It is the aftermath of Black Friday, and the American government has started trying and sentencing the individual that played key roles in the operation of sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, who violated the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. One individual is a Canadian – Neil Burtnick, could be sentenced to years in jail for processing payments for the sites.
Burtnick helped Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars break American gambling laws by disguising players’ payments. He manipulated them to make them seem as though they were not associated with gambling operators but rather going to and from other online retail businesses.
For fraud and assisting in the operation of illegal online gambling websites, Burtnick faces up to 15 years in jail. When it comes to those who had been involved in Black Friday, Burtnick is getting off fairly easily. For example, Raymond Bitar, owner of Full Tilt Poker, faces over 60 years in jail for his crimes while other managers are looking at upwards of 20 years and thousands of dollars in fines.
While Full Tilt Poker prepares to re-enter the online poker world and Poker Stars continues to thrive in the market, the owners of the sites have still committed serious offences. As such, they will have to spend time in jail and pay the appropriate fines.
