FBI Shuts Down Major Poker Sites, Arrests Founders

The FBI has issued an arrest warrant for 11 individuals, including the founders of Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker, and has frozen 75 bank accounts and closed five websites. John Campos and Chad Elie, the only two individuals on the list residing in the USA, have already been arrested. The FBI has sent a request to Interpol for assistance in locating the remaining suspects.

The number of players on PokerStars has dropped by 15,000 in the last 10 minutes, and access to real-money games for Americans has been closed. Tom Dwan tweeted that the Department of Justice has poor chances in the Federal/ Supreme Court but will ruin the lives of poker players for three years while the process is ongoing.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), whose board includes Ferguson, Ledeere, and Reimer, will soon release a statement. Max Katz, in a blog post on Pokeroff, expressed concern about whether the largest poker rooms can handle the wave of cashouts in the coming hours and days. GamblingCompliance, a company specializing in gaming industry analytics, reported that all sites involved in the case will cease operations worldwide within 48 hours.