Tony G. Poker’s hand is forced by US Government!
It’s a very, very sad day for Tony G. There are no options for me to keep the room open to USA players.
I feel very sad for all of you good folks in the USA but your government is very aggressive right now and is running loose. Neteller money has been seized from people that have done nothing wrong. Who knows if and when it will be returned to the people it belongs to. And where will the government stop in its quest to wipe out internet poker?
My legal advice is not to close, but the hosting company in Malta also wants to close the doors to USA players. I could still keep Tony G. Poker going, since I believe poker is a game of skill, but with the USA government on a rampage, happy to freeze the funds of players that only wanted to play poker, that will put everyone at great risk as we have no way to pay our USA players.*
I am just the face in front of the site and can’t do what I would like to do. My hand was forced today and I have no say in this thing. The following is an email that is being sent to everyone in the USA with an account at Tony G. Poker:
Dear Valued Player,
We have recently experienced some unexpected technical issues which required immediate attention. The problem has been resolved, however a NEW version of our Poker client is required.
To download the new, client simply follow the steps below:
Step 1: Go to Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs
Step 2: Find TonyG Poker in the list and click the Remove button to uninstall it.
Step 3: Download the latest client installer from http://www.tonygpoker.com/download/
Step 4: Run TonyGPokerSetup.exe once it has finished downloading
Step 5: Your existing username and password will continue to work
Further to this, due to recent changes in the US legislation, we regret that we can no longer continue to allow US players access to our money tables. All players who have an account registered with a US country code will no longer have access to our money tables, however will still be allowed access to our free money tables.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
Tony G Poker
*The only way possible to withdraw your funds from Tony G. Poker at this time is by doing the following:
1) Transfer your funds to Tony, his player id is “Tony G�
2) Once the transfer is complete, send an email to “support@tonygpoker.com� detailing the amount you transferred, your player id, and one of the three accounts you would like your funds transferred to: UltimateBet, FullTilt, or PokerStars - also giving your player ID on the site you want your funds transferred to. (If you don’t have an account at one of those sites, please click on a banner on the left and open a real money account at the one of your choice).
Regrettably, there is no banking option open at this time since everything is being closed to USA citizens and the government’s strong arm tactics of protecting our borders from poker has removed yet another freedom.
I want you to know that I will do my best to guarantee payment to you and keep your faith in dealing with me. You can check back here for updates.
Pokerworks.com
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February 10th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Thank you for your efforts. Please retain my info so that I can be notified if you can allow US players in the future. Loved your site.
Bruce
February 10th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Hi Tony, I’m Coy Roy at your site.
I already requested a payout earlier(prior to reading this) by check……now the site shows my balance at $0.00
Could you please have them return the funds to my account, so I can transfer it to you?
February 10th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
hey..im a uk player and the same has happened to me…is that standard…do i just download the new version also…not to mention i have a tidy sum on there…and i want to continue playing…but am worried about my funds…
February 10th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
this is getting rediculous all of the us players should be emailing and calling there representitives non stop until we are again allowed to be called the land of the free. f the terrorists if we continue to bow down to them who has really won this so called war on terrorism. not us thats for sure. they have gotten exactly what they wanted– to disrupt our lives and our way of living now we have to deal with our own government taking away our freedoms again i ask who has won!!
February 10th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Has anyone tried getting their money out yet? It seems like a strange method. Uninstall, transfer funds to Tony G?
Also, U.S. government SUCKS!
brian
February 11th, 2007 at 6:04 am
Thanks for keeping us up to date here Tony.
I’ve now transferred you my entire balance along with the pertinent info for my UB account.
I hope there is some way that US citizens could return one day as we are all just victims of this embarrasing government.
Coy Roy
February 11th, 2007 at 9:41 am
i think its a great idea to send money to tonyg im sure hes trying his best to make sure usa players dont lose there money
weather he transfers to a another site that u play in or send u a personal cheque for ur ammount at least they get it
great job tony and best of luck with the site
February 11th, 2007 at 10:00 am
Why didnt the site give ANY notice I KNOW the site knew of this well befor it happend( weeks im sure) you could have givein ALL usa players an advanced notice to withdrawl there funds via check, seems like an attemp by tonygpoker to retain players funds im sure after some amount of time said funds will become property of the site, i know its the U.S. goverment doing this however where was our fair warning? And now i did what the eamil stated uninstall and redownload the software but it WONT reinstall! now i cannot even transfer my funds??!!the rest of the worlds players should be very concerned over this!!!THANK You for the fair warning tonygpoker!
February 11th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I’m just a little confused now. After receiving the email from support this morning I followed the instructions to transfer my account balance to another (previously set up) site.
However, when I read the above, it appears as though I need to transfer my funds directly to Tony.
Hope someone from support (or anyone that has done this already) will respond.
February 11th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
thanks for being honest with us.
February 11th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
I have tranfered my entire roll to tony g and am waiting to here from support. Someone post something if they know the expected length of time this process may take.
February 11th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
I hope I can answer a few of the questions that are asked here in the comments section.
I too uninstalled and reinstalled ‘Tony G. Poker’, and I couldn’t connect to the site with the new software install. I tried another computer - BINGO! I was in. I transferred my account funds to Tony G.
I sent an email to ’support@tonygpoker.com’ and asked to have my funds transferred to my PokerStars account, outlining my user name on Stars, my users name on TonyGPoker, and the amount I transferred to Tony G.
Early this a.m., I received the following email from support:
Issue: tabletango US Withdrawals
Issue Number: 8510
Creation Date: 02/11/2007
Description:
US Withdrawals
Hello Linda,
Thank you for the e-mail.
Your request has been forwarded.
Kind regards,
Don.
I don’t know what the time frame for everyone will be, it’s been roughly 24 hours since I submitted my initial email. A few minutes ago I received this email from PokerStars:
Hello PokerWorks,
We have transferred $????.?? to your account as requested by ‘pokernews’.
Good luck to you both.
Regards,
PokerStars Cashier
I blanked out the amount because I don’t feel that’s anyone’s business.
On Tony G. knowing the site was closing in advance, and not telling anyone about it, I do not believe that is true. I believe that Tony kept hope that his site would stay up and running and was just informed by his banking agency that handles the site transfers, the hosting company that ran the site, and his attorney within the last day or two that Tony was out of options.
If you can’t install/reinstall and connect to the site, try another computer. If you’ve transferred the funds to someone else besides ‘Tony G’, you need to immediately contact support and ask for their help.
All of the players funds were held in a separate account and were not kept in an account for operating expenses.
Please keep the faith. I believe Tony G will take care of everything.
February 12th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Tony,
My account name is FearMyBluff, I have just transfered my entire balance to you along with my player info at Full Tilt Poker.
The US government is taking our liberty to play skill and entertaining game in a flat world is no better than Chinese government’s human rights abuse.
February 12th, 2007 at 2:31 am
Once again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
We will do everything in our power to make sure that players are cashed out as soon as possible. All pending withdrawals will be done in order of receipt and in a timely fashion.
If you have any further concerns, please contact us at support@tonygpoker.com
February 12th, 2007 at 6:31 am
I had the great pleasure of meeting Tony at the Aussie Millions recently and am certain that by his actions he will ensure you get paid out and has enforced this by his offer to players to pay into his PERSONAL acount and get paid via several poker room transfer methods into YOUR account, thus bypassing the current US totally screwed situation so you CAN get your money.
February 12th, 2007 at 9:49 am
As a friend of Tony G, I am infuriated by a couple of the above comments. Tony tried his hardest to keep the US players playingfor as long as he could, in opposition to the US government’s hardline stance on online gaming. He has now been forced to abide by the decisions made by other parties. It sounds to me like Tony is going out of his way to keep people informed and to make sure all funds are reimbursed as soon as possible. If you are looking for people to blame, then you are looking in the wrong direction!!!
February 12th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I agree with Damien on this. Our elected representatives who hear and obey the religious right have the final say. It matters not that the Haggards, Bakers and the rest of the reborn christens have some vices they have an inordinate way in espousing their viewpoint on the average American. I dont blame Tony but I do blame are hypocritical society.
February 13th, 2007 at 1:05 am
now I’m confused. I know I don’t know something. How the PartyPoker, PokerStars goes on and are able to provide poker games for american citizens, but TonyG no? where is the clue?
February 13th, 2007 at 1:54 am
I got my transfer to Stars, as promised, by following the instructions. I was able to do the un/reinstall on the same computer, and received the funds in full (not a big amount) in slightly less than 24 hours. Thank you, Tony and associates, for handling this as quickly and painlessly as possible.
February 13th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I’m glad to see some people are being paid……..
I’m in my 3rd day since withdraw and despite the transfer being completed to Tony, I still haven’t received my funds.
Tony? Support?
February 13th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Thanks for all the help Tony G. for getting the trsansfer to Poker Stars. Look forward to playing on your site again.
February 13th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
hi….just reading the posts and even though I transfered my money to tony’s account and opened a new account on full tilt on 2/10….have not seen 1 dime put into my account……im hoping this is on the up and up since full tilt has no agreement w tony g……
February 13th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I want everyone to know what a great site Tonyg is. I have played multiple online sites and have never played one that was so good. I hope to continue playing once this big ordeal passes. I was skepticle as first about transferrring all of my money to Tony, but now I have full faith that he will get me my money back. I want to thank Tony himself and his staff for this. I will trust any site run by Tony G and hope to be able to play free in the future.
February 13th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
can someone please make heads or tails out of these emals:
From : support@tonygpoker.com <support@tonygpoker.com>
Reply-To : support@tonygpoker.com
Sent : Sunday, February 11, 2007 11:19 AM
To : johnjohn0805@msn.com
Subject : dennycrain transfer query ISSUE=8544 PROJ=3
| | | Inbox
When replying, type your text above this line.
———————————————-
Notification of Issue Change
**********DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL**********
Issue: dennycrain transfer query
Issue Number: 8544
Creation Date: 02/11/2007
Description:
Hello John,
This is a player to player transfer, and our accounting desk has advised that
the funds should be in your Full Tilt account within 24 hours.
Kind regards,
Jean
then today i get this one:
From : support@tonygpoker.com <support@tonygpoker.com>
Reply-To : support@tonygpoker.com
Sent : Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:47 PM
To : johnjohn0805@msn.com
Subject : dennycrain transfer query ISSUE=8544 PROJ=3
| | | Inbox
When replying, type your text above this line.
———————————————-
Notification of Issue Change
**********DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL**********
Issue: dennycrain transfer query
Issue Number: 8544
Creation Date: 02/11/2007
Description:
Hello John,
Your incoming funds will be a peer to peer (player to player) transfer.
We do not know the exact timing of the transfer process on Full Tilt Poker.
Regards,
Don.
are they passing the buck or what
February 13th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Hey FUlaw how long did it take for your money to get transferred to stars?
February 13th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
It has been 72 hours for me as well. Transfer to Tony went through at 11:08 Central on 2/12
February 13th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
latest email from tony g support……….if anyone can email me at johnjohn0805@msn.com that has honestly gotten their $$$$ especially if it was with full tilt poker….i would appreciate it
From : support@tonygpoker.com <support@tonygpoker.com>
Reply-To : support@tonygpoker.com
Sent : Tuesday, February 13, 2007 6:40 PM
To : johnjohn0805@msn.com
Subject : dennycrain pending withdrawl quesy ISSUE=8819 PROJ=3
| | | Inbox
When replying, type your text above this line.
———————————————-
Notification of Issue Change
**********DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL**********
Issue: dennycrain pending withdrawl quesy
Issue Number: 8819
Creation Date: 02/13/2007
Description:
Hi John,
The transfer are being processed as quickly as possible.
We do not have any posted time for completion of the transfers.
Your request has been forwarded to our Accounting Desk.
Kind regards,
Sandy
TonyGPoker Support
February 13th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
I received my money, thanks alot Tony for being the stand up guy I always knew you were.
I hope you keep trying to find an alternative so US players can return.
February 13th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Just got my money at UltimateBet. I would have to say thank you to all the support the the TonyG people have provided. Thank you very much. I hope that we US players will be able to come back and play at tonyG
February 14th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Hey guys! Tony G will keep his word. Don’t worry. I received my transfer this evening at UB. Betcha they’ll all be in by the end of the week, if not before.
February 14th, 2007 at 12:23 am
We are working through each withdrawal in the order they came in.
Once again we apologise for the inconvenience. It will take some time to get through them all, but we will make sure they all get done.
We thank you for your patience.
February 14th, 2007 at 7:07 am
I transferred my money right after the announcement was made then mailed support with instructions for full tilt. Its been 4-5 days still noting in my full tilt account.
February 14th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
how are they doing this in the order they came in???? I did my transfer on 2/10 at 11am est………….this is bullsh.it……….2/14 3pm est STILL NO $$$ INTO MY FULL TILT ACCOUNT
February 14th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Well it is good to see some people are getting there money! Its been two days since I transfered and it is still pending so I was starting to lose hope. I will miss playing with everyone from tonyg/gamesgrid.
February 14th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
it has been 4 days now since i transfered my money to tonyg so it could be put in my pokerstars account.i have yet to receive any money.i have e-mailed support@tonygpoker.com and my e-mails come back undeliverable.i really liked most of the players on tonyg and really hated to see it go.but i would really like my money transfered.can anyone help me?hell just screw the us government and their beaurocratic bullshit.has anyone noticed how the foreign countries are getting more freedoms and the us is taking more of ours away.
February 15th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Well,im starting to lose hope again, 2 days after transfer my money is back on gamesgrid? Guess I will try again.Tony please help!!
February 15th, 2007 at 5:15 am
5 DAYS AND STILL NO $$$$$ JUST AMAZING…..ALSO NO RETURN EMAILS FROM SUPPORT………….SCAM ALERT!!!!
February 15th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
ok….i came on here and was a bit upset….but….MONEY TRANSFERED 5MINS AGO!!! I MISS TONY G POKER!!! LOT MORE FISH THERE…..FULL TILT TOUGH SITE
February 15th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
the whole process took just over 72 hours to transfer my ‘roll to stars. it might seem weird but it’s legit. i’m just happy some way was made available to cash out.
February 16th, 2007 at 6:55 am
My money hit my PS acct last nite. A big thanks to TonyG for proving the faith to be well placed.
February 16th, 2007 at 11:36 am
I had only played for 3 days on TonyG before the closure to American players. Bad timing. Some sites contiue to risk reprisals from the American government and some just say the hell with it. It’s certainly not TonyG’s fault.
I followed Tony’s instructions to transfer my money to him and then email "support." The money showed up in my Pokerstars account in 48 hours. Those of you whose money has been delayed…have faith. It will undoubtedly get worked out…….See you all elswhere!!
February 16th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
My transfer to Pokerstars took 3 days. At least we had an opportunity to transfer our funds. I’ve also got money tied up from Neteller. Really enjoyed playing at TonyG’s.
February 16th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Thanks TonyG
I just got my money transferred to U.B. It took about 5 days, but it happened. U.S. government is really screwed up right now. Damn sad.
zonker
February 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
My transfer went to pokerstars as promised. I wish I could still play on games grid. It is a very honest site. Good luck to them.
February 16th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
it’s been 5 day now and no transfer of funds???? Send a couple of emails and no responce
February 16th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
I got my transfer from gamesgrid as promised. I think Tony G did a super job under a tough situation. I hope his poker sites much luck.
February 17th, 2007 at 7:47 am
hi admin / suport,
It is saturday nite (in Oz) and i am wanting to play. After reading this thread am concerned for all tonyg members. I am unable to get on to the site at all. the sign in will not even load. Is there too many playin right now or has george bush sucked the lawyers dry with ideas, resulting in no play at all??
please advise if i have lost my money with out been dealt a hand?
I don’t care about the money just the play, hope all is well.
Kindest Regards
Benjamin
February 17th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Its is important to make sure your transfer all your balance including cents. I tried transfering mine with out the cents and they sent my balance back to my account.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Good Luck Tony!!! The USA players will always be here waiting for the idiots in our government to pull their heads outta their asses. Wait for us!!
February 19th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
see loose change on google video about 9/11 coverup
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7866929448192753501
February 21st, 2007 at 3:07 pm
been 10 (TEN) days since i requested my funds be transferd to poker stars,got a email stateing its being processed, sent another email 3 or 4 days ago and still no reply?!
February 21st, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Am I the only person that has not recieved their money back yet?
February 21st, 2007 at 4:50 pm
I got an email stating transfer to Ultimate Bet accepted 10 days ago and still waiting for it to take place…..hopefully soon!!!!! Im gonna miss this site
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:41 pm
We would like to thank everybody for their patience in this matter.
We are working through the bulk of transfer requests and would like to assure you all that your money is safe and you will receive your funds.
Once again, thank you for your patience.
February 24th, 2007 at 6:10 am
Yea,no luck here yet either.Been about 8 days. Hopfuly I get it by at least monday:(
February 26th, 2007 at 8:04 am
They ask to be patient. But it’s been 2 weeks since I submitted my request and it still hasnt occurred. While the first request to transfer the money was responded to quickly. Subsequent emails go unanswered.
February 26th, 2007 at 9:16 am
I keep trying to transfer my money to Tony and it’s being returned. Support is not answering my emails. Anyone else having this problem?
February 26th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Hi Mom! How are you? They kept sending my money back because I wasnt including the cents.You have to include the entire balance incuding cents. In the last email I got from them I was also told to send to username- TonyGTrans .Im not sure if anyone else has got this email. It has been 8 days since my transfer has been complete and still no funds:(. Anyways,it was always a joy seeing you at the table and I hope I was of some help
February 26th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
It’s been 3 weeks since support sent me an email saying that they have site and the amount to be transferred. I sent mine in so long ago and still no word.
February 27th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Creation Date: 02/13/2007
Description:
Hi,
Remaining funds for US players may now only be processed through
ePassporte.
If you made a transfer request, your funds will be returned to your
account for withdrawal by ePassporte instead.
Please reply to this e-mail with your ePassporte ID so we can process
your withdrawal.
If you do not have an ePassporte account, please open one at
www.ePassporte.com.
Kind regards,
Jean
TAKE NOTE of the creation date of this email yet i only recieved this on the 27th of feb??LOL and this ePassporte requires one to deposite $25 to be able to use it? so what,it can be froze in the account like neteller? im sure very soon it will be! THANKS AGAIN TONYGPOKER AND GAMESGRID FOR THE BIG SCREW
March 1st, 2007 at 11:29 am
Issue: wkid1 US Withdrawals Ultimate Bet
Issue Number: 8584
Creation Date: 02/11/2007
Description:
Hi ,
We’re sorry for any inconvenience, but Support doesn’t have tracking information
about your funds once the transfer request has been sent to Accounting.
We appreciate your confidence in entrusting your funds to this transfer process,
and thank you for your patience.
Please be assured that your funds will be processed as quickly as possible.
Kind regards,
Jean
That’s the latest email I received…..
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:32 am
My funds were NOT sent back to me, the transfer was NOT completed to my Fulltilt account. I asked them to please try again and they sent me an email telling me that the more I ask, the longer they will make it take. This is ridiculous! So much for a good business acumen. I have been ripped off !!!!
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 am
I got the same email as Kid 1. Couldnt they have gave us some kind of warning to let us withdrawl and save all the players and support the frustrations? Im glad to see alot of people recieved thier money, but Im starting to think some of us may not.
March 4th, 2007 at 1:25 am
I received the same e-mail. Please support let us know when we are getting our money transferred….My transfer to tonygtrans went thru on Feb. 23rd. Still Nothing here.
March 4th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
hi, just wanna let people know my transfer to tonygtrans went thru on the 16th and i received it today, so you all will probably get yours also
March 5th, 2007 at 12:59 am
I left the same to and my one friend got his money and i havent. its been 3 weeks.
March 5th, 2007 at 1:31 am
Did you all withdrawl a lot of money? maybe thats the problem
March 5th, 2007 at 10:42 am
i just found out about the closing of tonyg march 1st. to my surprise i couldnt take my funds out , its not much but still i’ll miss playing there i emailed support and got the letter about epassport but it costs to do it like that . i hope they respond to my last letter and send my funds to pokerstars.if i’da known this earlier i would of taken my money out but i havent been online because of a death in the family ,and now im losing again one of my fav. sites first pokerchamps now tonyg.
i hope to recieve my funds also at stars and not use epassport!!!! GOT TO LOVE USA. thank you tony for trying your best too. hope to hear soon.
March 5th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I recieved my funds! Thanks TonyG/Gamesgrid.I should have never had any doubt.
March 6th, 2007 at 2:31 am
Still waiting………..transfer was done on 2/12/07!!!!! Hopefully soon………….??????????????????????????????????????????????
March 6th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
My transfer to tonyg went through on 2/12 but i still haven’t received my $304 on full tilt or ultimatebet.I got a reply on 2/23 that they tried to transfer but my nickname on on fulltilt did not exist which is BS!!, so i sent another email and got another smart ass reply back from jean from support.I could have made thousands of transfers in the time they had.I guess im going to count my money as a loss, but im going to post my experience with gamesgrid/tonyg to warn other players on pocket fives that gamesgrid can not be trusted with their money.
March 7th, 2007 at 3:59 am
If someone can help me I sure would appreciate it. I am a Canadian customer I put in a withdraw on the TonyG site on Febuary 28th for %400.00 and I can’t get support to answer my emails. I don’t know what to do……I can’t transfer the funds to anyone either my $400 just sits in pending withdraw line on the cashier window……am I goingt ot have kiss this money goodbye? HELP My username on TonyG is Westwing77
March 7th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
We would like to ensure everyone that their money is safe and we are doing our best to make sure you get it back as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide the transfer facility any longer, and epassporte is the only option we have remaining for withdrawing your funds. Those of you with transfers pending will receive an e-mail from support with instructions on how to withdraw your money.
Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience this legislation has caused and thank you for your ongoing support and patience.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:26 am
can anybody tell me how the future of your site looks because there are nearly no players but there also nearly no tourneys
March 10th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Very odd that you can no longer transfer the funds to the accounts we requested over a month ago! I particularly enjoyed the email I received on the 1st of March telling me that inquiring further would place me at the end of the transfer list. I know for a fact that I requested my transfer 2 days before my husband did and that he received his funds in Full Tilt weeks ago. When will the emails explaining how to finally receive our funds be going out??
I guess I’m mostly irritated because I could have put my funds into Full Tilt before ever joining Tony G, and the reason I deposited is because Tony himself told me at a table (I was an observer at that moment) all was well and that we could trust that our money was safe and that HIS site wouldn’t be turning its back on US players…..big talk now that he’s got my funds!! I’m a fool.
March 11th, 2007 at 3:10 am
Support? I transferred my $ to Tony G on Feb 23rd in hopes that this was being transferred into Full Tilt Poker as requested by you. Please e-mail me & let me know what I need to do as far as Epassporte is concerned, if Full Tilt transfer is now not an option.
Thanks,