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ALL ABOUT POKER:
The Future of Online Poker
by Bill Burton
Bill Burton is an advantage blackjack player and skilled poker player. He is the author of the best-selling book, "Get the Edge at Texas Low Limit Hold’em", available at 10% discount from the
BJI online store, and the guide at www.casinogambling.about.com.This month I am forgoing my usual poker article and passing along some information you may or may not have heard about. The future of online poker is in jeopardy. If you have money deposited in any online poker sites or other online casinos or sports books, I urge you to withdraw your funds immediately or at least a substantial amount that you don’t want to risk losing.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was rammed through Congress by the Republican leadership in the final minutes before the election period recess. According to Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), no one on the Senate-House Conference Committee had even seen the final language of the bill. The bill was attached to a port security bill, the "Safe Port Act," which was politically impossible to oppose, the prohibition codifies a ban passed as separate legislation in the House of Representatives back in July. President Bush signed into law with the port bill on Friday the 13th of October.
What This Means
After a chaotic few weeks of speculation, rumors, and crazy market swings, a few conclusions have come to light. The Bill will not take affect for 270 days. (Nine months.) Here is a summary:
1. The bill addresses financial institution procedures; it does NOT speak to Players!
2. The Bill does NOT change existing gaming law.
3. The Bill does NOT make online poker illegal.
As a poker player, this bill will likely impact you in two ways:
1. After 270 days, it may become more difficult for you to deposit/withdrawal money with your favorite poker site.
Depending on how it is enforced, the ban, which prohibits the use of credit cards, electronic funds transfers, checks and other financial instruments in Internet gambling transactions, effectively closes down the sector's largest single market - good for at least half of the $12 billion in online revenues worldwide.
Most Credit card companies have already stopped funding these sites a long time ago. Money transfer sites such as Firepay and Neteller have been the primary ways most players fund their accounts. FirePay has already announced that they will suspend transferring money to the online poker and gaming sites. Neteller said it will be business as usual and they have no plans AT THIS TIME to suspend their transfer of money.
2. Some of the major poker sites have already stopped accepting your business to keep the US government happy.
Party Poker, Titan Poker, Poker room and a few others have stopped letting US players play for real money on their sites. If you have money in any of the online gaming sites you should think about withdrawing the bulk of you assets and keep only a minimum amount in them. There is no guarantee that money you have on account will be refunded automatically. A few months ago I lost money that I had deposited in Bet On Sports after their CEO was arrested and the site was shut down to US residents. So far my efforts to recoup the money in my account have not been successful. I don’t want this to happen again so to be on the safe side I am withdrawing most of the money I have in the online poker sites.Business as Usual
Some Poker site such as Ultimate Bet, Full Tilt, BoDog and others are proclaiming that it will be business as usual and they are even offering big bonusus for new deposits. Even so I would still be careful not to leave any big amounts of money on account in any site. In the future they may find a way to work around this or get an exemption for online poker but I’m not taking any chances and it might be to your advantage to do the same.
There are several million poker players in the US who have been playing online. Prohibition did not stop people from drinking and I don’t think the online poker industry is just going to disappear in nine months.
Legalized Poker
A recent article in Gaming Today even suggested that this may be the first step in efforts to legalize online poker by putting the spotlight on the issue. The US gaming companies would love to offer online poker. In Nevada for instance there are exemptions for wireless gaming within the State.
Last week Harrah’s Entertainment announced a new server-based Texas Holdem game called World Series of Poker "Peer to Peer" Texas Holdem that is designed to be played by casino customers on a wired or wireless device through a secured intranet system. This new technology is supposed to be show cased at the upcoming Global Gaming Expo G2E later this month. I hope to have a report on it after I attend.
Decide for Yourself
You are the only one who can make the decisions about your money. If you want to leave it in the sites you play or even deposit money into a different site it is your choice. Just be forewarned that if a site does choose to shut down you are not likely to have any recourse if your money disappears with the site.
Until Next time remember:
Luck comes and goes.....Knowledge Stays Forever.
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