The action occurred around June 8, 2009, when the government ordered four banks to freeze over 34 million dollars in payments owed to about 27,000 poker players.
This provision prohibits the transfer of funds from a financial institution to an Internet gambling site, with the notable exceptions of fantasy sports, online lotteries, and horse/harness racing.
[2] Numerous studies have shown that poker is a game of skill, for example pointing to the predictive power of player's rankings on future success.
[1] Arlo Devlin-Brown, the assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, says that the U.S. government can seize the funds "because they constitute property involved in money laundering transactions and illegal gambling offenses.
According to one theory, the National Football League, an opponent of expanding internet gambling, pressured the Southern District to retaliate in light of Frank's proposal.
Rose explains that California law enforcement agencies raided a retirement home bingo game shortly before a vote to raise people's awareness of the issue.
[1][9] Finally, Rose speculates that the U.S. Department of Justice may have seized the accounts as a money grab on the belief that nobody would fight the seizure in court.