Harry Reid Pushes to make Online Wagering Legal

During this lame duck congress they are trying to get this passed through. Lots of really poisitive stuff in there but it certainly looks like PS and FTP would be gone if this passes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1....html?ir=Media

Here are some more links: (less adds than the Huntington post)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...75298a9bf884d3

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_1...00-503544.html

http://www.gamblingcity.net/gambling...0312101030.php

Yeah this is actually big news. Lots of good links out there. I just used one that had full details. Don't even like Huff Post myself.

Anyway I hope some good comes of all of this.

Yeah I got so annoyed trying to read it there i googed it.

What a joke. For two years only existing casinos/betting places can run these websites? Government favoritism is such bullshit. Capitalism my ass

I thought FTP was stationed outside of the US and therefore was not subjected to American laws. I assume it would just make it illegal for US citizens to play, (I thought it was illegal anyway.)

So wouldn't it seem FTP would still be around and just be a pain in the ass/impossible for US players to play?

What I'm most concerned about is not being able to get my funds. I would consider it down right theft if I was unable to access my funds because of any law.

*Edit* The fact that I have failed to recieve any notice from any organization or individuals about said legislation and the possibility of frozen funds leads me to call it theft. So when I deposit money into a poker account, I am doing it under the pretense that I will be able to withdraw any remaining funds at any time of my choice. If I cannot, then I am depositing my money under false pretenses. If the corporaton never has intention of returning any requested funds, and never informs me of so, to me it equates to theft.

It has never been illegal to play online poker in the US (except certain states). It is not even illegal for the pokersites to offer online poker to US citizens. It is now illegal (thanks to the UIGEA) for banking institutions (including payment processors I believe) to process online gambling transactions, which is why its gotten rather hard for US citizens to deposit (and I assume why Full Tilt has temporarily stopped check withdrawals). At least that has always been my take on it.

this is not exactly good news...plus it has a long way to go before actually being passed

1st. FTP and PS plus anyone other non-casino site (all of them) would pretty much become extinct in the U.S. as im assuming it would be illegal

2nd. This will probably never pass so dont worry, bc this is a monopoly and is in complete violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. For the casino's to have 2 years of control over the market would clearly be illegal, but hey the government doesn't always follow their own rules, so it could be a possibility.

3rd. IMO this would probably make the playing field a hell of a lot fishier as more u.s players would play online knowing their money is safe and protected.

Reid's way of saying thank you to those that helped get him re-elected.

Disgusting but typical.

From what I have been reading FT and PS and others would have 30 days to pull out of the US market and refund all money to US players. If they dont then they would never be eligible for a license down the road. This doesn't mean we will get our money though I guess. If you think about it though if they wiped your account clean tomorrow exactly what could you do about it anyway?

Lol, I hope I would be able to do something. I gotta say I feel that there should be some sort of "grandfathering" of this sites. I mean they have been around before the legislation.

I hate politicans... I mean we are in the worst economy ...ever, we are in 3/4 Wars... millions unemployed... and they have to focus on internet gambling websites???

How about they just leave us alone and actually fix something that needs being fixed!

You would hope you could do something but I have thought about it and really thee is nothing I could do. I guess the best bet is to not leave a lot online at one time. Just sucks when it is hard enough to move it on and off these days.

Agree. At the very least they should make it legal and start reaping in the tax dollars. I still think they should stay out of it entirely. What sort of free market do we have when our communications and entertainment are regulated by the government.

I say hands off our hard earned money for a change.

This is turning into a serious problem guys. There are articles and news about it everywhere, none of it positive. 2+2 is going crazy. Apparently there will be a 15-month blackout period for all online poker, and then even after that it will come down to a state-by-state decision, i.e. Washington can still opt-out and make it illegal. The biggest kicker may be 20% tax on all revenues by the poker sites. Did someone say higher rake? Positive ROI may be nearly impossible if that happens...

Do you know of any sites that US players can use that would go around all of this? Or any techniques to get around these things?

I guess what I'm asking is what can we do now to make our lives easier if the worst should happen?

Apparently sites with sportsbooks won't be covered under the legislation, so there is speculation that sites like Bodog and Sportsbook Poker may just ignore the legislation altogether and still accept US players. However, even then I'm not sure how you would get your money off and deposited into a US bank since it would be illegal/dirty money?

The way things have been going with French players, and Washington State players, etc. wouldn't be surprised if the this passes and the 15 month moratorium happens.

huge thread over on 2p2 on this, just finished reading it thanks to vanq.

this is bullshit..nobody seems to know when exactly the blackout is going to start though...people are starting to panic about their moniezz though.

dammit

Here is a leaked version of a draft of the bill - I don't think it's the final one, and the PPA supports it because they think the only way to move forward is to start the regulatory framework: http://media.lvrj.com/documents/Inte...ct_of_2010.pdf

We're all ****ed

It looks like 15 months of fighting every reg in the US on Bodog is the price to be paid for a much better game in the long term. The 20% tax on revenues will likely actually save sites money since they won't have all the processor issues they do currently so we shouldn't see an increase in rake and all the competition may actually drive it down.

Tough times ahead but it could well be worth it in the long run.

I can't believe the PPA is actually supporting it. It seems like the destination is similar to what has been fought for, but the road there takes a huge detour.

They're convinced that with the Republicans set to take over this is their last shot to get anything done for at least 4 years, so they're willing to give some pretty big concessions.

Without going very much deeper in my reading, is there anything that is preventing the big sites from buying weak US casino's?

I can think of several........

And since all the sites currently serving the US have Indian Gaming ties, I think there are loopholes.

Nothing to prevent it but the blackout period applies to US casinos as well. There will be NO legal online poker available to the US market during the blackout period.

its going to be a long 15 months and this would help all casinos, whether they would want to go online or not, bc most/all online players would be forced to play live from now on...only those who arent 21 yet would be feeling the real pain of this haha

Is Canada accepting political refugees from the US ?

We'll still have the lawless sites I would think.

i seriously hope so wvh, cause 15 months would be a very, very long time not to play

Everyone should send Sen Harry Reid and you state Congressmen an email,and tell them your support,and any changes to the bill that you might want....I actually sent Sen Reid an email last week,in my support of online poker,even tho I live in WV,so dont let anything stop you from emailing them now!..Its now or maybe never guys!

Email them about your un-support of it also,or what you do not like about it.I dont believe any bill will satisfy everyone.

http://reid.senate.gov/contact/


http://www.senate.gov/general/contac...nators_cfm.cfm

Why do I want to support this? If it leaves it up to the individual states it is highly unlikely I would be able to ever play again.

At least now I can play.

totally didn't even know about this subforum and by extension this thread.


pretty much yeah, we're all boned if/when this gets passed, only upside seems to be that pokerstars is "guaranteeing" that our money will be "safe", but like wtf, 15 months from now the poker world will be so extremely different.

In 15 months I will be too old to play online poker lol.

so much for taking a year off after graduation to play poker/save money for potential grad school slash other ventures/travel. looks like i'm gonna work at the goddamn shipyard starting in june

it is still unclear WHEN the blackout will go into effect though right?

30-90 days after the bill goes into effect iirc