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We now know the name of the judge presiding over PartyGaming co-owner Anurag Dikshit's settlement with the US Government. It's the honorable Judge Jed Rackoff. For the 95 percent of Gambling911.com readers who get a kick out of us publishing Dikshit's name, the word play just got a whole lot better.
A WHOLE LOT BETTER as we're actually told Rackoff is pronounced - RAKE-OFF, which is funny when one considers Dikshit helped start the largest online poker room in the world - at one time double the size of its nearest competitor, PokerStars. The "rake" as we all know is a common term used in poker.
I, Payton O'Brien, prefer the whole J. Rackoff, not sounding like RAKE-OFF, but rather WACK-OFF. There is a certain symmetry here. And since so much of the online poker world feels Anurag has screwed them over for his own self-serving purposes, there is also quite a bit of irony in all of this I must say.
Dikshit pled guilty to illegal Internet gambling and agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department in an investigation of Party Gaming, even though he was never charged with a crime. His basis is that he "could be charged with a crime in the future". I COULD win an Academy Award. That doesn't mean I'm going to quit my day/night job at Gambling911.com and move to Hollywood. Duh!
Dikshit entered the plea to one count of online gambling in violation of the Federal Wire Act today and agreed to forfeit $300 million. "I came to believe it was in fact illegal under U.S. law," Dikshit told U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York, referring to PartyGaming's activity. "I have taken full responsibility for my actions."
Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor
