50 Attorneys General DEMAND DoJ Action on Offshore Gaming
We've seen individual states take action against what they deem to be illegal online gaming, but something new happened on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. On that date, the National Association of Attorneys General, representing multiple jurisdictions in the United States, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi calling upon the Department of Justice (DoJ) to do more to address the “rampant spread of illegal offshore gaming operations.”
Who's Involved?
Of the seven-page letter, an entire four pages and part of a fifth are taken up solely by the names of the various attorneys general who have signed it. In fact, there are 50 distinct signatures on the document.
It is not the case, as some have reported, that the attorneys general from all U.S. states have signed the missive. But it's pretty close to all of them.
Of the 50 states, all but Kentucky, Montana, Texas, and Wisconsin have seen their attorneys general affix their signatures to the document. However, the 46 state attorneys general who did sign are joined by the attorneys general of the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, making a total of 50 signatories.
Four attorneys general are listed as being “co-leads” of the letter. They are:
- Andrea Joy Campbell of Massachusetts
- William Tong of Connecticut
- Mike Hilgers of Nebraska
- Derek Brown of Utah
Why Was the Letter Written?
The attorneys general, in explaining their reasons for requesting stronger enforcement from the DoJ, stated that offshore gambling operators “offer limited or non-existent consumer protections, fail to verify user age, ignore state boundaries, and evade taxation obligations potentially to both the Internal Revenue Service and our States.”
The gaming firms that we here at ProfessionalRakeback partner with typically host links to problem gambling resources, and most of them enforce KYC policies that include age verification. Many of them geolocate users and refuse service to those in certain markets. Therefore, we conclude that most of the behavior alleged by the letter writers does not apply to the majority of gaming providers.
We must concede, however, that these officials are absolutely correct when they mention paying taxes to the IRS or to the states. This is, we believe, the real reason for the letter and not any desire to protect consumers.
One paragraph of the letter reads:
Recent estimates show that the volume of illegal online gaming exceeds more than $400 billion annually, leading to more than $4 billion in lost tax revenue for state governments. Despite these staggering figures, enforcement has been scarce, only emboldening these illegal operators.
What Do They Want the DoJ to Do?
The attorneys general mention that for more than a decade, the DoJ has basically taken a hands-off approach to offshore gambling. They highlight the powers that the federal government has under the UIGEA and Illegal Gambling Business Act to disrupt the websites in question and seize assets belonging to operators. They therefore urge the DoJ to use the powers it possesses to combat these gaming services.
They also note that Visa and MasterCard have demonstrated a willingness to prevent their networks from being used to process transactions related to illegal gambling. They want the federal authorities to work closely with payment processors to stop the flow of funds to international internet gaming organizations.
In concluding the letter, the signers identified three specific areas in which they want the DoJ to coordinate closely with them:
- Pursue injunctive relief and website seizures under federal law;
- Seize assets and domain names of illegal offshore gaming operators; and
- Coordinate with financial institutions to block unlawful transactions and dismantle the financial infrastructure supporting these enterprises.
Black Friday an Example
The letter specifically mentions the Black Friday crackdown of 2011 as a model of past successful actions by the DoJ in fighting offshore real money gaming sites. However, this incident may not be the exemplary model that the attorneys general think it is.
Customers Not Safeguarded by Black Friday Activities
It's true that on Black Friday, prosecutors were able to seize the domains of four leading online poker sites and that they then closed to U.S. customers. However, plenty of other firms were ready to pick up the slack and saw signups from Americans surge.
Ironically, the site with the best reputation for honesty and fair play, PokerStars, was forced to exit, pushing users onto inferior platforms. Moreover, millions of dollars in player funds were seized, and they were not paid back until 2021 when the remissions process finally ended although those who didn't know about the process or neglected to file a timely claim lost their funds. Therefore, from a consumer protection perspective, Black Friday was a dismal failure.
Black Friday Legalities Questionable
In a ruling from 2022, a federal court clarified that the Federal Wire Act only applied to sports betting and not to online poker providers. Thus, running online poker sites does not trigger the UIGEA as prosecutors thought it did. It's unlikely that any attempt at a second Black Friday could ever get off the ground, legally speaking, and it's doubtful that the first Black Friday was even legally sound to begin with.
It's likely that the individuals involved were aware of this at that time. None of the Black Friday prosecutions went to trial and were instead ended when each of the accused pleaded guilty to at least one criminal count. It took until March 2020 for the final defendant, Isai Scheinberg, to enter his guilty plea, which was almost nine years after the Black Friday indictments were first revealed. The length of time it took to wrap up the entire affair, together with the slap-on-the-wrist punishments handed out to most defendants, made many question whether the entire enforcement action was worth the effort and resources expended.
States Attempting to Go It Alone
Within the past few years, we've witnessed an uptick in individual states attempting to convince offshore real money gaming companies to stop doing business with their residents. For example, the Michigan Gaming Control Board has been issuing cease-and-desist letters to offshore gambling organizations at least once a month, targeting such operators as Bovada, Bookmaker.eu, and Ignition Casino. Louisiana has sent similar letters to the Winning Poker Network, Coin Poker, and several other firms, and a few other states have been pursuing comparable strategies.
In some cases, like that of Bovada and the Winning Poker Network, operators have been convinced to exit certain states and have updated their terms and conditions to reflect this reality. In other instances, like those of Ignition and Coin Poker, site management appears to have ignored the letters and continues serving the states in question.
When their letters are not obeyed, it seems that states have little legal recourse. At least, their threats of vague further enforcement actions haven't materialized in any effective shape. This may be the reason that they're calling in the Feds now – so that there might actually be some bite behind their hitherto toothless demands.
Our Opinion
We feel that the lack of a repeat of Black Friday in the 14 years since it happened is telling. Had the federal government the desire and ability to go after online poker and gambling websites in the intervening time, they certainly would have done so. This has remained true during both Democratic and Republican administrations.
The online gaming industry has wised up considerably since that time too. The reason the DoJ was able to seize so much money from the sites back then was because gambling operators had established relationships with U.S. banks and were funneling considerable funds through the American banking industry. Now that they have ceased most, if not all, of their financial dealings within U.S. borders, there remains little for the authorities to seize. The development of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies has been most beneficial in this regard.
The Feds might have better success in seizing websites. However, even this would likely prove to be only an annoyance to gaming site management. We've seen that in Australia, when the authorities blacklist domain names, gaming firms simply set up alternate web addresses and encourage their users to change their DNS settings to bypass any attempts by the government to control their browsing habits.
In conclusion, we believe that the states are calling upon the DoJ to intervene because they lack the resources and/or legal wherewithal to achieve their objectives by themselves. But we think that the federal government is handicapped in this area as well and will be unable to deliver results that the states would find satisfactory.
No Federal Crackdowns Imminent
Regardless of what the states want the DoJ to do or think that the Feds might achieve, all of that lies in the future. The situation at present is that there are any number of reputable, upstanding offshore gaming platforms that you can use for online poker, casino, and sports wagering.
One of the leading ones is BetOnline. When you make a first deposit, you can redeem a 100% up to $1,000 poker bonus and claim additional promotions for the casino and sportsbook. Press the button below to open a BOL account:
To learn more about what BetOnline has to offer, you can read this informative BetOnline Poker review. For your other internet poker options as an American, check out this offshore USA poker guide.
Aug. 3, 2025 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief