This pretty much describes how shitty it is to be an online poker player in the US right now.
Bovada (Bodog) have been longtime experts at payment processing. I'm not being mocking or sarcastic here. For all of their LOL customer service gaffes, they are freaking geniuses when it comes to the quick, efficient, and consistent processing of payouts. They have also avoided any kind of major bust or scandal in their entire 14 year history, which is also impressive, especially since they have offered sportsbetting, which is a huge no-no in the US.
They are currently the #1 US-facing site, and in fact sources have indicated to me that they don't want to grow anymore because they're afraid they are getting too big!
Anyway, Bovada currently provides both wire cashouts (to most states) and checks. These do come with some annoying fees and costs, especially for high limit players. Checks are a maximum of $3000, and you can only request one per 7 days. You get one free check per calendar month, and the rest are $50 each. Wire can be up to $9500 (sometimes less depending upon your state), but you lose a few hundred bucks in currency conversion on the US side, because the funds are sent in euros. Also, you get one free wire per calendar month, and then they charge you $50 for additional wires, which again can only be requested once every 7 days.
So it's far from a perfect situation, but on the bright side, you reliably get your money and can move large sums into your bank account fairly quickly by today's standards.
Bovada has kept this strong cashout situation with an expert-level degree of vigilance and caution when it comes to their payout department. They are always seemingly one step ahead of the DOJ.
Unfortunately, this vigilance can sometimes negatively affect players.
Recently Bovada has come up with a (possibly correct) theory that the DOJ has a list of "confirmed poker players" who are likely to receive wire transfers from illegally operating poker sites. Bovada believes that the DOJ has given a list of these "confirmed poker players" to banks across the US, with the instruction to inform them if any of these people receive a large (4 figure) wire. Then, presumably, the DOJ will trace the funds back to the processor, and bust them. This will likely be transparent to the player, who will never be contacted by the DOJ about the matter (though their bank may close their account after this).
Who is a "confirmed poker player"? It's not clear. It might be people who come up in a google search for "poker pro". It might be people seen playing poker on TV. It might be active players grabbed from the Full Tilt Poker remissions list. It's not clear, but Bovada thinks the government has a list.
And Bovada thinks I'm a confirmed poker player, which to the DOJ seems almost equivalent to a confirmed sex offender or confirmed leper.
Dear Mr. Witteles
We’re contacting you about your recent payout requests via our Bank Wire method with Reference Numbers XXXXXX in the amount of $X,XXX.00.
We received notification from our Payouts Team that we're unable to process anymore Bank Wire payouts to confirmed Poker Players. If you'd like to continue to receive payments by this method, you'll need to open a new bank account under a corporate account. Please note, the account must be under a name that is non-gaming related. In the meantime, the Bank Wire method has been disabled on your account.
If opening a new bank account isn't something you're able to do, we can proceed with sending the funds through either Check by Courier. The maximum payout for check is $3000 once every 7 days.
Please confirm how you'd like to proceed at your earliest convenience. We understand this may be an inconvenience and we extend our apologies, however, this new policy is something out of our control. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.
Thanks,
Bovada Player Advocacy