Time to move on

Well, it took quite some time, but Black Friday did finally come, at least for the US poker community. An awful lot can and will be said about what happened, but I, as a Board Member of the US-based Poker Players Alliance, feel the need to concentrate on the future, not the past.

The first step forward taken by the PPA and its members was to concentrate on the return of player funds. I am happy to report that after significant effort by poker sites, helped by the players themselves, the US Government has agreed to allow the sites to begin returning the player funds in their possession. It is not much really, simply getting back your own money, but after Black Friday any recognition of player rights is good recognition.

But US residents still cannot play poker on those sites, and for most US residents that means there is effectively no place to play at all. While a number of smaller networks and sites continue to accept US players, only the most diehard players are going to risk their money on these foreign sites after the events of Black Friday. Further, it is hard to see how these smaller sites can grow into big sites and not encounter the same fate that PokerStars and Full Tilt suffered. While I expect these sites to continue, and even to gain some new US players, their ability to continue US operations seems entirely dependent on remaining “small enough.”

So, for all practical purposes, Black Friday marked the end of US online poker as we have come to know it. Tens of thousands of professional players are now out of work. Many more people lost a part of their income. And millions of Americans lost some of their inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness.

Yet, as both a poker player and an attorney, I am trained to think long term. And long term I remain optimistic. One of the ironies of Black Friday is that leading up to it was a convergence of interests finally agreeing that the time for the US to recognize an openly legal and regulated online poker market was long overdue. Poker players had felt this way for quite some time. But now, with the loss of their profession or pastime staring them in the face, one can expect them to be even more strident in demanding that their political representatives give them what they want. And fast.

NOTE: The PPA receives significant funding through the trade group IGC which is funded significantly by PokerStars and FullTiltPoker. However, the views expressed by Mr. Fleming are his own, and Mr. Fleming receives no compensation from the PPA for his activities as a Board Member, nor for his advocacy work as a PPA state director and member.