Comments on: It’s an Online Poker Room, Not an Online Bank

By: Donkette

Donkette — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:51:29 +0000

General comment: to me this is just more reason to legalize (and tax and regulate) online poker. Clear regulation about how the sites can and can’t use the players’ balances would benefit everyone.

@Joe — like Jim, I disagree with you about PayPal. I use it extensively and always have to wait several days when I try to transfer the money to my main bank account. I don’t think it should be that way — it’s my money, and it should be transferred digitally instantaneously in my view — but it’s not.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:04:59 +0000

@ Joe:

The reason online poker site do not pay interest is because they do not have to pay interest to attract depositors. The attraction is the game. OTOH banks, like PayPal, have to compete for deposits with the thousands of other banking options. The poker sites compete as well, but currently their direct competition is not with banking institutions.

Now, I’m not saying that it would not be a good marketing tool to offer interest on player deposits. It would certainly set one poker site apart from another to offer such a benefit to members of its site.

Also, if you think PayPal can’t freeze your account, you haven’t done much research on them as they have a storied history of doing just that.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:07:45 +0000

I have money in a Paypal account and use it to buy goods(play poker) with other Paypal members(other players), but I get paid interest on the money EVERY MONTH and I can withdraw ANY AMOUNT at ANYTIME without question, why should a online poker site be ANY different??? Why don’t the Poker sites PAY interest on balances, I bet they make a ton of money themselves on the interest!!!

By: Ben S

Ben S — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:07:52 +0000

Please ask Full Tilt for a copy off the anti-money laundering regulations that they operate under.

I don’t believe that the KGC care at all, and that this is just Full Tilt trying to suck money onto their tables.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:20:32 +0000

Great article. Another additional point that I think merits mentioning. Online poker sites that permit inter-player transfers like this are forced to be hyper-vigilant, as this is classified as a potential AML (Anti-Money Laundering) risk. This is why chip-dumping is prohibited. Having a vehicle where one player can deposit funds, transfer them to another, and then have the transferee withdraw them will always, always be scrutinized carefully, and rightly so. This is not a sign of an operator playing fast and loose – quite the opposite. This suggests that they are taking their internal AML controls seriously. The industry endures a tide of allegations that it is unscrupulous – some it deserves, and some it doesn’t. This looks to me as though the operator was doing exactly the right thing.