Bryan Micon Returns Home To Face Unlicensed Gambling Charges

After being arrested for operating an unlicensed gambling site in Nevada, Bryan Micon fled to Antigua but has now returned to the USA ready for his scheduled court appearance on Thursday, June 25. Charges against Micon relate to the bitcoin poker site Seals with Clubs, which the poker pro stands accused of running between March 1st, 2014 and Feb. 9th, 2015, “without first procuring and thereafter maintaining in effect the required licenses.”
The stakes couldn’t be higher, either, as the case marks the first time a bitcoin poker site has been prosecuted, and if convicted Micon could face up to 10 years behind bars, as well as a $50,000 fine. In fact, a few months back Micon even appealed for donations via crowdfunding site GoFundMe to help mount his legal defense, but in the end only managed to raise $4,005 out of his intended target of $100,000. Micon’s attempt to raise funds may well have been hampered by speculation that he made significant sums of money whilst operating Seals with Clubs, which gaming agents estimated totaled up to $12,000 in profits each month. As Micon explained during a Skype conversation a while back:
“You can give me a quick google and see that I started SealsWithClubs.eu in 2011 and amassed a considerable wealth with the increase in Bitcoin price.”
Furthermore it would appear Micon’s appeal was eventually pulled from the crowdfunding site all together, with a tweet dated May 16th, reading: “For reasons they will not disclose GoFundMe has stopped funding me.”
While Bryan Micon has now returned to Nevada to face charges, the Seals With Clubs entrepreneur continues to deny any wrongdoing, and called the police raid on his home at the time a “a big violation of my personal freedom.” In the meanwhile, he has already launched a new site called SWCPoker from Antigua, although the charges currently levied against him have resulted in fewer players visiting the bitcoin site.