A reputable online gambling lawyer posted an article about his views as to whether it was safe to play poker online in the United States right now.

The following is a brief of the main points he mentioned.

Professor I. Nelson Rose of gamblingandthelaw.com (pictured to the right) recently wrote an article outlining his legal views and opinions as to whether it was safe to play online poker as a United States citizen.

According to him US online poker players are more scared than anything with funding their accounts and possibly facing jail time by placing a bet at a virtual poker room.

Rose says these are just paranoias.  There has yet to be a person prosecuted for playing online poker in the United States and he doesn't forsee it ever happening.  The law was passed almost a year ago and regulations for banks have yet to be published in the Federal Registrar. 

These "pending regulations" won't affect the legal side for poker players but instead make a major impact at funding options available to poker players in the US.

One question weighing heavily on the back of poker players minds is the legality of cashing and depositing checks that these poker sites are issuing.  This seems to be the main means for players to cashout their funds.  Nelson Rose says it is perfectly legal to cash and deposit these checks.  The only legal concerns one might have is if they're defrauding Uncle Sam... so pay those taxes if you're making a profit.

Of course chaos is soon to wreek havick on the online gambling community once again when payment processors are forced to follow obligational regulations set out by the pending regulations being created as we speak to block deposits into poker sites.  

For this reason Nelson Rose warns players not to keep large sums of money in one site or ewallet.  We all saw what happened with Neteller and Betonsports customers.  That is very likely to happen again so don't keep your life support cash in one spot.  You're likely to get the money back but it could get tied up for large amounts of time.  Frequent cashouts are smart ideas.

On a final note, Rose mentions not to play at work, college, or on Federal property.  This is grounds for getting into trouble, losing your job or getting kicked out of school.  If you're going to play just follow make common sense actions and things should be fine for you.

News Source:  I. Nelson Rose - Gamblingandthelaw.com
http://rose.casinocitytimes.com/articles/37075.html