Is it illegal to play poker online real money with sites based in the United Kingdom? I heard that last year they were doing, it is illegal for U.S. citizens to play REAL MONEY online with sites abroad. is this true? Did it ever happen?
I was on the scene of online gaming time.
It has always been forbidden to play online poker for money in the United States. They simply do not apply to everyone. The law was passed in 2006 on the transfer of money, they figured instead of trying to stop millions of us to do. It would be easier to stop the banks from their funding. It's a little harder to find a site and make a deposit now. It can take up to 2 minutes to do it now. So play!
As sites in the United Kingdom, I think most of them have stopped taking U.S. players because of the new law.
No, it is not illegal to play online. What has been the law makes it illegal for financial institutions to tranfer some money for online gambling. Here is the law in its entiretly:
ILLEGAL EXECUTION Internet Gambling
This title may be cited as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006
SEC. 802.
Prohibition on acceptance of a payment instrument for unlawful Internet gambling.
(A) IN GENERAL-Chapter 53 of Title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
SUB-CHAPTER IV
Prohibition of financing illegal gambling on the internet
Ās 5361. Congressional findings and purpose
(A) findings.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Internet gambling is primarily funded through personal use of payment system instruments, credit cards and wire transfers.
(2) The National Gambling Impact Study Commission in 1999 recommended the adoption of legislation to prohibit wire transfers to gambling sites or online banks which represent such sites.
(3) Internet gambling is a growing cause of debt collection problems for insured depository institutions and industry of consumer credit.
(4) new mechanisms for enforcing gambling laws on the Internet are necessary because the traditional mechanisms of law enforcement are often inadequate for the application of regulations or prohibitions on Internet gambling, especially when the game these crosses State or national borders.
(B) Rule of construction.
Nothing in this subchapter shall be interpreted as prejudicing, limiting, or extending any Federal law or State or Tribal-State compact prohibiting, permitting, or regulating gambling in the United States.
Ās 5362. Definitions
In this subchapter:
(1) bet.
The term "bet or wager'-
(A) means the staking or risking any person of something of value on the outcome of a contest of others, a sporting event or a game subject to chance, upon an agreement or understanding that the person or another person will receive something of value in the case of a certain result;
(B) includes the purchase of a chance or opportunity to win a lottery prize or other (including the possibility to win is predominantly subject to chance);
(C) comprises any system of a type described in section 3702 of Title 28;
(D) includes instructions or information relating to the establishment or movement of funds by the bettor or customer, or an account with the company or paris paris, and
(E) does not include-
(I) any activity governed by the securities legislation (as such term is defined in section 3 (a) (47) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the purchase or sale of securities (as that term is defined in section 3 (a) (10) of the Act);
(Ii) any transaction conducted on or subject to the rules of a listed entity or board of trade exempted under the Act on Commodity Exchange;
(Iii) an instrument of OTC derivatives;
(Iv) any other transaction that
(I) is excluded or exempted from regulation.
Posted on February 16, 2010.
