Publication: How Easily Poker in US is Played Online
Written by Roger S | Thursday, July 15th, 2010
The Las Vegas sun ran an interesting article this weekend regarding the online poker laws that are essentially in effect in the United States, and yet allow players to bet online regardless. The article, written by Liz Benston shows how players easily access sites such as Poker Stars and join a poker table almost instantly. “With a click of the mouse, she enters a fast-moving game, becoming one of more than 200,000 people worldwide — many of the them in the United States — playing for money on PokerStars at this very moment,” reads the article.
The piece explains how, with the World Series of Poker drawing to an end this month, many poker players still prefer to have their gaming sessions in the privacy of their own homes – and that this is very possible, despite federal laws such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed four years ago.
The article quotes John Pappas of the Poker Players Alliance as saying that the laws have not stopped players who have an online checking account and high speed internet connection. He observed that many players easily pay for their online poker entertainment with alternative payment methods. Interestingly, the piece calls these “underground payment methods”, although they are totally legitimate banking methods and ways for US poker players to deposit.
According to the piece, individual players are not targetted for playing poker online. This may lead to confusion among players that federal law allows sites to operate legally within the United States. Unfortunately, a significant number of poker sites, including the giant Party Poker, were forced to leave the market when the UIGEA was introduced in 2004.
Another person quoted in the article was John Snowling, a spokesman for the American Bankers Association, who said that the banking industry opposes the law because, in his words, it turns financial institutions into “police, prosecutors and judges in place of real law enforcement officers.”
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· Written by Roger S · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
