There has been speculation about the truth behind the closure of poker sites in the US, which took place on Friday.
The founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were among 11 people charged by a US federal grand jury in a case that seeks at least $3bn in forfeitures and penalties, with the authorities alleging that these poker sites laundered money and defrauded banks to get around the US gambling laws.
Speaking to iNTERGAMINGi yesterday, managing director of eMainstream Marketing, Mark McGuinness, commented: "Perhaps Black Friday could be all about timing and could be another mechanism or game play to potentially lock out foreign operators who have rightly or wrongly under the eyes of authorities illegally pillaged the US government and American people of billions and billions of US dollars in tax, which could allow the home team to operate in the domestic market place without international competition."
McGuinness likened the events of last Friday to a semi bluff - the act of betting on your hand when your hand is not made yet - and asked if the chips are really down for the poker Industry or is it just another part of a bigger poker strategy play? He stated: "My own view to support this is - and firstly you need to understand American culture on a local and global basis - that without exception they look after number one (the home team). Just for a second consider the US foreign policy activities around the globe to support that line of reasoning."
He added: "Yes, the US wants to make an example and does have legitimate claims, but what if this is all about protecting the home interest in a very fragile economy? I for one could see the possibility that instead of decelerating the passage of online poker or other forms of gambling that this could accelerate at a federal level, because of the billions at stake in lost revenue. It could and would bolster several state economies on the brink, never mind the inward investment and job creation in the employment market that legal poker would bring now that the competition has been wiped out.
"Of course, it is still much more complicated than this and the semi-bluff game is still in play."
