5 Years After Black Friday – Where are We Now?

Today marks the 5th anniversary of Black Friday – the event that rocked the poker world. Much has come out of this turbulent, and some may say arrogant act of the United States government. From the moment we stared at our computer screens with that F.B.I. Seizure warning, speculations began swirling as to what would happen next. The obvious first take down were on the 3 major sites at the time. PokerStars, Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet. All but PokerStars remains to this day. Full Tilt still exists, but merely a front for PokerStars. And soon the actual Full Tilt site will be integrated with PokerStars ridding the internet of Full Tilt altogether. Next came the inevitable cries for money. PokerStars made good on their debts and paid out funds immediately to all players. Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet players on the other hand, weren't so fortunate. Eventually PokerStars would save the day for Full Tilt players; but it was s still a long, drawn out process that ended with jubilation and relief. Then came the regulation. Most of the world rushed to regulate and govern online gambling making swift time in formulating a system that works. To their advantage, they did have a head start by already practicing some form of regulation in many countries. We did see some countries follow suit with the United States by declaring online gambling illegal – none going as far as stomping out of their jurisdiction and turning off the poker lights completely. But places such as Australia and Germany began cracking down on online poker. U.S. players would find new poker homes and wonder what was going to happen next. Many flocked overseas, or across borders in hopes of continuing their play online. For the other 99%, we were left wanting and waiting with little communication. Nevada would be the first state to legalize online poker which only made sense being the gambling capitol of the Western World. But event his took much longer than had expected. IT did answer questions as to how regulation would look once the government took action. Many had hoped for a nationwide market that would allow states to opt out. Instead, we were met with a state by regulation process that could not have been any worse than we thought. After five long years of fighting, only three states have regulated online poker in the United States. Not exactly what American players were expecting. Nevada, New jersey and Delaware are the three states where you can officially play online poker. We are still left wondering what happened to Ultimate Bet, and where our favorite poker villain – Howard Lederer is hiding. Along with Chris Ferguson possibly. Most of us will never know the true story behind what happened to all of our money. What we do know is, we should never have to worry about this type of thing happening ever again. With regulation in full force, and the advent of player fund segregation, any online poker room, or online casino you play at, is going to be safe. Perhaps we can actually thank the dictators who thought Black Friday would be good for the masses by finally giving poker players a safe and regulated place to play without fear of losing their money.