Skip to main content

Online poker king Brent Beckley pleads guilty to fraud

pokernight by chrischappelear via Flickr
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Brent Beckley, one of the founders of Costa Rica-based Absolute Poker, has plead guilty (PDF) in a U.S. case to charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to violate a U.S. ban on Internet gambling. Beckley and other defendants at Absolute Poker continued to accept credit card payments from U.S.-based gamblers after the United States barred banks from processing payments to offshore gambling sites in 2006. Absolute Poker’s response was simple: instead of charging for gambling, they created hundreds of fictional online merchants and charged their gambling customers for things like flowers, jewelry, pet supplies, and golf balls.

Beckley is a U.S. citizen, and served as Absolute Poker’s director of payment processing. He faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison, although the sentence guidelines in his plea agreement recommend 12 to 18 months in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 19, 2012.

Four other defendants have been charged in regard to the operation: Bradley Frazen plead guilty last May and awaits sentencing; trail for Ira Rubin and Chad Elie is scheduled to begin March 12, 2012. The investigation and prosecution of online poker enterprises is being headed up by the office of U.S. Attorney Pree Bharara in Manhattan; Bharara’s office is also pursuing Isle of Man-baed PokerStars and Ireland’s Full Tilt Poker, alleging the companies set up similar front companies to disguise the nature of U.S> credit card payments being made to offshore gambling operations. The case is seeking at least $3 billion in penalties and forfeitures.

According to H2 Gambling Capital, the worldwide online gambling market will account for about $30 billion in 2011; of that, the online poker market accounts for a bit over $5 billion.

In 2006, the United States’ Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act prohibited businesses from accepting bets or wagers via the Internet. The law had an immediate impact, with most publicly-traded overseas online gambling sites ceasing to accept U.S. players. Online gambling companies cannot operate legally in the United States: although some states specifically bar online gambling, any online gambling operation would require a state license to operate, and currently no states offer such licenses.

[Image via Christopher Chappelear.]

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
How to change your language in Google Chrome on desktop
Chrome OS

Google Chrome supports a wide range of languages. While it'll default to English in most cases, there's nothing stopping you from changing its settings and displaying pages in Spanish, French, or dozens of other languages.

Changing your default language in Chrome takes only a few seconds, and the technique used is the same across Windows and Mac. Aside from changing your language, note that Chrome now gives you the option to automatically translate pages written in another language – making it easy to read content from around the globe.

Read more
23 of the best Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks
The Netflix home screen.

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming platforms for all things movies and TV shows. Home to an immense library of titles, the Netflix archive is constantly changing and evolving, and so are the many ways you can use your Netflix account. 

For instance, did you know you can access region-locked Netflix shows and flicks by using a VPN? Or that you can disable that pesky Autoplay feature? There are tons of Netflix hacks, tips, and tricks out there, so we’ve gone ahead and rounded up all of our favorites! 
Expand your streaming with a VPN

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more