Poker refugees

THE BLACK Friday cloud is still hanging over the poker community. Professional poker players in the USA have been banned since April and have somewhat had their hands tied behind their backs.

A new service, Poker Refugees, has been launched recently offering to relocate beleaguered card players to “poker-friendly countries” around the world. Poker players or refugees? It seems like there is a thin line between the two now.
The service launched in retaliation to the US Department of Justice’s clampdown on online poker operators. Just to recap, although I’m sure no one has forgotten, the three biggest poker sites in the world were closed to US traffic and their executives indicted by the FBI on numerous charges, including money laundering and bank fraud. That left the doors firmly closed to American customers and leaving hoards of professional players without a source of income.

“They’re not moving outside of the US because they want to go on vacation, or because they want to pay less taxes,” said Kristin Wilson, a real-estate agent based in Costa Rica, and a partner in Poker Refugees. “They’re moving because they have to keep their job, keep their career and support their families.”

“Thoughts went through my mind about other options,” said Kenneth Smaron, 26, from Philadelphia, who has played professionally for five years and relocated with two poker-playing friends to Hermosa Beach in Costa Rica in late July. “But reality set in and right now the only thing for me is to be up and running online to survive.”
In order to reactivate frozen online poker accounts, the operators require players to demonstrate proof of a non-American bank account and overseas domicile. The Poker Refugees relocation package, which costs $1,000 per person, helps players to arrange housing and personal administration, as well as set up the other essentials for online poker players, including an internet connection – and the phone number of the closest pizza delivery outlet.

“Most poker players are not really go-getters about stuff like this,” said Adam Small, the co-founder of the online poker community PocketFives.com, which is behind Poker Refugees. “And this is a sort of monumental thing, moving to another country.”

Other high-profile poker professionals have moved to Malta, Mexico and Brazil. Life as a poker refugee can be good. In Costa Rica, for instance, small networks of players have already been established, living in gated communities close to the beach.