In a development that started no less than two weeks ago, checks issued from payment processors for popular poker rooms PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker began bouncing when poker players attempted to cashed them at U.S. banks. During the same period of time, popular deposit and withdrawal method “Instant eChecks” were unavailable at the same card rooms for unknown reasons. Amid widespread speculation and rumor, there has been no official comment from neither PokerStars nor Full Tilt Poker regarding the controversy. The lack of official communication from the poker rooms has left numerous poker players wondering about their bankrolls.

Some gaming-related and news sites are reporting that the US Attorney’s office in New York is behind the closure of particular Instant eCheck branches and have even seized funds, but no comments or announcements have been made by the Poker Players Alliance, the US Attorney’s Office or the company that manages the eChecks Corporation. One statement has been posted on businesswire.com as an official press release from eCheck saying, “… the online gaming community erupted into speculation when it was learned that echeck poker deposits were down for all sites. However, it appears for now, that a solution has been found. The Cereus Network … has begun accepting echecks again.” Further in the press release it states that, “It is unknown how quickly other sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt will be able to restore the echeck deposit method to their network.”

Within the press release there’s some speculation that the UIGEA and US Attorney General’s office might believe to be behind the snag. However, the representatives for echecks were unavailable for official comment at the time of this article’s publication. EcommerceJournal.com is reporting that the US Attorney is indeed behind the banning of Instant eCheck transactions, “… the Attorney General's office in New York State has stepped in to address the issues related to this particular payment service. The office forced the closedown of the payment processor and it is also rumored to have seized money from both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker…”

Checks sent from payment processors in and around the time period of May 26th – June 2nd from both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were reported to have bounced. One of the staff members here at PokerNewsDaily.com received a check dated June 1st and before hearing the scandal, cashed the check at their local bank. After hearing the news via the 2p2 forums, this person contacted PokerStars support asking about any potential issues with the check clearing. Seven hours later (usually PokerStars support responds within an hour) this e-mail response was received:

Thank you for your email.

I have reviewed your account and can confirm that the check you received is not one of the checks affected by this current issue. Therefore the check will clear as normal. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance.

Best Regards,

Martin
PokerStars Payment Services

It appears that only certain checks issued by the poker rooms were affected by the “current issue” which has yet to be officially defined. Currently, there has been no official comment from the PPA (Poker Players Alliance), a gaming-rights advocacy group that has gained influence in Washington. Requests for comments from PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker were not immediately returned.

Meanwhile other poker rooms are going on the record that everything is business as usual. In a conversation exclusive to PokerNewsDaily.com, Morris Mohawk Gaming Group’s CEO Alwyn Morris (who manages Bodog.com), said, “Bodog has not been experiencing any difficulties with checks being returned or bouncing, and we have no plans to remove checks as a payout option. Players have been able to withdraw funds from their accounts using all of our normal payout methods without incident. We have put a number of processes and partnerships in place to ensure our players are able to safely and securely withdraw funds from their accounts as quickly and easily as possible.”

Similarly, a source at the Cake Poker network says that, “It’s business as usual for us as we’re not exposed to any of the eCheck and bounced check problems that other rooms are having at the moment.”

As official comments come in from other poker rooms and the PPA, PokerNewsDaily.com will be reporting the latest information as it is received or announced.

Related Posts:

1. Update on Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars Check Processing
2. United States Federal Government Freezes $30 Million in Online Poker Funds
3. Poker Industry Reacts to the $30 million Seized by the US Government
4. How Funds Seizures Affected Online Poker Players
5. Entraction Network Sells Online Poker Rooms to iGame
6. Online Poker Players Turning to Bank Wires in Wake of Funds Seizure
7. Attorney for Payment Processors Discusses Federal Online Poker Funds Seizure
8. FullTilt Poker Chips Can Now be Transferred to Other Poker Rooms
9. Subscription Based Poker Rooms: The Newest Rage?
10. PPA Director John Pappas Appears on Fox News to Defend Online Poker
11. Gold Strike Casino Tunica Unveils New Rooms, Décor
12. Online Poker Payment Processor Indicted in New York
13. PPA Director Reacts to U.S. Government Seizing Online Poker Funds
14. PPA Runs Ad Campaign in Major Washington Newspapers
15. CryptoLogic Merges Online Poker Rooms with Boss

4 Responses to “Bounced Checks and eCheck Cancellations at Major Poker Rooms”

1. Joe Says:
   June 10th, 2009 at 10:51 am

   Why can’t the government ever just stay out of the way? Get out of my personal life. My taxes aren’t meant to fund the government’s ability to police me in my home.

2. Sallie Says:
   June 14th, 2009 at 7:22 am

   All you poker players are thugs and steeling money from this great country. You all need to be gathered up and thrown into prison. But since there seem to be so much scum and we don’t have room for you in the prison. The government should just tax you more (maybe a Poker license – $2000/yr) is appropriate.

3. Ginger Snyder Says:
   June 15th, 2009 at 12:09 am

   How are poker players stealing money from this great country Sallie? They win the money off other players. The government should tax us more – how from the wins? No one will will play because even though you think we are thieves we are too smart to let the government control us or our money. Ive heard they will tax the websites Pokerstars and Full Tilt American players 52% of their wins. No one will let them do that, that is greater a tax than a luxury tax. We get this new president and now our lives are changing. He wont be in office another term cause most of us dont vote but we will next time and any president that tries to take away our civil liberties, is not going to be really popular. The government cant stay out of peoples affairs. We are going back in time. I want to move, where I can have FREEDOM. What is what our forfathers fought for, now we have cameras everywhere, government freezsing assests because they really cant tax the sites they arent based in America, so they screw the players. One more intrusion for our great country. Mexico and Canada are looking really good. All that will happen is you will put the two best poker sites out of business because no one will play. So good luck to all of us when the government just decides to take over. Scary scary stuff.

   Ginger Snyder
   Houston TX

4. Anonymous Says:
   September 5th, 2009 at 3:50 am

   i don’t understand why the government thinks it has the right to block online poker. in retrospective poker is equivalent to the stock market in a matter of sense. how is it not? both are forms of educated gambling. the only difference is an economical standpoint of the ameircan society (aka money in the stock market helps the world economy) but that is not what capitalism is about is it? (capitalism is about self gain nowadays is it not?) the government is a bunch of hypocritical bs that promotes only what helps itself. if they could tax online poker there would be no such issue that there is now. i think most educated people would agree there is little difference between a stock broker and a proffesional poker player. (they are both simply playing the odds and inside tips, no?)

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