Online Poker Rooms and U.S. Players

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

The passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 requires banks to block certain types of financial transactions related to internet gambling. President Bush signed the bill into law on October 13, 2006. As a result, many online poker rooms have stopped doing business with customers in the United States. Gambling lawyer I. Nelson Rose offers a readable analysis of the new internet gambling law.

U.S. banks have 270 days to implement a system for blocking online gambling transactions. It is unclear as of yet what kinds of transactions will be effectively blocked. Credit card (and possibly debit card) transactions will almost certainly be blocked, as they have been since 2001. Paper checks and electronic payments will probably not be, since there is no mechanism in place to block these types of transactions.

The act itself does not specifically prohibit online gambling by U.S. players, nor does it make online gambling itself illegal. In other words, if you play poker online, you will not be committing a crime. The law appears to be limited to financial transactions, with liability resting on payment processors, banks, gaming companies and ISPs.

With the international nature of the online gaming industry, enforcement efforts against third-party payment processors and gambling companies will prove difficult. Still, at this time there is much uncertainty, and the current legal climate in the United States is not favorable towards the online gaming industry or its players.

If you'd like to help in the fight against this unjust legislation, consider supporting the Poker Player's Alliance.

Online Poker Rooms Closed to U.S. Players

The following companies have announced that they will no longer accept real money wagers from U.S. players. Play money games are still allowed for some poker rooms.

Party Gaming (Party Poker)
888 Holdings (Pacific Poker)
Sportingbet PLC (Paradise Poker)
Casino Partners (Titan Poker), Tradal/Empire (Noble Poker) and all Playtech/iPoker rooms
Ongame Network (Poker Room, Hold'em Poker)
All Boss Media rooms (Celeb Poker)
All Cryptologic rooms (Sun Poker, InterPoker, William Hill)

Online Poker Rooms Still Open to U.S. Players

The following poker rooms have announced that they will continue to accept U.S customers, or else have yet to declare otherwise.

Online Poker Payment Methods

As of January 17, 2007, Neteller will no longer allow U.S. customers to make transactions to online gaming rooms. Firepay is also blocking transactions to gaming rooms as of October 23, 2006.

Right now, the best option is ePassporte. They offer a virtual Visa account that can be used online. Some poker rooms offer Click2Pay as a payment option, but they are no longer accepting new accounts from U.S. customers.

For the meantime, many poker rooms are allowing deposits through Visa and Mastercard. You can always deposit money using paper checks and money orders. Some poker rooms are allowing withdrawals through paper check only.