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Despite all of the good news being released about the legality of online poker in the United States, a year old court case against payment processor owner Ahmad Khawaja has come to an end with the Federal Bureau of Investigation confiscating about $13.3 million from two payment processors – Allied Systems and Allied Wallet. Most notably, the payment processors were serving the largest poker site on the Internet – PokerStars. This large web site was one of the reasons that the funds were so easily traced back to Khawaja.

The FBI is claiming that the funds seizure is an enforcement of the 2006 UIGEA and that the seized money is only a small percentage of the amount of money that was exchanged through the payment processors during 2009. According to the FBI, 8 bank accounts were set up to process transactions – in direct violation of the UIGEA. The defense argued unsuccessfully that the UIGEA was confusing and allowed for such actions to take place legally. However, the Feds have long blocked bank account transactions involving online gambling and this situation was one of the times when the payment processors “got caught.”

Bodog Poker has recently added a new electronic wallet to their offering for deposits and withdrawals at their poker site. Best of all, this new ewallet will be available to players from the United States. Players that use this deposit option as their first deposit method at Bodog Poker before September 18th can qualify for a 20% deposit bonus from Bodog Poker up to a maximum of $1,000.00 in free money. Bodog has announced that they are adding this deposit method to give players from the United States more instant deposit options in the absence of other popular ewallets like Paypal and Neteller.

Players using MyPaylinQ can use a variety of payment options to fund their account. Included in acceptable funding options are eChecks, major credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), Direct Debit and Diners Club. Players using their MyPaylinQ account at Bodog Poker can use it exactly as they would any other electronic wallet with no fees or processing wait times.

In a strange bit of news, 59 year old Samuel McMaster has been allowed by a New Mexico judge to play poker to pay off his debt and avoid jail time for multiple counts of fraud. McMaster was convicted earlier of defrauding 20 individuals by selling them unregistered securities – totaling 44 counts of fraud and a single count of racketeering. With more than $400,000 fraudulently obtained from his clients, McMaster would be facing as many as 549 years behind bars. McMaster has shown some poker prowess in the past by finishing in the money at the Bellagio for a little more than $12,550. Beyond that, McMaster is a relatively unknown poker player.

However, McMaster will need to win a great deal more than $12,000 in order to clear his debt and avoid prison time. Over the next six months, McMaster will need to play poker to win at least $7,500 each month and make regular payments to his victims. If he misses more than one payment, he will be required to immediately begin a 12 year sentence in jail. Playing poker and making all of the payments over the next 6 months does not necessarily mean that McMaster can avoid jail time altogether. However, making the payments on time will likely convince the judge that he is serious about paying back the money that he stole. This could result in a reduced sentence or simple restitution and probation for his crimes.

It appears that France is becoming more serious about their actions against online poker as a recent ruling will require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block any online poker sites (and any gambling sites) that do not have a license from the French government. Although the recent move to legalize and regulate online poker in the country was considered a victory for online poker players in France, this recent move by France has many poker players and supportive agencies wondering how much worse the situation will get. Many poker players are now asking whether the actions of the French government are a warning for players that support similar legislation in the United States.

French players have had a great deal of difficulty with recent French legislation on online poker. Many players complained when they were forced from the gigantic player base at PokerStars (more than 50,000) to a separate PokerStars French web site with a player base barely topping 1,000 players during peak traffic hours. PokerStars was not the only online poker company that used this route to maintain operation standards for their main web site while opening the door for French regulation and legislation with a secondary site. However, the situation with low traffic stats is reflected across the board.

One of the strongest opponents of the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, the National Football League, has decided to stop lobbying against the bill as a result of an amendment excluding sports betting from the bill. Representatives of the NFL were originally against the bill because they asserted that it would encourage betting on football games – something that the NFL has long opposed. Although not a certainty for the bill to become law, the lobbying lift by the NFL will likely add both strength and credibility to Barney Frank’s bill to allow it to proceed in Congress.

This is not the first time that the NFL has gotten involved in congressional hearings on gambling issues. For example, the NFL lobbied for an addition to the 2006 UIGEA that would technically allow for fantasy football activities (technically gambling). After this was added to the UIGEA, the NFL pushed for the bill to pass in Congress. In prohibiting sports betting, the NFL has, in effect, also taken a stand against online poker until they supported the recent Frank bill.