Financial Times published a story saying that a federal court in New York City has launched an investigation regarding Full Tilt Poker.


According to the story, at this point the court has launched a grand jury inquiry to determine whether Full Tilt Poker has violated gambling laws and is responsible for money-laundering. The latter is a tactic that the US Department of Justice often uses when dealing with gambling firms because it allows them to request assistance even from those countries where the legal situation of online gambling is not as hazy as in the US. The DOJ maintains that online gambling violates the Wire Act even though many law experts disagree.

Full Tilt Poker is registered in Alderney in the British Channel Islands. Tiltware LCC, the company that holds the rights for the FTP software is located in the US.

The DOJ has previously taken successful shots at companies like BetonSports, PartyPoker and the net wallet Neteller. Many people have predicted that eventually the feds will go to war against Full Tilt Poker or PokerStars, the two largest online poker sites who continued taking US customers even after the UIGEA was passed in 2006. FTP is one of the most visible operators and they would make a fine feather in DOJ's cap. Gambling law expert Nelson Rose says the DOJ like to target prominent operators. "They go after high-profile targets and try to intimidate everybody."

While the DOJ continue their crusade against online gambling, many individual states like California are considering starting their own online poker and the push to repel the UIGEA and create regulated online poker is slowly gaining momentum in the Congress. Time will tell how the federal government will treat the license applications of those companies that continued to serve US customers during UIGEA. Many predict that when the deck is eventually reshuffled in the US online poker market, online versions of land based casino giants like Harrah's (with their well-oiled lobbying machines) will leapfrog the competition.

Source: Financial Times.