Sportsbook Poker and Players Only announced on Tuesday that they will no longer accept new players from the United States after May 1st, 2011.

Online PR News – 26-April-2011 –In a surprising move that has taken the nation by storm, TOPS Poker-org. has discovered that Sportsbook Poker and Players Only, two of the hottest online poker destinations for US players since the online poker shutdown, announced today that they will no longer be accepting new players from the United States on their websites after May 1st, 2011. Although both of these poker sites have seen enormous growth since the April 15th seizure of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, it is believe that this move is to avoid any unnecessary attention from the Department of Justice or the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

TOPS-Poker.org, a leading advice website for US poker players, was the first to break this news. TOPS spokesman Steven Hastings had this to say on Tuesday-

"Obviously, Players Only and Sportsbook Poker have been bombarded with new players over the past week and their legal team does not care for all of the sudden attention. I'm sure they love the massive surge of new talent filling up their tournament brackets and stakes tables, but at the same time they do not want to trade blows over the legality of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act."

Both Sportsbook Poker and Players Only have taken millions of US-based hits from potential gamblers over the course of the past week, which would normally be thought of as a dream come true for any type of online poker room. Neither one of these poker destinations accept deposits through US financial accounts so they believe that they are in full compliance with the UIGEA, but at the same time they are definitely not looking to fight this matter in front of the World Trade Organization like Harold Lovell, the Finance Minister of Antigua. Lovell is challenging the legality of the UIGEA on behalf of the small Caribbean island and the Cereus Network, which owns Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet.

"Sportsbook Poker and Players Only are definitely not saying that they do not want business from US customers," replied Hastings when asked about this sudden change in accepting US clients, "they just do not want to fight this on an international level. Anyone who is already registered and makes a deposit at either of these websites before May 1st, 2011 will not be affected; their accounts will remain active for future play."

According to a statement issued by Sportsbook Poker, their website will continue to accept players from the United States up until the May 1st deadline. At that point, the option will be suspended for a US-based player to create a new account at Sportsbook Poker until the company decides otherwise. All existing accounts, however, will be able to make deposits, withdraw funds, and play poker without any additional restrictions.

"Sportsbook Poker is currently the most popular online poker destination in the world because they've always adhered to the various laws around the globe," added Hastings. "This is simply their way of protecting their existing US customers and giving a very narrow window for new players who wish to join. If you're interested in playing poker for real money over the Internet, it looks like it's a "now or never" type of scenario."