn't resist since I am not very happy with that party right now here in Ohio, or anywhere else for that matter

Agreed.  My feelings mirror yours, but darn it, I felt compelled to vent just the same.

[William]

Pokerstars has moved to www.pokerstars.eu. And everything is still working fine in Europe.

I haven't been able to get on FullTilt since the bust. Can't access the new software update.

I've advised all my friends here to have everything paid out just to be on the safe side. Even with the notification and assurance from Pokerstars that your money is safe.

[Jacks Up]

Pokerstars has moved to www.pokerstars.eu. And everything is still working fine in Europe.

I haven't been able to get on FullTilt since the bust. Can't access the new software update.

I've advised all my friends here to have everything paid out just to be on the safe side. Even with the notification and assurance from Pokerstars that your money is safe.

Full Tilt is fine.  I couldn't access the software update either, so I just re-installed the client. Now works fine and I was able to play cash last night.

[NotFadeAway]

I'm very shocked to hear about this.  Just another thing to pin on the Republicans, who snuck in the UIGEA in the port security bill a few years back...

Much, much, much agreed.  
One of my favorite things about this country is how so many people want to give up their own money (and, of course, money for the poor) so that the government can give it to the wealthiest 1%.  It's truly amazing how people who won't benefit from tax cuts for the rich are so in favor of them.  And that's even off the subject of the freedoms that the right is so eager to take away from us...

[troysteelerfan]

I'm very shocked to hear about this.  Just another thing to pin on the Republicans, who snuck in the UIGEA in the port security bill a few years back...

Much, much, much agreed.  
One of my favorite things about this country is how so many people want to give up their own money (and, of course, money for the poor) so that the government can give it to the wealthiest 1%.  It's truly amazing how people who won't benefit from tax cuts for the rich are so in favor of them.  And that's even off the subject of the freedoms that the right is so eager to take away from us...

AMEN!

[Buzzerbeater]

I still don't understand all the hate on the rich.  The top 5% wealthy in this country already pay 45% of all collected taxes.  You don't need to raise their taxes, just shore up some of the loopholes and backdoors that they use avoid paying the taxes they already owe.  If the IRS actually worked efficiently, they would increase tax revenues for our country.  They talked about one guy who made $200,000 last year, but because of loopholes and credits, only paid $2,000 in income taxes. Shore up the loopholes, keep the rates the same and you could probably bring that number up to 5% of the wealthy paying 50-55% of the taxes.

[troysteelerfan]

I still don't understand all the hate on the rich.  The top 5% wealthy in this country already pay 45% of all collected taxes.  You don't need to raise their taxes, just shore up some of the loopholes and backdoors that they use avoid paying the taxes they already owe.  If the IRS actually worked efficiently, they would increase tax revenues for our country.  They talked about one guy who made $200,000 last year, but because of loopholes and credits, only paid $2,000 in income taxes. Shore up the loopholes, keep the rates the same and you could probably bring that number up to 5% of the wealthy paying 50-55% of the taxes.

As for the guy paying $2000 in taxes while making $200,000 - that article also states that he feels the wealthy need to pay more.   And off course the wealthiest people pay a higher percentage of the total tax revenue collected - what ticks people off isn't that - its the percentage of their income they pay.....it only stands to reason that the rich pay a higher percentage of total income tax collected.....for example....5 people paying taxes on (lets say) $2,000,000 and 95 people paying taxes on $20,000 - those 5 people paying taxes on 100x the wealth of the others surely generates a higher percentage of the total taxes collected.

[Buzzerbeater]

I still don't understand all the hate on the rich.  The top 5% wealthy in this country already pay 45% of all collected taxes.  You don't need to raise their taxes, just shore up some of the loopholes and backdoors that they use avoid paying the taxes they already owe.  If the IRS actually worked efficiently, they would increase tax revenues for our country.  They talked about one guy who made $200,000 last year, but because of loopholes and credits, only paid $2,000 in income taxes. Shore up the loopholes, keep the rates the same and you could probably bring that number up to 5% of the wealthy paying 50-55% of the taxes.

As for the guy paying $2000 in taxes while making $200,000 - that article also states that he feels the wealthy need to pay more.   And off course the wealthiest people pay a higher percentage of the total tax revenue collected - what ticks people off isn't that - its the percentage of their income they pay.....it only stands to reason that the rich pay a higher percentage of total income tax collected.....for example....5 people paying taxes on (lets say) $2,000,000 and 95 people paying taxes on $20,000 - those 5 people paying taxes on 100x the wealth of the others surely generates a higher percentage of the total taxes collected.

But why would they pay a higher percentage?  They're getting all of the same benefit as others.  Again, assuming there were less loopholes and back doors to go through, they would be paying their fair share, just the same as everyone else.  I just don't see the logic that someone who already is paying more money in taxes should also have to pay a higher percentage then everyone else.  The Republicans can get what they want by keeping the percentages the same and the Democrats can get more revenue from the wealthy by reducing the shelters and loopholes and make those wealthy citizens pay their fair share.  Obviously some of the breaks make sense such as to small business owners to ensure that they can actually make their payroll and keep their employees in jobs. 

That being said, now because of the mess we're in, and thanks to idiots on both sides of the isle going all willy-nilly with crazy spending habits, we need to boost revenues AND cut spending.  And the only way we're probably going to get things under control is a combination of cutting spending AND raising taxes to the people who can afford it (the wealthy).  The upside is that the idiots who caused a lot of these problems will be helping to pay to fix it.  The downside is that innocent people who are already paying their fair share will have to pay more.  But at this point, what choice do we have?

[troysteelerfan]

Here is another side of the same coin that is part of the problem more so than the issue of the rich and taxes.

http://capitalismisover.com/senator-bernie-sanders-guide-to-corporate-freeloaders/


and to further the case of tax the rich


http://capitalismisover.com/solutions-the-rich-must-pay-much-higher-taxes/

[KPrather]

I still don't understand all the hate on the rich.  The top 5% wealthy in this country already pay 45% of all collected taxes. 

The top 5% wealthy in the country have far more than 45% of the wealth. 40% of the wealth belongs to just the top 1%.

(Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/16/135472478/study-americas-wealth-not-widely-distributed)

[Buzzerbeater]

Here is another side of the same coin that is part of the problem more so than the issue of the rich and taxes.

http://capitalismisover.com/senator-bernie-sanders-guide-to-corporate-freeloaders/

Absolutely!  I was pissed we bailed them out to begin with, but the arrogance of what they've done with the money is BEYOND offensive.  Of course the government was in a big hurry to rush the bailout through instead of structuring it to limit the BS and outrageous bonuses.

and to further the case of tax the rich


http://capitalismisover.com/solutions-the-rich-must-pay-much-higher-taxes/

How could there ever be justification for someone to pay more than half of their income in taxes!?  That's just absured?  Why would anyone ever want to try to be successful?  Or is that the goal?  To make it so that everyone earns the same regardless of how hard they work. The money is there, but it's being shuffled into the pockets of politicians and their lackeys and friends (i.e. big oil/big finance).  The corruption in this country is beyond ridiculous.  Want to save $75 mil per year from the budget?  Stop paying the politicians $200k plus per year for being useless.  Make them earn the median income of America.  Somewhere in the ballpark of $30k-45k.  Then if they want a raise they'll have to figure out a way to bring that figure up through good job creation.  Don't give your buddies at Haliburton lucrative contracts to war profiteer.  But they'd rather deflect that kind of attention with stupid dog and pony shows like invading Kosovo, Iraq, Libya.  

[Buzzerbeater]

I still don't understand all the hate on the rich.  The top 5% wealthy in this country already pay 45% of all collected taxes. 

The top 5% wealthy in the country have far more than 45% of the wealth. 40% of the wealth belongs to just the top 1%.

(Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/16/135472478/study-americas-wealth-not-widely-distributed)

Most estimates have the top 5% of the country holding between 55% and 65% of the wealth.  So if you shore up the tax breaks and loopholes (like I mentioned earlier, and the oil company one in tsf's post is an obvious big one), then that would bring that number closer to 55%-65%.

[troysteelerfan]

The wealthy - rarely work hard - most have inherited their wealth and haven't seen an honest day of hard work in their life.   And I say that because there is a difference in my opinion between "successful" and "wealthy".

As of for the top 5% owning between 55% ad 65% of the wealth - I couldn't disagree more.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

[Buzzerbeater]

The wealthy - rarely work hard - most have inherited their wealth and haven't seen an honest day of hard work in their life.   And I say that because there is a difference in my opinion between "successful" and "wealthy".

As of for the top 5% owning between 55% ad 65% of the wealth - I couldn't disagree more.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

I'm confused.  That page backs up my numbers pretty closely.  It says the richest 10% make up 73.1% of the wealth. 

[troysteelerfan]

Note: The 2007 data (the most current) doesn't reflect the impact of the housing market crash. In 2007, the bottom 60% of Americans had 65% of their net worth tied up in their homes. The top 1%, in contrast, had just 10%. The housing crisis has no doubt further swelled the share of total net worth held by the superrich.


Not to mention the income disparity showed by the other data. 

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.

[Buzzerbeater]

Note: The 2007 data (the most current) doesn't reflect the impact of the housing market crash. In 2007, the bottom 60% of Americans had 65% of their net worth tied up in their homes. The top 1%, in contrast, had just 10%. The housing crisis has no doubt further swelled the share of total net worth held by the superrich.


Not to mention the income disparity showed by the other data. 

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.

Big shock.  The banks screwing things up for everyone else.  I'm willing to bet you'll see the income tax go up to somewhere around 35%-40% for the wealthy (250k+/yr) at some point within the next 5 years, which would be fair all things considered with the economy the way it is.  I'm not sure what kind of influx that would bring over what's currently going in.  But it's definitely a pipe dream to think they'll ever be expected to pay 60%+ in income taxes.

[Dr. Neau]

The wealthy - rarely work hard - most have inherited their wealth and haven't seen an honest day of hard work in their life.   And I say that because there is a difference in my opinion between "successful" and "wealthy".

As of for the top 5% owning between 55% ad 65% of the wealth - I couldn't disagree more.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

I'm confused.  That page backs up my numbers pretty closely.  It says the richest 10% make up 73.1% of the wealth. 

Don't confuse wealth with income.  Wealth is what you have now.  Income is what's flowing in.  You guys are talking like they are the same thing.

[troysteelerfan]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/18/2174150/poll-best-way-to-fight-deficits.html

[nutN2Lewz]

Warren Buffet is on record stating that he pays a lower percentage of taxes than his secretary does.

I incorporated HomePokerTourney a couple years ago - I never realized how stacked the deck is in favor of corporations. Incorporating completely changed the way that I invest money. I now make more money overall but pay less taxes. It's kinda like playing poker ... I almost feel guilty about taking other people's money!

PokerStars and FullTilt are back up for U.S. players. They made a deal with the government that they could reopen in order to refund money back to U.S depositors. You can read about it on my Poker News page.

Good luck, nutn

[Wedge Rock]

I tried a couple of hours ago.  The only option on Poker Stars was a wire transfer.  But I understand check cashouts will be coming shortly.