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Do I have any recourse against my online poker service in this day and age? They are denying me my winnings.?

I won't mention any names, but I play poker on one of the top 3, possibly top 2 online poker sites in the world and I finally have a fairly substantial cashout after years of playing (mostly for fun of course, 10-20 dollars at a time maybe ) without ever making a cashout. It may not be much by most players standards, but its over a thousand dollars and thats a heck of a lot of money to me. Instead of replying and informing me they are processing my cashout request and informing me I should expect 15 days for delivery or whatever, I received an email out of the blue telling me that they have closed my account. Needless to say I was very surprised. Then my surprise turned to anger when the follow up email said they are "seizing all of my funds" due to collusion with another player. I feel Im being nothing short of robbed since Ive never done anything remotely close to what they are accusing me of. I literally am being wrongly accused of something and I dont know what to do. This other player they are referring to and I are indeed friends, we have played at tables together in the past, maybe 8 to 10 times out of friendly competition yet never to work together to win any money. [side note: he and I have both played over 500 games on this website, 8-10 of which we may have found ourselves sitting at the same table] Heres the part that upsets me the most. Im certain it has been well over a year, closer to two years since he and I have found ourselves on the same table. I find it EXTREMELY ironic that they decide only now to close my account and tell me they "have completed the results of an ongoing investigation"; 3 days after requesting a semi-substantial cashout and nearly 2 years after sitting at the same table with the player they accuse me of somehow cheating with. Im assuming they are implying I was on the phone with this other player sharing my card information in attempts to work together to tilt the odds against the other players, but Im not 100% certain of that as a fact. Our play at the same table together is obviously something they have had record of since the last time he and I have played together, like I said, well over a year- closer to two years ago. Yet they never said anything about it to me until now and gladly took deposit after deposit after deposit from me, only now raising an issue 3 days after requesting my first cashout. Heres the problem I immediately find myself in at first glance: Online poker seems to still be operating in the wild wild west even though its been around for several years now. Its not something I can solve by simply having my attorney send a threatening letter or whatever. All the legal implications seem to reside in whatever dark shadow of a country they operate in. I feel like I am at a loss for any kind of defense to what they are accusing me of. And thats a terrible feeling, particularly knowing I have done nothing wrong. I plan on requesting records of the games he and I have played in together and requesting proof of the outcome to prove he and I made virtually NO MONEY at any table we have both been sitting at together. But if they decide to ignore me, then Im at a loss of what to do next. Regardless, I was at 0 dollars in my account a month ago and now have over 1,000; all of these winnings being achieved in the past 30 days while the wrongdoing they are accusing me of took place a very long time ago. Should I not at least be entitled to my winnings of the past 30 days? The wrongdoing they loosely accuse me of supposedly took place well over a year ago. Does anyone know of an agency which may loosely govern the online poker community which may give me some assistance in this matter? Is there anyone I can turn to for help? If not, can anyone refer me to a players organization or websites where I can share my experience and expose these people as criminals assuming they dont have a change of heart and listen to my appeals in the next few days. THANK YOU VERY MUCH YAHOO COMMUNITY FOR ANY HELP WITH THIS ISSUE!!!! I want to make sure this issue gets resolved and equally as importantly, I want to make sure this doesnt happen to anyone else. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions they would like to share with me off the record, or has any ideas as to how I can really get even with these people ( even though that will be my last plan of attack, after I have finally thrown in the towel and admitted defeat to something I am being wrongly accused of ) please please please send me an email at ronjon9000@yahoo.com and share your thoughts with me.

Public Comments

1. All the major online poker sites are registered with one country or another, and are subject to their gaming boards. Party Poker, for example, is operated and registered in Gibraltar, and is subject to British law just as if it was a 'brick and mortar' Casino in London. Find out where this site is registered and regulated, and contact their gaming regulatory board. Richard
2. It is illegal to play at these sites in America. Now, the companies use places like SeaLand and other shady nations to set up it. You can't go to the FBI and say, 'I committed a crime and they won't give me my take. Lastly, if you were chatting with the alleged partner of yours, either what appears to be a code, or on say, AIM, you are just out of luck.
3. It is probably a misunderstanding. Be patient and you will get your money.