President Bush Signs Online Gambling Ban

Today the President signed a bill that was primarily directed at port security issues but in it was a very clear attach on online gambling based around restricting the flow of cash into and out of the online casinos.

Many consider this underhanded as politically, voting against the bill would have then been used to show the respective lawmaker as 'weak on security' - stuffing it in with the ports made it hard for people to vote against it.

Online gambling is generally already considered illegal in the US based on bookmaking rules involving communications over telephone lines (Wire Act) but online poker has been able to move around these restrictions. No longer - this will have an impact of some sort, even if the poker companies seem to be planning to accept US customers in the future.

An excellent book on online gambling prohibitions is Dave Schwartz's 'Cutting The Wire'.

I personally see this as short sighted and totally the wrong way to go. Americans should have the freedom to play online poker, blackjack or whatever if they so desire.

Update: Dave Schwartz has written a comprehensive piece on the specifics of the bill:
http://www.dieiscast.com/2006/10/13/internet-gambling-prohibition-summarized/

Technorati Tags: gaming industry

Categories: Business of Gaming, Poker

Comments

October 14, 2006 11:07 AM Posted by mike_ch

The industry lobby was fighting against this, of course, because they wanted to become a part of it, but they want to sink their teeth into anything they can lately.

My gut reaction is somewhat different than yours, of course, but that's mostly because I live here and hate to see the local specialty industry become a more and more mundane AnyTown U.S.A. activity. Although I suppose it's questionable just how much money Poker is worth around here outside of the one special event for it, and that's where most of the online betting is. And it's usually just guys who would have held a game in their garage if the sites weren't available.

All in all, I suppose Las Vegas has less to be worried about from internet gambling than it does something like Macau.

October 14, 2006 11:20 AM Posted by Hunter

I think Vegas has nothing to worry from online gambling personally... The Vegas experience is so much more than just the turn of the card - it's a living, breathing electricity that you can't replicate online no matter what...

I don't play games online - I have no interest in it. I am against it on principle - another un-needed restriction on Internet commerce.