US Online Poker

Over the last several months we've seen online poker in the United States take a severe beating by the US government. Ever since a small hand full of underhanded congressmen led by Bill Frist & Jim Leach snuck the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act" into a completely unrelated homeland security bill called the "Safe Port Act" (that was basically assured to be passed) poker players in the US have all been shut down.

There is one major online poker site that is bucking the trend and taking on this corrupt prohibition law. Full Tilt Poker has teamed up with the Poker Player's Alliance and leading a charge against this new day prohibition, even offering bonuses to it's players for joining the PPA. Full Tilt Poker is one of the only major online poker sites to still accept US players going against the trend of Party Poker & Doyle's Room who recently closed access to their online poker rooms to players in the United States.

One major issue still plagues US online poker players even at the sites that still accept them. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act doesn't go after online poker players or the online poker sites directly, instead it targets financial institutions that transfer funds into online poker accounts. Basically what this law does is prevent you from transferring funds directly from your US bank account, with a US based credit card, or through a US based wire transfer in the effort to prevent people in the United States from funding their accounts.

Obviously online poker is here to stay and the US government will have it's work cut out for them if they intend to try and stop United States citizens from playing online poker. Many people liken this law to the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920's which was an obvious failure. One group the government chose to make an example of was Neteller which was the premier way for poker players to fund online poker accounts. Even though the US government has employed underhanded bully tactics against Neteller other companies are stepping up to the plate such as MyWebATM to fill the void.

So what is the future for online poker in the US? Right now the PPA is fighting for an exemption like that for horse racing and lotteries. Many hope for a move by the US government to a government regulated system like that of the UK where the government could actually profit from online poker through a taxing system. Given the huge popularity of online poker it seems like a win-win proposal to most.

It will in fact be an interesting year ahead for online poker with what I'm sure will bring many more fireworks from both sides of the US online poker debate.

US Online Poker