Barring a last-minute breakthrough by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), U.S. Treasury, or Federal Reserve, the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) will go into effect on Tuesday, June 1st.
In November, the Treasury and Federal Reserve granted a six-month delay in mandatory industry compliance with the UIGEA’s rules until June 1st. In the interim, it was presumed that the muddled 2006 law, which sailed through the Senate after being attached to an unrelated port security measure, would be clarified. However, with groundbreaking health care reform and a sagging U.S. economy taking center stage, Congress has been concerned with everything but internet poker.
On May 25th, PokerTime officials distributed an e-mail to affiliates that succinctly read, “Due to legislative changes in the USA as of June 1st, 2010, PokerTime will no longer be accepting bets from U.S.-based players. All players’ balances in excess of $20 will be cashed out on the 31st of May 2010. We thank you for your support and patronage and look forward to continued success with you in other marketing territories.”
The UIGEA prohibits deposits from U.S. financial institutions to “unlawful internet gambling” sites. Despite being the U, I, and G in UIGEA, the three-word phrase was never defined by Congress. Instead, the law defers to a web of federal, state, local, and tribal laws to determine what is permitted. All attempts to clarify the UIGEA, including a petition from the PPA to exclude peer-to-peer games, have not yet come to fruition.
On the TwoPlusTwo forums, an 11-page thread that popped up in mid-April and was still going strong mulled what the lay of the land will be in the internet gambling industry come June 1st. One poster gave his two cents on what may occur: “My prediction is that, absent any legislative or legal relief, it will get incrementally more difficult for U.S. players to make deposits and withdrawals over time.” The UIGEA only affects deposits; however, online poker affiliates have noted that wire transfer minimums from major sites have increased in recent months.
In the background of the June 1st deadline is testimony from the recent House Ways and Means Committee hearing on internet gambling. Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), one of the architects of the UIGEA, admitted that it was up to the 50 individual states to decide whether internet gambling should be permitted. A decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals last September declared that the UIGEA, in and of itself, had not made any new activity illegal. Accordingly, states like California have been exploring legalized online poker as a way to curtail major budget shortfalls.
In a video posted on the PPA’s website, Executive Director John Pappas forecasted, “We don’t expect [June 1st] to be a doomsday scenario for online poker. To be clear, it is not going to be unlawful for you, the poker player, to play internet poker… Nothing should stop you from getting money off of an online poker site.”
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest UIGEA headlines.
