When Bill Frist attached the online gaming poison pill to the SAFE Ports act two weeks ago, a lot of people in the poker world called it Black Friday. Today is worse.
First there was the email I received from DreamPoker saying that users in eleven US states, including New York and Nevada, would be blocked from the site--and unable to withdraw their money--as of 8:30 tonight, Eastern time. (It's reproduced after the jump.) There is no mention of this, of course, on their web page. And since Dream is a Microgaming site, I suspect that their other properties (RoyalVegas, et alia) will be pulling similar stunts.
Then, when I was putting up a post at the Women's Poker Club forums to warn everyone of that fact, since DreamPoker had hosted WPC events, I learned that JetSet Poker had unceremoniously shut down at midnight last night. Nothing was emailed. No notice given. Worse, they had even hosted a WPC tournament last night while I was out trivving with the Samurai Squirrels.
JetSet's website has been replaced by a "closed" notice. The SAFE Ports not only shut Americans off from the site but prompted them to close all accounts worldwide. Goodbye GWoT. Hello Global War on Poker. Somewhere, Osama Bin Laden and James Dobson are dancing together.
Fortrunately, I'd never deposited at Dream, but Jet owes me a check for sixteen and change. If you had money there, send a letter to [email protected] to attempt to get your funds back.