Us Online Poker

Online Poker in the United States

My paper this semester will focus on the current US federal laws concerning the legality of online poker. A recent bill passed by the Senate has put US based poker players in limbo. The act of playing poker was not criminalized but the mechanisms of putting money online and withdrawing are what were deemed now illegal. This is a thorny issue with many sides. For this paper I will focus on United States players only and how this affects online poker not physical casinos.

The Safe Ports Act was passed by the Senate late last year, attached to that act was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. By being attached to such a slam dunk as the Ports act there was little chance of this bill not being passed. The 'teeth' of this legislation is supposed to go into effect July 10th 2007; 180 days after President Bush signed this into law.

The potential of taxing online poker in the US is in Billons of tax dollars. Conservative estimates show a gain of 3.5 Billion per year. Our federal government is turning a blind eye to this potential growing tax source. This is something that affects every American and not just poker players. Just think of the good that much money could do for social programs or maybe even expanded support for our troops. This is probably the strongest case for legalizing online poker again.

This act is also about limiting what adults can choose to do with their own money. The bill also had some interesting exceptions such as state run lotteries and horse racing. What makes those forms of gambling any different than poker or other casino games?

The Internet is a global community and an act by any one country is silly and counter-productive. This bill did not stop people from playing online poker it just made it harder to put money on these websites.