Both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars are back up and running in cyberspace, but MyPokerBasics reports neither is allowed to accept US players for real money gaming in the future.
The website MyPokerBasics discovered that the Federal government released both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars back to the original owners on Thursday with hopes of reaching a similar agreement with Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet some in the near future. Regardless of the final outcome, a common theme that all of these websites now share is that they are permanently banned from accepting customers within the United States in the future.
While the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act is considered by experts to still leave online poker rooms plenty of wiggle room when it comes to accepting US players, the United States government made it perfectly clear that Full Tilt and the other banned websites will not be given any additional warnings. Another violation by any of these websites would likely result in their domains being blocked from US customers all together. For now, only Sportsbook Poker and a few other online gaming destinations are accepting US players and letting them play poker for real money.
The US government is also demanding that the four poker websites in question to begin sending out refund checks to their customers immediately, citing that the banking accounts involved with these online casinos were intentionally left accessible to the poker rooms throughout this process. US Attorney Preet Bharara even verified in a statement that the United States would allow these gaming sites to use their US-based financial accounts to expedite refunds to players within the country; a move that was previously considered illegal. Since player accounts outside the United States were not affected by this shutdown, their accounts have remained active for real money gambling on a separate server.
MyPokerBasics, a leading authority on the UIGEA and player rights, claims that despite the arrests, websites seizures, and IP bans, nothing has really changed when it comes to online poker in the United States. Kevin Smith, a project director with MyPokerBasics, released a statement today stating that their website has been busier than ever with inquiries about the future of online poker.
“The UIGEA does a poor job stipulating whether or not an online poker room based in a foreign country is considered illegal online gaming,” said Smith, “which is why several other poker rooms have already stepped up and taken many of the angry Full Tilt and PokerStars customers. Sportsbook Poker still feels that it is fully complying with the rules in the United States when it comes to online gambling.”
Smith also went on to sat that nine out of the fifty US states have legislation in place that explicitly bans online gambling; residents in these areas are breaking the law when they play poker online. The residents of the 41 other states would technically fall into grey areas because they are not violating either state or federal laws by themselves, but combined they could be interpreted as enough for a prosecution by a state government. To date, no American citizen has ever been prosecuted for placing online wagers at a poker room.
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