The shockwaves from online poker’s “Black Friday” continue to reverberate in the poker community, as players, both in the United States and abroad, attempt to ascertain the status of their online poker accounts.
Following the indictments of the owners of three major U.S.-facing online poker sites on Friday, the rush of players heading to the checkout desk brought issues for many, regardless of their locations. Immediately following the travails of Friday afternoon, cashing out from the three major online poker rooms was spotty at best.
On the TwoPlusTwo forums, several players relayed their experiences as they waded into the turbulent waters of a post-Black Friday cashout. Poster “stickychips15” reported to his fellow forum members, “When I click on Withdrawal (or Deposit), I am getting, ‘We could not establish a secure connection to the server. Click Retry or contact Customer Support.’” Another poster in Italy, “extranando,” reported that he had received the same message.
When attempting to cash out from PokerStars, poster “AnMhi” reported an unusual occurrence. “I have been trying to cash out from PokerStars (Visa) and I am having no luck. I enter my bankroll amount, click submit, and nothing happens… Starting to get a bit concerning.” Other players reported a similar situation when they attempted to withdraw from their PokerStars accounts.
Some players were able to receive direct deposits for their online bankrolls, but, in large measures, it was due to them being outside of the United States and using approved e-wallets. “Instadebit worked for me (Canada),” posted “JustR82.” “I cashed out my max for 24 hrs, which is $2,500.” “CHENGPOKER” reported from Canada that he was also able to use Instadebit for both PokerStars and Full Tilt.
By Saturday morning, several players were still relaying issues that they were having with cashouts from PokerStars, Full Tilt, and the CEREUS Network. “Black666” reported in the TwoPlusTwo thread, “Requested cash out on UB, PS, and FTP to NeTeller about 10-20 hours ago. Still waiting for it to being processed. Will probably wait for a few weeks before re-depositing. Don’t really want to take the chance of the poker sites going broke.”
Several players who have requested checks from the three major online poker rooms will be waiting to see what happens. In the case of a player cashing out by check, the major online poker rooms state that it could take anywhere from 10 to 15 working days for it to be issued and delivered.
Poster “Quagmyer” stated, “Just requested a cashout on Stars. Will see what happens. Not withdrawing all my roll, but would feel safer with it in my MB account at the moment. Gonna see what happens over the next week or so.” “Best In Syd” brought up another point: “I’m Canadian. I requested a cheque from Stars yesterday morning. Is there any reason to think when it arrives it would bounce?”
Poker News Daily attempted to make transactions on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker on Friday. On PokerStars, the withdrawal appears to have gone through with an e-check transfer, although it does state that it takes 72 hours for such a transaction to make its way to the bank. As of Saturday, the transfer has not appeared in the account.
For Full Tilt Poker, an e-mail was received that indicated the withdrawal transaction was “processing.” Approximately two hours later, the request for withdrawal was declined, with no reason given for the action. Due to the high volume of support requests, e-mails sent to both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker regarding cashout issues have gone unanswered.