Former PokerStars communications chief Eric Hollreiser has praised the island gaming giant’s founder Isai Scheinberg who has walked free from a court in New York.

Scheinberg, the father of the Isle of Man’s richest man, was sentenced to time served and a 30,000 dollars (£23,528) fine by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in the Southern District of New York bringing the final chapter of the so-called Black Friday saga to a close.

It has been almost a decade since US federal authorities seized the domains of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker and indicted 11 people on charges ranging from operating an illegal gambling business to bank fraud and money laundering.

On Friday April 15, 2011, the PokerStars.com site was out of action - emblazoned with the US Department of Justice’s insignia and a notice that began: ’This domain name has been seized by the FBI.’

It was the day that became known by poker players as Black Friday.

American Mr Hollreiser, who now runs his own marketing communications consultancy in Castletown, told Business News: ’Isai made an enormous impact on the poker world through his relentless focus on doing the right thing for players, the right thing for PokerStars employees and the right thing for his broader community.’

For nine years Mr Hollreiser was the head of corporate communications at the global business which has been at the forefront of the island’s thriving e-gaming sector and which now plays an important role in the economy here. Mr Hollreiser joined Pokerstars shortly after ’Black Friday’.

He added that Isai Scheinberg ’built a hugely successful company based upon strong personal values and created an online platform that introduced millions of people to the game.

’I’m proud to have worked with him and to have contributed to PokerStars’ success.

’I’m really pleased that Isai can now return to his family life and charitable pursuits.’

Isai Scheinberg issued the following statement: ’I am pleased that Judge Kaplan has determined not to impose a prison sentence in my case. PokerStars played an important role in creating today’s global regulated online poker industry by running an honest and transparent business that always treated its players fairly.

’I am particularly proud that in 2011, when PokerStars exited the United States, all of its American players were made whole immediately.

’Indeed, PokerStars reimbursed millions of players who were owed funds from other online companies that could not or did not repay those players.’

Isai Scheinberg, 74, is the father of Mark Scheinberg, 46, who is the Isle of Man’s wealthiest person according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.

Mark Scheinberg is at 44th spot with wealth listed at £3.555bn. That’s an increase of £11m on last year’s list.

He and his father Isai, 74, co-founded PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, selling it for £3.3bn in 2014.

Isai Scheinberg was one of 11 people indicted on Black Friday in 2011 and faced multiple charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, bank and wire fraud, and money laundering.

He was the last of the group to face prosecution, having avoided arrest for nearly a decade, but following unsuccessful attempts at reaching a settlement with US authorities, he was arrested in Switzerland in 2019.

He originally contested extradition to the US, but later dropped his appeal and surrendered to US federal agents in January 2020.

In March, Scheinberg pleaded guilty to one count of operating an unlawful internet gambling business before Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave. The plea was accepted by the court in May.

Under the United States sentencing guidelines, Scheinberg could have faced between 12 and 18 months in prison, but a below-guidelines sentence was recommended for the following reasons:

Scheinberg is believed to have a low likelihood of becoming a repeat offender.

At the time of the indictment it was discovered that PokerStars had properly segregated players funds.

Prosecutors wanted to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities in the case.

Following Black Friday, PokerStars under the direction of Scheinberg, assumed approximately $304 million dollars of Full Tilt Poker’s liabilities to players, an act which Acting United States Attorney Audrey Strauss referred to as a good deed.

PokerStars exited the US market on Black Friday and Scheinberg and his son Mark sold PokerStars’ parent company to Amaya Gaming in 2014.

PokerStars made its legal return to the US market in March 2016 in New Jersey and has since expanded into Pennsylvania’s regulated market under its new owner, UK gambling giant Flutter Entertainment.