It's almost a whole year since the dreadful events of Black Friday, April 15th 2011. It's the single most significant event in online poker's history and I wish to take the opportunity to recall the events of Black Friday via this blog.
A common theme I find when reading articles on the subject is where were you on Black Friday? I recall precisely where I was and whom I was with. At approximately 17:30 BST, myself and a few of my friends/colleagues from PokerStars, including a number of senior management were at the Terminus Tavern enjoying what should have been the 1st of many pints savoured in celebration of another hard worked week in the office.
Within a few moments, one of the more senior members excused himself to talk a phone call, before long a couple of other people's phones had gone off... all senior management and we knew something was up. At that very moment in time, all we knew was that the .COM domain had been seized and we were all in a panic. It didn't take long before we learnt that Full Tilt Poker had suffered the same fate, we could have barely cared less for AB/UB. Before we knew it, we'd abandoned our seats in the beer garden and were either heading home to await more news, or in my case (and a few others) I headed to the office to see what was going on. I think it's the only time in my career with PokerStars that I have ever felt insecure about my job, it was a very nervous and tense atmosphere at the office.
I was with a number of newly appointed staff, particularly Americans who had only just moved to the Isle of Man who were strangely excited by the drama, yet I'm sure they were fearful for the worst. Not a lot was going on at the PokerStars office in general, most of the staff had left, the Exec board were not there at that time. It was almost as if the DOJ bad waited for our core staff to leave before they flipped the switch and hit us HARD with almost no ability to react.
The only department in the Isle of Man which were busy were the web team. Naturally they had to assist in re-directing our sites, SEO and other such matters to a .EU domain to recover the traffic we were losing. For what it's worth they did an incredible job and worked many long hours in the immediate aftermath of the DOJ's actions. We spent the weekend wondering if we still had jobs and if our company had a future ...
Let's roll it back a little earlier, just to give you a sense of the shock involved, the timing and the magnitude. PokerStars had just announced a partnership with Wynn Casinos to potentially move back into a regulated US market, perhaps the single biggest thing to happen to our company in many years. Full Tilt Poker had just announced the Onix Cup, a series of super high stakes elitest tournaments to determine who the very best of the best in the tournament scene really were. The 2 biggest players in the game were readying themselves for massive global expansion... this was not on the cards whatsoever.
Literally out of nowhere, blackout. Having been a survivor (if you wish to call it that) of the UIGEA, the only other such event to pose a serious threat to online Poker and it certainly was a game changer. I was working a for an online gaming company that was considerably less committed to gaming (especially Poker) in the United States and folded to the legislative fear-mongering quicker than a nit facing a 3-bet. Out of the dismay of the UIGEA, the deadwood losts the industry, whilst the cream rose to the top. PokerStars became the shining becon of all good things 'Internet Poker'. Full Tilt Poker became the premier place for high stakes and legendary poker degeneracy.
Since the UIGEA, the true forces of the online game have improved the scene for all concerned enormously. We now have better promotions, better software, more security, established live events that are feeding new and exciting talent with the coverage and money they deserve. However there are such dark dark days ahead...
From my perspective, my personal concerns were almost immediately dissolved. One of the owners of PokerStars took time to personally speak to every individual (myself included) to reassure them that jobs were safe and no one would be losing their job, we faced an enormous challenge but we would get through it. Hearing that from someone so significant left me in no doubt.. especially as our owners are about as passionate about the industry as you can be. Further more the US situation actually created work for me and I had something of a career-detour for 9 months but all a good experience.
It wasn't so good for Full Tilt Poker. They were exposed as a poorly ran business, despite their technical brillance and alot of good people lost their jobs or lost their bank rolls, leaving an indelible scar on the paranoid conscience of the Poker playing public forever. Others who lost their online career based out of the US were forced to seek a new life in a far away place, the face of the game is forever changed.
What I want to end this blog is the point of something so special, that was so nearly lost.. it's damaged but it can be reborn. Do not take for granted that you can play the game you love at your local casino, in your kitchen or at a plethora of websites. Make the most of your passion for it, appreciate the people who deliver these great games and enjoy it whilst you can, you never know when your government will take it away from you.
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