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September 21

The online casinos tourney, The world Championship of Online Poker has come to an end, awarding close to $13 million in prize money to some 1,972 online poker players. Like so many other online casinos events the winners are only known publicly by their chosen screen names.

The winners of these online casinos cash prizes will remain confidential, too.

The World Championship of Online Poker, hosted by PokerStars.com, is a larger online poker tournament. The top prize in the final poker event, a game of no-limit texas holdem with a $2,500 buy-in, went to Panella86, while 2nd and 3rd place went to players with the screen names Vendetta ($573,735)and tralala ($540,877).

Spokespeople for PokerStars.com have declined to reveal the winners' real names, because of confidentiality agreements with the Internet gambling players.

While Internet gambling winners in casinos become celebrities in their own rights and are the recipients extensive online press coverage, Internet gambling tournaments are still a relatively underground event.

Nevada law makes Internet gambling illegal, and the Department of Justice says federal law makes it illegal nationwide. But attorneys say that's not the main reason why players wish to remain anonymous.

Some winner just don't want everyone to know. By keeping their names out of the public eye, other players can try to avoid paying federal taxes on gambling winnings, they say. Unlike land-based casinos in the United States, offshore Internet gambling companies aren't obligated to provide tax forms to people who win large jackpots.

Only a few states have laws that prohibit Internet gambling and even then, some only finger the operator and not the player, Kelly said. Even the Department of Justice, which has threatened online casinos with prosecution, has said that casual bettors aren't violating the law when they gamble online, he said.

Only North Dakota has prosecuted a player for gambling online.