The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), has been further explained by The Department of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
The final rule regarding the Act has been released since its initial inception in October of 2007. The actual regulations set forth in the rule make up a small portion of the document which will become effective January 19th, 2009.
The actual UIGEA was enacted in 2006 and has had a devastating effect on Internet gambling. The Act does not make Internet gambling itself illegal. It does however make the transfer of funds from financial institutions to companies engaging in "unlawful Internet gambling" unlawful. The rule itself calls for financial institutions to provide written explanations of how they will block unlawful transfers being made to these gaming sites. The good news for Internet gamblers and of course the gaming sites, is that the Act and regs do not block money transfers from the sites to players. So, if you can figure out a way to get your funds in, you can play with the anticipation of profit. You may want to consider check cashing and money order services from a physical location, they seem to be exempt from the regulations.
Are you still with me? Without getting too much more technical or boring you our of your mind, here it is. Poker sites are included in the prohibition. The act never fully defines what "unlawful Internet gambling" is but it seems to include anything that is a game of chance. That's right. Don't try the old poker is not a game of chance, it is a game of skill thing, because they have already considered that one. Two reasons were mentioned. Mostly because the rules apply to gambling as defined in existing state and federal law - as such poker is included. Also, is doesn't matter if chance is a significant factor as long as the game is subject to chance. Therefore, poker is included there as well.
This legislation was carefully crafted as a catch all and is deliberately vague. There is no question the government wants to seriously curtail Internet gaming profits and had been looking for ways to do it for a long time. If you recall, Clinton's administration started looking at how the Internet might possibly be regulated by government many years ago.
We just have to accept these regulations and move on. As noted, there are other ways available to keep playing and the decision to do so will be up to the players since the legislation really targets financial institutions and you can be sure they will not be flexible or looking for any loopholes.
Good luck gamers... I mean er um... subject to luck gamers!
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