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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Feb. 03, 2007

The Great Bank Run of 2007

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. -- Aesop

I really would like to stay away from the subject of Internet poker and the ramifications of the funding attack by the U.S. government but I can't do it.

I can't get over the fact that without caring one whit about what happens to the U.S. dollars deposited in offshore accounts, the government, banking institutions, credit card companies and money transfer entities have closed the corridor for the money to come back to this country.

What they have done, in effect, is open another door for these gambling and/or middlemen to steal money from American citizens. What has happened (for those who haven't checked their accounts lately), is that Neteller not only refuses deposits to gambling sites by Americans but also refuses the use of the Neteller card (which is supposed to be like a prepaid credit card); and in many cases this company will not even allow Americans to access their Neteller account online! For those who think a phone call will do the trick, guess what? Neteller isn't even accepting phone calls from the U.S.

Forget for a minute that American citizens were technically breaking the law, which in itself remains questionable. After all, we've had presidents and congressmen forgiven for much bigger mistakes than online gambling.

I'm not even implying the entities involved will keep the money, but some of the latest information coming back from people at risk makes it appear that millions of dollars will is hanging in somebody's limbo and that limbo isn't within the borders of the United States. Okay so maybe I am implying Neteller was operating some kind of Ponzi scheme.

Information gleaned from blogs and forums show that some individuals cannot get their money back because the gambling sites can't figure out how to process it. Should they use Western Union? Should they try Electronic Funds Transfers? Should they issue checks? Maybe none of these questions apply because none of these methods should take more than a week - five working days. Western Union money transfers are supposed to be immediate if money is deposited immediately and the clerk inputs all the information properly. EFTs shouldn't take more than three days. Actually, since they are done from one banking computer to another, they shouldn't take more than three minutes, but we're dealing with banks here and they like to hold on to your money as long as possible so they can earn their interest. And checks? Well, pop them into a overnight, one-day, or three-day FedEx envelope and all you have to do is be home when it arrives then take the check to the bank.

Whoops. Word on the net has it that one bank won't cash checks coming from offshore companies. I don't think the anti-gambling bill says anything about that!

What the U.S. government and its regulators have done, in effect, is cause a run on the Neteller bank and our guess is that Neteller doesn't have the cash to cover the withdrawal requests.

Now, according to the Interactive Gaming Council, "American players ... are believed to account for half of all online gambling activity. ..." (http://www.igcouncil.org/press.php?id=382) Christiansen Capital Advisors (a gambling industry research firm) estimated that number of Americans to be in the neighborhood of 5.3 million. For the purpose of estimating, figure each one of those 5.3 million have as little as $100 in a Neteller account.

Do the math!

Just who is the U.S. government targeting and why, suddenly, have the banks caved? Why, suddenly, have enforcement agencies jumped on every opportunity to act? Why hasn't any American agency looked at any guilt issue here other than what they think might be money laundering by two guys who don't even own Neteller anymore?

Is this whole thing an attempt to protect the casino business in America? If so, it's a stupid move because without this bill, American casinos could have begun researching their own Internet casinos, thus saving billions a year in employee monies.

Is this an attempt to legislate morality? Maybe it is but I think it was more a political agenda that didn't quite work but still left us with a nasty little bill to contend with.

Does this have anything to do with major sporting groups, the NFL and NCAA perhaps, reaching out to put the brakes on sports gambling? This is an interesting question being tossed around by numerous parties.

Sadly, as with the run on the banks in the U.S. in 1929 - an event that precipitated the Great Depression (1929-1939) - it appears the only folks who are safe are the guys who won't give up the dough.

The amount of money I've lost in this mess is insignificant compared to how much some folks are missing. I'm angry because everybody behind the scenes knew what was going to happen and they did nothing but business as usual. They kept taking EFTs from American banks then removed the ability to cancel the transfers. They requested newcomers to verify their bank accounts while money remained in cyberspace, then allowed the transfer hours before they decided to stop doing business with Americans. Yes, I know at least one person whose money disappeared this way.

I guess we've been conned, duped, double-crossed and lied to. What's sad is that once again, the big guys are safe and the little guys are left out in the cold and none of us can hold our breaths long enough while waiting for something positive to happen.

Who knows, maybe the great ones are partying with each other and laughing at the hard lessons they've taught their constituents, clicking their tongues and telling us over and over that we were bad and now we're being punished.

And all we wanted to do was play a little poker in our pajamas.