Mike Johnson History Buff

About two weeks ago, I sent all of my poker playing friends an email saying that they should think about pulling their money out of online casinos and poker rooms since new goverment regulations might cause problems with future withdraws. I explained the basics of the legistlation and said that it might or might not affect them, but to be safe they shouldn't keep more than what they would normally bring to a table. If they bust out they can deposit more.

Today I got a call from my buddy T-Mace who is an excellent player who likes the $.50 / $1 omaha and Hold'em tables at Jetset poker. He told me that last week he tried to withdraw the $1,100.00 in his account and received a message that withdraws were not being accepted at that time. He and his brother tried emailing support but never received any replys. Today T-Mace's brother was playing a cash game on jetset when he received a popup message from jetset announcing that the site would be closing in 5 min. They also added something to the effect that they appreciated everyone's support over the past several years. 5 min later E-Mace (T-Mace's brother) was kicked off the site, with no way of getting his money back.

I tried 5 min ago to load the Jetset poker software and received a message that said the servers were down. If you go to their website www.jetsetpoker.com you will see the following text.

Dear Valued JetSetPoker Customer:

We deeply regret to convey that we shall be discontinuing service at JetSetPoker (the "Site") effective Midnight EST on Friday, October 13, 2006.

Initially, and as per our previous statement, we were cautiously optimistic in maintaining operations for our membership after the passage of the "SAFE Port Act HR 4954" on September 30, 2006 by the U.S. Senate. We nonetheless initially believed it to be practicable.

However, given the developments during the preceding week, including but not limited to, the unfavorable view of payment processors and financial institutions regarding online gambling and the extensive advice of our legal counsel, we have been instructed to cease activities and comply with this prohibitionist legislation.

We were fortunate to have a first-rate membership and it was our pleasure to provide a destination site where members were able to enjoy their favorite card games and tournaments with the surety that we were to buttress the integrity of the forum. In this inclement environment however we believe our ability to do so may become impaired nor do we anticipate this matter to improve in the near future.

We once again thank you for your patronage of JetSetPoker and deeply regret these unfortunate circumstances that have materially and adversely impacted both the Site and the industry.

Best regards,
JetSetPoker Management Team

It's possible that Jetset is working on a way of returning all of the money that was in players bankrolls at a later time. Ufortunatly, I have a hard time believing that. Still, Jetset is not the norm for pokersites and it might be refreshing to take a look at how Fulltilt is handling the changing landscape of this industry. IF you log onto their poker platform you will be greated with the following message.

Dear Tilter,

Full Tilt Poker is here to stay!
As an online poker player, you have probably heard about the new legislation passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this week that attempts to prevent you from being able to transfer money to online gaming sites.

While this new law has prompted some sites to announce plans to abandon the U.S. market in coming days, we assure you that Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide all of its players - both inside and outside of the United States - with a full complement of real money ring games and tournaments for their enjoyment.

After consultation with numerous legal experts in this field, we want to make you aware of the following:

* Legal
The new U.S. legislation does not in any way attempt to criminalize the act of you playing online poker. By playing online at Full Tilt Poker, you are not breaking any U.S. Federal laws.

* Full Access
The passage of the new Internet Gaming law will not have any impact on your day-to-day experience at Full Tilt Poker. We will provide all of our players, everywhere in the world, with full access to all of our games and tournaments.

* Easy Deposits and Withdrawals
We will continue to provide our players with all of the safe, secure and convenient methods for transferring money to and from the site. In fact, in recent discussions with our payment processors, we have been assured that this new law will have no immediate impact on their day-to-day business. And as always, any monies that you have on deposit with Full Tilt Poker remain completely safe and secure.

Furthermore, we firmly believe that online poker is not encompassed by this new legislation. In any event, we will continue to lobby for an express carve-out for online poker and for your right to play a truly American game from the privacy of your own home and computer.

We are excited about the future here at Full Tilt Poker and in the coming weeks and months, we plan to roll out many new features designed to enhance your online poker experience.

We appreciate your loyalty to our site and, in turn, want you to know that we will remain loyal to our valued players in the United States and throughout the world.

We look forward to seeing you at the table.

Sincerely,

Full Tilt Poker

How long this might last is hard to tell. If it turns out that the new legistlation has no teeth and is ultimately not applied to poker websites, then FullTilt will probably develop a strangle hold on the market by virtue of the fact that it was one of the few sites that remained open. If the Legistlation does have teeth, well then I'm sorry to say that we may not see anymore hilarious Black and White TV commercials featureing today's top poker pros.

Best of luck
Mike