Collapse of the Online Poker Economy? Just Read the Guide's Cover.

[shipitfish]

Excellently insightful as always, Ed Miller posted an excellent piece on the Neteller situation and the danger that has always been inherent with online poker that many don't see. I recall distinctly when I started playing on Pokerroom in 2001, and then again Pacific a year or so

Comments

re

[anonymous]

hi, nice blog. this is stefan from england.
its so sad what's happening in the US.
over here we are playing the same i think. i switched to full tilt cos pacific didn't allow US players and i wanted more opponents. except for that, we are playing just the same.
does the legislation mean that full tilt and other american sites will not allow US players soon?

Re: re

[shipitfish]

Thanks for commenting! As we understand the situation (which is
complicated and difficult to figure out), the law, called UIGEA,
puts the onus on banks and financial institutions to prohibit
transactions between any gambling site, and it's clear from the
definition this includes online poker.

So, USA players will be allowed to play as long as Full
Tilt and other sites let them, sometime in the next 171 days,
everyone's bank will have to stop accepting cash-in and
cash-outs.

Meanwhile, the Neteller arrests are for another, older law, which
likely these fellow were violating (why they came through USA in the
first place, who knows?). That law
prohibits certain types of over-the-wire money transaction, and
some of Neteller's traffic surely fits the definition from the
law.

As Lou Kriger points out, the play here by our government officials is

Re: re

[jellymillion]

Americans are, of course, silly. We knew that. As a population you're silly - you let Dubya be in charge again. As a government, I'm not sure what the best word is - are the politicians honest, in that they stay bought?

How did you come to this? As I may have said before, we'll miss you. That's "we" as in the Rest of the World. We'll try to remember to send a card or something.

Re: re

[shipitfish]

I can't apologize enough for the stupidity of my country. I'm sorry.
I swear I vote for good candidates; my entire life I've never voted
for the winning candidate. (Or, in most cases, even the runner up
- man do I hate the two-party system. You lucky
parliamentarians!)

When people talk about what their “vices” are, I always
list “USA citizenship” as my worst one. We are a
mismanaged empire that bullies the rest of the world (sometimes
successfully, sometimes not), and I'm just mortified when I think
about it. Yet, I keep living here, gaining the benefits of the
corrupt regime.

I suppose not being allowed to play online poker will be a fitting
punishment to this vice of mine. I don't know if I have enough of an
expatriate's ascetic to leave, so I suppose I won't. Anyway, thanks
for that occasional card, and I again apologize for the actions of my
government!

[elianamicra]

I'm playing on the CarbonPoker site and I have to say most of the players are from US so I think they managed to go around these rules somehow; maybe the legislation refers mostly to the online casinos and not to the players.
Casino Niagara

It's Different in Australia

[jaylmilby]

Online pokies has been around as long as online casino has been booming. In Australia, it is undeniable that pokies are famous among the gaming fanatics.

[mmaariammaaria]

i don't understand the reason for which the online casino games are out of law. if you are smart enough you won't fall prey to the scams on the net, and if you aren't so smart, you shouldn't play online casino. it is so simple.