From ARS Technica
On April 30, 2013, the poker world saw the launch of the United States’ first legal online poker site, Ultimate Poker. But Ultimate Poker has one significant limit: it is only legal within the boundaries of Nevada. As more sites come online under similar state schemes—New Jersey and Delaware are likely next—online gambling in the United States may be poised for an explosion.
It wasn’t always this way. Among online poker players, Black Friday refers to the infamous day in April 2011 when the United States brought federal criminal charges against the founders of three major overseas online poker companies: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Cereus (under the brand name Absolute Poker). The move targeted companies accused of illegally catering to US players, and it shut down easy access to real-money online poker for American players.
Federal prosecutors alleged that the 11 defendants violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 and conducted notable bank fraud between financial institutions, poker companies, and players. In parallel, a civil case sought the forfeiture of $3 billion worth of company assets, many of which were overseas.
Eight of the 11 named were out of the country when the indictments came down, but the others either pled guilty, settled with the government, served time, or experienced some combination of it all. The UIGEA (PDF) summary, as written by the United States Treasury Department, specifically “prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law.”
One of those convicted as part of the Black Friday roundup was John Campos. He pleaded guilty to one count of “dealing in bets used as a means for participating in a lottery by a state nonmember insured bank” and served three months in federal prison. Campos remains on probation until November 2013.
The government accused Campos, then-vice chairman of the board of directors at SunFirst Bank in St. George, Utah, of agreeing to process gambling transactions in exchange for a sizable investment in the bank from these poker companies. In a sentencing memorandum (PDF), the prosecuting United States Attorney, Preet Bharara, wrote that SunFirst Bank processed more than $200 million in payments from November 2009 to November 2010.
