This story is officially getting big.

Last week, Pokerati first reported that the Feds had frozen funds from Poker Stars, leaving players unable to cash out their winnings. Later that day, we received an email from a high-stakes Full Tilt player saying he tried to cash out a check, which bounced, and was unable to cash out his winnings as well.

Since then, it has come out that Wells Fargo, Citibank, and two smaller institutions received requests to freeze funds in accounts belonging to payment processors Allied Systems and Account Services.

The total take frozen: $33M.

The irony is that the majority of funds were frozen in California, but the request to freeze them came from the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, where it is not illegal to place bets. Speculation abounds that this is a last ditch effort by a staunch Republican U.S. Attorney on the way out to make some noise before he’s replaced by President Barack Obama’s new nominee for the job, Preet Bharara. Makes sense, but doesn’t make life easier for those trying to cash out winnings for the WSOP Main Event seats.

For now, read more at the NY Times here, NYC Rounders here, and Pokerati here.

* Thanks to Kid Dynamite for the link. How’s that KD.

Tagged as: Full Tilt Poker, Poker News, Poker Stars, Vikki Blows

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