BY TOM SOMACH

Online poker players whose checks from online poker room Poker Stars bounced can blame it on their bank, not the poker room.

A number of online poker players recently posted on various online posting forums similar experiences about Poker Stars (www.pokerstars.com).

The players claimed they recently received winnings checks from Poker Stars and when they attempted to deposit the checks in their bank accounts, the checks bounced.

The players then expressed fears that Poker Stars might be having financial problems and wondered whether anyone should continue to play online poker there.

Poker portal Poker King (www.poker-king.com) looked into the matter and found out that players’ checks from Poker Stars that were deposited in banks and then returned marked “insufficient funds” were not the fault of Poker Stars but of the players’ bank.

According to Poker King: “After some investigating, we have ascertained that this is a bank-specific issue. Citizens Bank has been flagging and returning checks that they deem to be tied to online gambling. The reason that they are giving is that there were insufficient funds, even though this is not the case.

“Poker Stars is probably the best-capitalized of all the poker rooms, and they hold all of their clients’ money in trust accounts which can not be touched. This is also not a check processor issue.

“Citizens Bank is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which has publicly stated that it would be taking a hard-line stance to online gambling transactions post-UIGEA. If you are a client of Citizens Bank and have tried to cash an online gambling check, then you have likely been a victim of the company’s new hard-line stance.

“So what to do if you have had your check rejected by Citizens Bank? Open up a new bank account at another bank. Then contact Poker Stars customer support and have them cancel the old check and re-issue you another one. Deposit it at your new bank and the problem should be solved.”

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