US Members Only: Poll about the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act)

[The Dude]

It's been a month since this law has been signed into effect, and I'm curious on how this has affected the US based Casinomeister forum members so far.

If you're a US member, please participate - thanks!

 

[The Dude]

I just added an additional question so that anyone not residing in the US can choose this and therefore they can view the poll

 

[winbig]

I'm still confused.

If you can't go to jail for gambling online, how can they name it "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act"?

Or maybe I'm just confused, because as far as I see they're just making it almost impossible to deposit to your casino account.

Either way, I'm not really complaining. For one, it's saving me money...two, it's forcing me to travel 2.5 hours to a B&M casino, where I'm making me more money than if I was playing online. This way I don't have to worry about lame T&C's, nor whether or not I'm going to get paid

 

[aka23]

It's been a month since this law has been signed into effect, and I'm curious on how this has affected the US based Casinomeister forum members so far.

If you're a US member, please participate - thanks!

I primarily play at Microgaming and am not in one of the 11 states, so the law has not had a big effect on my play. I'd like to be able to play at 32 Red and Intercasino again, but there are plenty of alternatives.

 

[Mousey]

I primarily play at Microgaming and am not in one of the 11 states, so the law has not had a big effect on my play. I'd like to be able to play at 32 Red and Intercasino again, but there are plenty of alternatives.

Same for me. I miss those casinos, but mostly I miss Mummy's/Piggs and Global Player. I play other places now, just not quite as much as before (primarily because I've been on the losing streak from heck since spring).

However, if/when NETeller locks out US players -- I'm done.

 

[pevangel]

its very sad what the goverment is doing to our enjoyment

this new law has affected me tremendously all the casinos i have played at for years has closed my accounts due to this new law. i want to play but how can i when they closed my account. we need to keep fighting for our rights in usa.

 

[kling55]

UIGEA

What a hypocritical law this is. Maybe with the dems in, and pressure from players in this country and governments of other countries, a reasonable solution will be found. When there is so much money involved, a solution always seems to be found. Time will tell.

 

[tim5ny]

The gaming act has completely ended my online career.

 

[moonvine44]

interference

the new law has required that I limit my play to a few casinos, which is not a bad thing -- I enjoy FL casinos anyway. However, If neteller stops taking my money, I will be in real trouble, because I do not know who else to trust. Hopefully there will be a solution soon. This is real personal rights interference.

 

[reda]

i am still gambling, although im not in the 11 states that are on the list however i too use neteller. hope a alternative comes up in a few months.

 

[Addisyn]

Warning might be misconstrued as a rant. :machinegu

This whole thing just ticks me off. I am not in one of the 11 states so for now I can play online. This was just a political move. Repuks pandering to their neocon base.

Well guess what Repuks it is Iraq stupid! I am so glad the Dems have control of both houses of Congress. They will begin investigations and hopefully give us back our rights. Not simply to throw away my money, but not to be jailed without habeas corpus, wiretapped, and allow torture in our name. Just to name a few.

We should all be writing to our congressional representatives in both the House and Senate to let them know we want our rights back!

 

[mooska61]

I have not had a problem with depositing at my favorite casinos. I use neteller and have even cashed out a little amount since all this happened. Luckily I am not in one of the 11 states that cant.

 

[goodie2shoes]

US Members Only: Poll about the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) Re

I primarily play at Microgaming and am not in one of the 11 states, so the law has not had a big effect on my play. I'd like to be able to play at 32 Red and Intercasino again, but there are plenty of alternatives.

Same here the law has not had any kind of effect on me at all. I live about a half of a mile from a casino.

 

[twilasue]

Is The law actually in effect currently? Or does it go into effect and become enforceable say in January like a lot of passed bills do?

Do you know what I'm getting at Bryan? A lot of times new laws will be passed but they won't go into effect until some set time in the future, there may even be some actual schedule that certain types of legislation follow, I don't know.

When this whole thing was still up in the air I almost wore out my eyes reading all about the bill, and the actual sessions in congress themselves, and the dang print is soooo small, that, well, when the bill got passed I haven't gone back to read and educate myself further.

Thanks for keeping us all up to date on this, I for one have read all your newsletters and my eyes and I thank you very very much!

twilasue

 

[tennis_balls]

i used to look forward to the 1st of the month and a chance to play 32Red and Intercasino. without a bonus, I feel I'm better off saving for a trip to Vegas. (and no I'm not a bonus whore.)


perhaps I'm a bonus slut though.

 

[The Dude]

Is The law actually in effect currently? Or does it go into effect and become enforceable say in January like a lot of passed bills do?..

The law went into effect as soon as the President signed it as far as I know.

But law or no law, it affects everyone and it's going to be interesting to monitor this. I'll be running this same poll every couple of months or so to keep my fingers on the pulse of the industry so to speak. The financial services that most of the players use might bail out in the upcoming months - some have bailed out already. On the other hand, the banking industry might petition the court on this if push comes to shove stating that they cannot monitor this fully. All of these issues will change the landscape of the gambler's world - it's going to be interesting to watch.

 

[zappatista]

I really miss Lasseters.

One day I logged on and they told me my account was closed because I'm in the U.S.

They had my favorite slot machine, Coral Wonderland, and I miss the pretty fishies, conchs, and turtles.

I also had a play for fun account there, and I'll have to see if that one is also closed. If not, at least I'll be able to play my favorite slot. I never made any money on it anyway, I just liked the colors and graphics. I also like the fact that they're in Australia, which is like seventeen hours ahead of where I am, so sometimes if I'd log on twice in the same day, their message would tell me, "Welcome back, the last time you logged in was (tomorrow)." It felt absolutely Einsteinian to have previously logged in tomorrow.

 

[The Dude]

One day I logged on and they told me my account was closed because I'm in the U.S.

They had my favorite slot machine, Coral Wonderland, and I miss the pretty fishies, conchs, and turtles.

I also had a play for fun account there, and I'll have to see if that one is also closed. If not, at least I'll be able to play my favorite slot. I never made any money on it anyway, I just liked the colors and graphics. I also like the fact that they're in Australia, which is like seventeen hours ahead of where I am, so sometimes if I'd log on twice in the same day, their message would tell me, "Welcome back, the last time you logged in was (tomorrow)." It felt absolutely Einsteinian to have previously logged in tomorrow.

And this is one of the tragedies of this bill. Lasseters is licensed by the Australian government. It's not some island in the Caribbean or a third world country in Central or South America. This is where the US politicians have done their citizens a disservice. Push the Aussies out of the picture and the void will be filled with casinos from Venezuela. Sheesh!

 

[jetset]

The law went into effect as soon as the President signed it as far as I know.

Bryan's right - once the President signed it this became law....but the legislation specifies a period of 270 days during which the US Treasury and the AG are supposed to frame enforcement regulations for the financial community that is supposed to police this silly legislation.

And it leaves big exits for those that can show they cannot reasonably do so.

In the meantime, you can bet that the always zealous DoJ will be doing everything they can to scare the bejasus out of everyone in the industry and maybe the players too....but remember that this act does not penalise US players - it goes after the financial structures that support their play.

But there's no doubt it is causing a lot of negative publicity and damage to the very companies that were trying to make the online gaming experience more acceptable and safe.

 

[KasinoKing]

One day I logged on and they told me my account was closed because I'm in the U.S.
They had my favorite slot machine, Coral Wonderland, and I miss the pretty fishies, conchs, and turtles...

I've never played Lasseters, but isn't it Player Preferred software?
If so, you could sign up at Hype or inChilli who are still taking all US players!

 

[Mousey]

Bryan's right - once the President signed it this became law....but the legislation specifies a period of 270 days during which the US Treasury and the AG are supposed to frame enforcement regulations for the financial community that is supposed to police this silly legislation.

And it leaves big exits for those that can show they cannot reasonably do so.

Anyone have any friends in banking? I'd love to know if banks have already received offical looking letters from the feds about this law... what it says and what it threatens.

 

[Darem1]

Banking

Mousey, I have a friend in banking who would know, and she hasn't received anything formal yet, but they are "investigating" transfers to Paypal, Neteller, etc. to make sure they aren't for gambling.

 

[chuchu59]

I'm still confused.

If you can't go to jail for gambling online, how can they name it "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act"?

Or maybe I'm just confused, because as far as I see they're just making it almost impossible to deposit to your casino account.

Either way, I'm not really complaining. For one, it's saving me money...two, it's forcing me to travel 2.5 hours to a B&M casino, where I'm making me more money than if I was playing online. This way I don't have to worry about lame T&C's, nor whether or not I'm going to get paid

Of course you cant go to jail for this because the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is unlawful. It's just that they forgot to convert the Capital 'U' in unlawful to "u'.

 

[Peaceful1]

I'm still confused.

If you can't go to jail for gambling online, how can they name it "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act"?

My take on this is, if you break up fragments of the name of the Act, it is an "enforcement" of the law in areas/territories of where it (Internet gambling) was already (or always has been, somewhere in fine print, and not recognized or truly "enforced" deemed "unlawful".

Of course those who pushed for this Bill/Act gained what they wanted by creating all the "hoopla" surrounding this, creating ambiguity by the Act's name...making those wonder or reluctant to gamble online, as with the online casinos in their decision to continue taking U.S. players, and payment processors/web wallets...many do not want to take a chance.

At least this is my opinion.

 

[supergirleileen]

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

Should be called the Unconstitutional, let's take all the citizen's rights away, gambling enforcement act. I'm in one of the 11 states so I am really upset. Microgaming was my favorite and I can't play there anymore. With all of the millions of dollars that all of us in the 11 states poured into microgaming casinos, I'm very disappointed that they bowed down to this law. If they ever change their mind, I won't go back to the casinos that locked me out after being such a loyal player. I will go to other groups that I never gave a try.

 

[aussiekeith]

I am posting a reply here, although I do not live in the USA.
I have read through that new law and it basically says that no money transactions can take place where a person using internet sites that offer cash or any sort of games of chance where a person can win no matter if they pay or not. I have been playing and paid and free lotto and game sites that are in the USA for years. Some of these sites have already shut the doors because of this law.Email Lotto and Jackpot Lotto who have been running for 10 years have now ceased to exist anymore and I have had email from others that they will or maybe closing down by Christmas or shortly after.Some have taken the suspended the lotto games while they are working through the legislation with their laywers.It is more than just online casinos that are part of this picture but also the law gives banks up to 9 months to enact stopping clients from receiving or sending money to any online games of chance. I do not know why so many Casinos and infact any other games of chance sites that are online are banning USA players so quickly.

 

[twilasue]

The law went into effect as soon as the President signed it as far as I know.

But law or no law, it affects everyone and it's going to be interesting to monitor this. I'll be running this same poll every couple of months or so to keep my fingers on the pulse of the industry so to speak. The financial services that most of the players use might bail out in the upcoming months - some have bailed out already. On the other hand, the banking industry might petition the court on this if push comes to shove stating that they cannot monitor this fully. All of these issues will change the landscape of the gambler's world - it's going to be interesting to watch.

well, in effect or not, it hasn't stopped me from gambling (my teeny amount that I do) in any way. microgaming and rtg, I think those were the only ones. And I used my debit card/credit card. It's a debit card, I think that makes a difference somewhere (at least before the bill/and /or not related to this law) but majority of casinos never ask you to differentiate between the two.

But I had very, very small budget this month to play with so I wouldn't be a good statistic to go by, you know what I'm getting at here?

Thanks for clarifying that for me, Bryan, I've heard from others (forum admins) that it was not in effect yet (in posts they'd put up for their members).

 

[aussiekeith]

For those in the USA I was in my account at Click To Pay late last week and I noticed they have added another card. They have the normal Click To Pay Debit card but now they have brought in a Virtual Visa Card, that can be used to deposit and withdraw money world wide. This maybe of help to those who are in the USA to transfer funds in and out of bank and casino accounts etc.
Also I may add that more Lotto sites have closed down that run from the USA and this is Freeplay too I may add, however Pogo.com is still running and paying out jackpots and prizes to people in the USA and Canada but no inter national players.You have to pay $39.90 per annum to play all their games, which includes slots with jackpots up to $4,999.00. There is no mention of Pogo.com stopping the site in any part of the world.As Pogo give out instant prizes and have raffles you can swap players points to enter in, they are in breach of the new law too.
Very strange, but I guess this law will take sometime to be fully enacted.

 

[The Dude]

Admin note: Poll closed

I'm closing the poll since I think we have a good feel on what's up.

Interesting to note that nearly 25% of the players hardly play anymore - mostly due to being shut out of their favorite casinos. I'm guessing there were loyal Playtech and Wagerlogic players out there. What a shame.

I'll be running the same poll in a few months time to see if there are any significant changes - and then during the 270th day period when the banks are to have this in effect. Woo - hoo.

 

[dominique]

I'm guessing there were loyal Playtech and Wagerlogic players out there. What a shame.

Don't forget the 11 states that can't play at Micro. That's a massive number of people, especially New York.

 

[shirlsplay]

Hurts

This hole mess has really been hard. not allowed at favorite place.. I have been playing for a little over a year know and there just realizing i live in nevada.lol .for all you u.s res. other than the states that it is illeagal in. the new law is not for making gambling illeagal just the funding of the gambling.i could be wrong,but pretty sure that it is not illeagal to gamble just to fund your gambling.what i believe it all about is that our government itsn't getting any of our winnings.lol.it's been tax free and the government wants some.lol. i do not know why the casinos saying it is illeagal for us to gambling (nevada it is,lol)?????I really confused( pissed off) with the hole thing.sorry ,i tend to ramble on.lmaoo
thanks

 

[dominique]

You can find the individual state laws here:

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.