Yorky Pud

Authorities in the United States of America have closed down a bank, with immediate effect, that was heavily linked to "Black Friday." The SunFirst Bank, based in Utah, was shut down last week by state regulators but has since re-opened under new ownership, calling itself Cache Valley Bank.

According to reports in the U.S, SunFirst Bank had been experiencing severe financial problems and had lost around $2,700,000 in the first six months of 2011, which made it an attractive option for American-facing online poker sites such as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to approach. It has been widely reported that PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker had invested in a number of banks in the United States so that they would turn a blind eye to processing funds used for playing online poker, which has been illegal in the US since the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2009.

The banks co-owner, John Campos, was one of the 11 men indicted by the American Department of Justice on April 15, now known as Black Friday. The 57-year old was named in six of the nine counts in the indictment that alledged SunFirst Bank processed payment for both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

It is believed that Campos, who pleased not guilty to any of the charges against him, agreed to process the illegal internet gambling transactions at the request of Chad Elie, a Las Vegas based businessman. Campos allegedly agreed to process these transaction for $20,000 and the promise of a $10,000,000 investment in his ailing bank. Both Campos and Elie were arrested shortly after Black Friday and both released on bail of $25,000 and $250,000 respectively.

Immediately after Black Friday both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker closed their doors to American customers something that played a major role in the demise of Full Tilt Poker. Although PokerStars had a huge American customer base they also invested heavily in advertising across the globe so their traffic was not as badly hit, plus when the American Department of Justice froze bank accounts connected to PokerStars, they were able to repay their American customers quickly thanks to having segregated accounts for each player.

However, Full Tilt Poker lost a massive percentage of their player pool and it quickly became apparent of a number of financial shortfalls within the company, shortfalls that saw their licence being revoked by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. Full Tilt Poker has been offline since its licence was initially suspended on June 29 and they are still to repay a single cent to any of their former customers.