In late 2006, when UIGEA legislation was being pushed through Congress, I had to swallow my words when Party Poker and a number of other online poker rooms left the US market –not to mention the super-convenient payment processors like Neteller. Never in my wildest dreams did I think UIGEA would cause such a reaction from the online poker industry. So, when it comes to our current situation in the United States regarding the possibility of a legalized and regulated online poker market I’m a bit more pessimistic than most.
What is so worrisome to me is that even with one of the most liberal Congresses in history, we were unable to advance online poker regulation past the committee stage. Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that not only did we fail to advance online poker, we actually regressed! With a fully implemented UIGEA payment processors have been charged and convicted of crimes, banks are denying paper checks, and US poker players are seeing their deposit and withdrawal options shrink like the British Empire at the end of WWII.
The latest fiasco involving eWalletXpress highlights the problem –and is reminiscent of Neteller back in 2006. Having to pull out of the US market for fear of prosecution poker players could once again see their funds tied up on eWalletXpress for a year, as was the case with Neteller (Google: Isaac Haxton).
Online poker in the US is getting to the point where it has become so inconvenient that only people earning their income from the activity are going to jump through the numerous hoops, which seem to be getting smaller, higher, and set on fire with the passing of each day.
Realistically, how many poker players are cashing-out large enough sums that a $40 or $50 wire fee isn’t going to sting? Not to mention that you typically have to cash out $250+ to even qualify for these types of transactions. This is all in addition to the fact that instead of the hours it used to take –and still takes in other parts of the world-- here in the US I have waited upwards of a month for a paper check to arrive at my door, and a minimum of a few days if you want to get hammered with the $40 wire fee.
Now we have individual States tackling the issues; with Washington State banning online poker and making it a Class C felony, and New Jersey trying to go in the opposite direction and legalize online gaming. The problem is, as Dennis Miller succinctly puts it, “The states can’t pave f**king roads!” Do we really want these decisions being made, and implemented, by public servants who are for the most part a step or two above your local PTA chairperson? Not to mention that states are so Helter Skelter that you have situations like that of my home state of Massachusetts, where they raise the sales tax from 5% to 6.25% and within a year there is a ballot measure to drop the sales tax to 3%! WTF!!! Make up your minds will you! Is this how poker legislation will be? One year it’s a felony, the next it’s 100% legal, and two years later poker websites show up as forbidden URL’s?
As a social Libertarian it’s hard for me to fathom that in the future it’s quite possible that I will not be able to play online poker, while less than an hour away I could place a bet at any number of land-based casinos. Or walk to a convenience store and buy $10,000 in scratch tickets and the government wouldn’t even bat an eye.
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Bodog has apparently started sending out debit cards which are linked to foreign bank accounts. They are VISA cards which can you use to charge stuff, but apparently can't withdraw the actual $$$ in the account via ATM. I, for one, have opened up a Canadian bank account in order to avoid the US banking issues. It is not illegal for us to play online as poker players, thought the government makes it increasingly difficult to get at our money.
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