[Nate tha\\\' Great]

Although I'm very gloomy about the online poker situation overall, I think there's some overreaction to this particular piece of news. I think the USAO is smarter than it's being given credit for, and is really more interested in sort of cutting off the supply than getting into the legal and public relations quagmire of auditing or confiscating the funds of a lot individual players. When Neteller left the US market immediately and left the online gambling industry in a very difficult spot, about 95% of their goal was accomplished.

But basically, both sides have an interest in seeing that players get their money back. The USAO wants that money back in the United States and it wants Uncle Sam to be able to collect taxes on it. To some extent, you could also argue that their actions are designed to "protect" American consumers from the evils of online gambling, rather than to punish them. Neteller wants US citizens to get their money back because they're not going to be able to keep it in their coffers anyway, and they'd rather not tarnish their reputation as they re-focus on the reasonably viable European market.