Seals with Clubs with Clubs was Nevada’s first Bitcoin-only online poker room before it shut down in March due to security concerns.
Now the company has earned another, more dubious, Nevada online poker first. It’s the first Nevada online poker room to be charged with operating an unlicensed interactive gaming system.
Earlier this week, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt has issued an arrest warrant for Seals with Clubs founder Bryan Micon on the charges. If convicted of the charges, Micon could be looking at a decade behind bars and a very hefty fine – that is presumably not payable in Bitcoin.
Unfortunately for Laxalt, it appears as though Micon has fled the Silver State and is, most likely hiding out in Antigua. But being on the run from the law hasn’t kept Micon from sharing his opinions with the world via a series of YouTube videos.
Though Micon doesn’t address the charges of operating without a license, he had plenty to say about Nevada law enforcement and why he’s now on the run:
A bunch of guys with guns broke down my door, put me in handcuffs, serving a warrant from the Nevada gaming commission. After I was led out in handcuffs in my underwear, it was pretty clear that it was proper to leave sooner rather than later,” he said in the video. And I didn’t really want my 2-year-old daughter, whom I love very much, to grow up in a police state where creativity is often met with guns, handcuffs.
He went on to say that he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong by operating the site without a license – an assertion that’s difficult to believe when coming from the lips of a professional poker player.
Micon did not mention whether or not he plans to return to Nevada to face Silver State justice. He did, however, suggest that Seals with Clubs customers could withdraw Bitcoin from their accounts without fear of legal repercussions saying:
All the Bitcoins were safe. Math does not bow to guns.
As of this writing, Micon’s attorneys had not commented on his situation.