BY TOM SOMACH

One of the best known figures in the world of online poker is packing it in, PokerHelper.com can report exclusively.

Fearing arrest by U.S. authorities, longtime Poker Stars marketing maven Dan Goldman has abruptly resigned from the company.

Goldman, who’s from Los Angeles, has been living in the United Kingdom for the past 18 months and wants to return to the U.S., but fears he might be arrested if he comes back as an executive of an online gambling company, a source familiar with the situation told PokerHelper.com.

So Goldman handed in his resignation on Tuesday, and plans to return to the U.S. as soon as possible, the source said.

The resignation is not effective immediately, however–Goldman will stay with the company for a short time until his departure date is decided, the source said.

Goldman’s official title was vice-president of marketing for Poker Stars (www.pokerstars.com), and he was one of the most well-known people in the online poker industry.

His name frequently appeared in newspapers and magazines, quoting him about one aspect of poker or another, and he appeared on ESPN and other TV channels, pontificating about poker–both the online kind and the real thing.

In 2003, when an unknown Tennessee accountant with the Dickensian name of Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) after qualifying by winning a Poker Stars online tourney, Goldman’s p.r. helped make Moneymaker a worldwide household name.

In 2003 and 2004, Goldman and Los Angeles sportscaster Fred Wallin co-hosted a popular national radio show about poker on the Business Talk Radio Network (www.businesstalkradio.net).

The one-hour, live Sunday night show, heard on 75 radio stations throughout the U.S., was sponsored by Poker Stars and featured as guests many of Poker Stars’ stable of poker stars, such as Moneymaker and 2004 WSOP winner Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, who also got into the WSOP by winning a Poker Stars tourney first.

Goldman is also an avid poker player himself, and has competed in numerous Las Vegas tournaments, occasionally finishing in the money.

“Dan and his wife, Sharon, have been anxious for the opportunity to return to the U.S., and given the current circumstances, he finds it very difficult to know when this can happen,” the source told PokerHelper.com.

“His decision to leave Poker Stars is primarily a quality-of-life issue–his home, family and friends are in the U.S., and without some real clarity about the legal situation, he could conceivably have to remain outside the U.S. for months or years to come,” the source said.

Goldman and his wife have been living on the Isle of Man, a tiny island off the coast of England, since September of 2005. Party Poker has offices on the island.

“When Dan did the radio show with Fred Wallin, he was living in the U.S. and the legal climate surrounding online poker was quite different,” the source continued. “The passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in September, followed by the arrest of the founders of NETeller in January, has put a chill on the industry,” the source said. “Dan has been concerned about returning to the U.S. while still in the employ of Poker Stars, and has therefore chosen to leave the company.”

In the last eight months, law enforcement authorities in the U.S. have arrested, at U.S. airports, executives from two online gambling sites.

Last July 16, the U.S. Attorney’s Office arrested David Carruthers, an executive with now-defunct online sportsbook Bet on Sports (www.betonsports.com), at an airport in Dallas.

Last Sept. 6, law enforcement officials in the State of Louisiana arrested Peter Dicks, an executive with online sportsbook Sportingbet (www.sportingbet.com), at an airport in New York.

Bet on Sports also ran an online poker room, as does Sportingbet.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)