It’s been over a year since the U.S. government decided to regulate online gambling by implementing the UIGEA. This bill prohibits the transfer of money from an American bank to an Internet gambling site. The only exceptions are Fantasy Sports, horse racing, and online lotteries. This is a very sad decision since it takes away some of the most valuable freedoms that American citizens used to count with, starting with your freedom to choose what to do with your time and money. The bill also seem a little ironic in a country in where anyone can join the army when you are 18 years old and go to foreign countries to do battle, but you can’t sit in front of a computer and play poker on the Internet.

This has been the most notable turn off for poker players, the affluence has been a decreasing since many online poker sites have taken the determination to leave the U.S market to avoid any legal situation that can compromise them, and most players that found their accounts frozen had to switch to another poker sites.

It’s also sad that the government doesn’t seem to understand that no one is in a hurry, playing poker online shouldn’t be consider as a vice, it’s a personal right and as long as you don’t get yourself in trouble it should be respected. People love poker; I can play for an hour or two after work without leaving my room. Players from all over the world get to meet in the online poker rooms, and players are able to learn different styles of play associated with different nationalities.

However, you can still go around the legislation. You can wire money or use an offshore bank account, and sometime using your debit card works because the banks don’t have the resources to track all transactions. Unfortunately some of the major e-wallets such as NETeller and FirePay are not taking American customers anymore.
The government passed this bill because they aren’t getting a piece of the action. A lot of money circulates in the online poker community, but it’s all tax-free. I don’t like the idea of government telling me what I can and can’t do with my money. I’m the one that worked for it and I’m the one paying taxes. But there’s a small group of websites that have decided to stay and keep receiving U.S players, that’s the case of Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker, UltimateBet and Bodog Life to mention some. If you want more information about online poker sites you can visit WeDoItAllVegas.com and read more about online poker promotions, reviews, information news and more.

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