Greg Raymer, the 2004 WSOP Main Event winner, has been a very outspoken poker advocate in recent years to much acclaim from the rest of the poker community. Normally Raymer spends his time lobbying for the legalization of online poker in the U.S., but recently he can be found fighting against a new poker-related lawsuit that has brought three counts of conspiracy against Douglas Rennick, who owns several poker payment processors. Rennick is being sued for almost $566 million in recovered money for allegedly violating various counts of U.S. Code.
“Anytime something immoral happens, I’m outraged by it. And I consider what these prosecutors have done to be immoral,” said Raymer, a patent attorney and a member of the board of directors of the Poker Players Alliance, the industry’s largest advocacy group. “If they actually think online poker is illegal, they’re incompetent. That’s just not an appropriate interpretation of any of these federal laws.”
The indictment, filed by acting U.S. Attorney Lev L. Dassin, cites that Rennick is being sued for money laundering conspiracy, bank fraud conspiracy and gambling conspiracy. While it is known that Rennick has supplied payment services to poker players through various companies, Raymer contends that this does not mean that Rennick is guilty of any crimes. “Casino games aren’t illegal under any federal law for online gambling sites, only sports betting,” said Raymer.
If found guilty, Rennick could face up to 55 years in prison for the three charges. The lawsuit was filed in the same New York district court that also seized $30 million in online poker funds earlier this year in June, money that Rennick sued to get back.
“"Join the PPA if you’re not already a member. We’re fighting this,” said Raymer. “Congress will listen. If it’s only one person, they don’t have to listen very hard. But when it’s millions of members of the PPA, then they have to listen.”
