In a move that has been speculated for the past week, online poker rooms on the Microgaming Network will no longer accept new players from the United States. Poker News Daily has confirmed the report with Microgaming. The move went into effect on Monday across many Microgaming sites, which include Doyle’s Room, Eurolinx, and Poker Host.
The statement from Microgaming sent to Poker News Daily in an e-mail read, “Several of Microgaming’s licensees, who represent the majority of the U.S. business, last week decided that the current commercial uncertainty of investing in business from the United States no longer justified accepting new player registrations.” In addition, several Microgaming sites have elected not to allow players from the United States to play at all, as opposed to blocking just new registrations.
Initiatlly, Microgaming announced to its affiliate partners that it would begin the enforcement of an existing ban on online poker players from 13 states where internet gambling is problematic legally: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Utah. Then, the website Microgaming.com was not accessible by any person in the U.S. When players tried to access the site, they were simply greeted with “Site not available.”
Microgaming plays host to a bevy of online poker rooms including Wild Jack Poker, Crazy Poker, Golden Riviera Poker, Purple Lounge, NordicBet Poker, Spin Palace Poker, 32Red Poker, IntertopsPoker, Betway, PokerShare, BetOnBet, Unibet, Poker Host, Gnuf, Jennings Poker, Eurolinx, and Doyle’s Poker. The Fortune Lounge Group, which owns Microgaming sites PokerTime and Royal Vegas Poker, had elected on Monday to halt new U.S. registrations. Americans with existing accounts on either of these two rooms are able to play as normal.
The statement from the online poker network continued, “In the light of these decisions, Microgaming did not believe it was worth the remainder of U.S.-facing licensees keeping their systems available for new registrations, given the technical difficulties of maintaining an effective screening for all circumstances. After consultation with these remaining licensees, Microgaming will from today be implementing the licensees’ decisions not to accept new U.S. registrations.”
Microgaming.com, DoylesRoom.com, PokerTime.com, and PokerHost.com are among the 141 domain names that were seized by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. Others that are also in jeopardy, but are not part of the Microgaming Network, include PokerStars.com, UltimateBet.com, AbsolutePoker.com, FullTiltPoker.com, BodogLife.com, CakePoker.com, and TruePoker.com. A final forfeiture hearing in the case is scheduled for December 3rd, although a three judge Appeals panel will potentially act on the case next week when it meets for the first time. On the internet gambling squabble in Kentucky, the network added, “Microgaming cannot comment on the order for seizure of domain names by a court in Kentucky, as the matter is in the hands of lawyers.” Legal counsel representing the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) and Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) have also played key roles in the case.
Specific arguments made by iMEGA as to why the higher court should intervene, according to its website, include “the misapplication of Kentucky’s own ‘gambling devices’ statute to include domain names; that there is no basis for civil forfeiture in the Kentucky statute, which is a criminal statute; and that Justice and Public Safety Secretary J. Michael Brown lacked the authority to bring this action, instead of the commonwealth’s attorney-general.”