Legal Question in Business Law in California

Unfortunately, the online poker sites are offshore where you can't sue them, and even if you could, you would have to pay a zillion dollars for expert witnesses to attempt to prove that the site is rigged -- not to mention the ongoing debate over whether playing online poker for money violates U.S. law. Then there is the risk that you could be cheated by other players in some manner. In other words if you decide to play, and I am not going to advise you one way or the other, you have to trust the game operator, both to run a fair game, and to enforce its rules regarding the conduct of other players. If you decide to play, you should investigate the site's reputation, for example by reading one of the internet poker forums.

Cheating scandals that "may" have gone on will be difficult (i.e. expensive) to prove. Even if you were willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire attorneys, experts, etc. there's still another problem. These online sites are offshore (i.e. outside the U.S.) so suing them, let alone collecting if you win, are extremely unlikely. Better to chalk up your bad experience, learn from it, and move forward.

Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. - Mr. Franchise

Franchise Attorney