Online Professionals Give Details On Their Plans For The Immediate Future

Friday morning, the Department of Justice indicted the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB, effectively ending real-money online poker for United States citizens. For the casual player, the forced hiatus is nothing more than an inconvenience, but for professional online players, the suspension is an end to their livelihood and a major hit to their wallets.

Card Player reached out to numerous online professionals to get their take on the indictment and to find out what their plans are for the immediate future.

Jason “JP OSU” Potter — ($1.8 million in tournament earnings)

I have been considering going back to school for quite some time now independent of these legal developments. Honestly, this was just the push I needed. The upcoming World Series of Poker will probably be my last hurrah. I’ll go back and finish my undergraduate degree and then I’ll likely go to law school. I’ll always play poker because I still love it, but this is pretty much the end to my time as a full-time pro.

Steve “gboro780” Gross — ($4.1 million in tournament earnings)

My first priority is to get better at live poker, then I can concentrate on some things that aren’t poker related. It will be nice to actually relax on Sundays. If things get really bad, I could always apply for a job at Del Taco.

Zachary “HustlerGrune” Gruneberg — ($1.4 million in tournament earnings)

I’m just going to wait it out. I’ll be okay financially for years and with the World Series of Poker coming up, I’ll already be playing enough poker anyway. I have a pretty optimistic viewpoint on this whole issue. Getting poker regulated will be the nuts. It’s just a matter of time.

David “Doc Sands” Sands — ($2.4 million in tournament earnings)

I really like my live game right now and I’m fortunate to be bankrolled to play just about everything on the live circuit, so I’m not too concerned. That being said, I am very glad that I finished college and have a degree to fall back on.

Thayer “THAY3R” Rasmussen — ($2.6 million in tournament earnings)

I’ll probably try out the live pro thing for a bit or look into other entrepreneurial endeavors. After the World Series of Poker, I might consider moving to another country.

Dan “HundoFight” O’Brien — ($1.1 million in tournament earnings)

This news was certainly disappointing, but I’m primarily a live player so it’s not life ending. I’m still going to travel the circuit, but I’ll probably focus a little more time on my business and live cash games. I am definitely voting for Ron Paul in 2012. He is the only politician I trust to do anything, whether I agree with his views or not. I also think online poker will be legalized and regulated within the next two years.

Jason “jdpc27” Wheeler — ($1.5 million in tournament earnings)

My immediate plans are to establish residency in Mexico and continue to play online, albeit with reduced prize pools, until everything is sorted out. I honestly believe that Canada or Mexico will be a temporary solution for many.

Adam “squee451” Sherman — ($1.1 million in tournament earnings)

Right now I’m undecided between moving to a foreign country to play online or just going back to grad school. I’ll probably make my decision after the end of the World Series of Poker.

Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar — ($1.2 million in tournament earnings)

I was a live pro before online poker was cool and I can do it again. Otherwise, I’ll go do something honorable, like crash the U.S. gold market with leveraged options contracts through 2015.

Anthony “holdplz” Spinella — ($2.1 million in tournament earnings)

I’m going to see how long it looks like it will take for online poker to return. If it becomes apparent that it’s not coming back, moving out of the country is definitely an option.

Joseph “subiime” Cheong — ($4.7 million in tournament earnings)

I might travel the world, playing and living here and there from month to month. Other than that, I plan to play a lot of golf and workout. The sites will be back before I could establish citizenship anywhere else anyway.

Luke “Bdbeatslayer” Vrabel — ($2.8 million in tournament earnings)

For the time being, I’m going to enjoy my money and play a little live poker. It was fun while it lasted, but I always knew that the government was just waiting to pounce. I’m just surprised that everyone else is so stunned by this news. If you are dumb enough to have 90 percent of your net worth online, well, good luck. I know some players who have $500,000 online that are asking me for loans just because their money is going to be locked up for awhile.

Jason “NovaSky” Koon — ($2.1 million in tournament earnings)

My plans are to play a large number of live tournaments and perhaps some live cash games. There’s a chance that I’ll be looking for a spot in another country for a few years to play online.

Jeremiah “Believer82” Vinsant — ($2.8 million in tournament earnings)

I’m going to have to start playing all of the live events in the United States. I’m also considering making the move to an area such as Nevada or Florida where there is some good action.

Mike “goleafsgoeh” Leah — ($2.3 million in tournament earnings)

Well, first off, this sucks. Secondly, being a Canadian, my immediate plans are pretty much the status quo. I expect PokerStars to continue with the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), albeit with much smaller guarantees. I’m still waiting to see what Full Tilt Poker does with the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS).

Dan “djk123” Kelly — ($4.1 million in tournament earnings)

I’m going to join the world Scrabble tour.

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