Online Poker Blog - Lou Krieger's Poker Blog

Notify Blogger about objectionable content. What does this mean? [http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1200] Send As SMS BlogThis! Lou Krieger has come a long way in the Poker world. The host of Royal Vegas Poker and co-author of Poker for Dummies, Lou Krieger has also written 8 best-selling books and more than 400 columns & magazine articles of Poker strategy. Catch Lou’s views, opinions and commentary on just about everything in the world of Poker. You can also listen to him every Thursday evening at 9:00 PM EST on www.holdemradio.com, where he and Amy Calistri co host the radio show, "Keep Flopping Aces". Monday, October 09, 2006 A short, concise view of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act Many poker players are still confused about the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006. I hope to encapsulate the law in this short discussion. Detailed discussions and legal analyses of this law can be found at www.gamblingandthelaw.com/ and at http://www.gambling-law-us.com/ . UIGEA does not criminalize players for gambling online. Instead, it penalizes financial institutions such as banks, credit card companies and financial intermediaries that process bets. A bigger issue may be the reaction to this law by the majority of online gaming sites. Some have already blocked access to customers logging on from the United States. Others are undecided, while still others plan to continue serving customers from the US. If the vast majority of online poker sites eventually decide to cut and run and online financial intermediaries follow suit, you won’t be left with many places to play poker online. But if a sufficient number of online sites decide to carry on business as usual, it’s difficult to see how the United States can enforce this law because every online site is located offshore and beyond the government’s reach. The Justice Department, the FBI, and local law enforcement all lack the resources and the inclination to bust poker players. Their focus will be on applying the law to online gaming sites and related business, such as affiliates, Not even Washington State, which recently passed a law making online gambling a felony, have busted gamblers; instead, their efforts have been directed to gambling businesses. posted by Lou Krieger @ 2:36 PM 0 comments Sunday, October 08, 2006 Who's staying, who's going, and who's undecided Here's a list of the firms that are staying, leaving, and are as of yet undecided about remaining in the US online poker market. This list is a moving target, and may not be accurate by the time you read it. Leaving US Market Party Poker Pacific Poker Cryptologic and Affiliated Sites Boss Sun Poker Bet Fred Bet365 P1Gaming.com Staying in US Market - For now True Poker Paradise Poker Ultimate Bet Poker.com Absolute Bodog Bugsy'sClub Planet Poker Full Contact Poker Cake Poker Royal Vegas Poker Poker Time privately owned sports books Undecided Poker Stars Paradise Poker Full Tilt Poker Room Titan Poker Everest Poker Neteller posted by Lou Krieger @ 11:41 AM 2 comments Does the World Poker Tour really believe what they just said about online poker? "The Justice Department has been very clear that it believes online gaming to be illegal in the United States and our policies have been always been tailored accordingly," said Adam Pliska, General Counsel for the World Poker Tour. "This law clarifies the rules,” and, according to Pliska, “makes it possible for everyone to move forward on an even footing." According to World Poker Tour CEO and founder Steve Lipscomb, "It was a wide-spread love of this game and the reinvention of poker as a televised sport that ignited the poker phenomenon, and that is what will continue to drive the future of the sport." Is this the WPT’s way of saying “We were right and you everyone else was wrong when it came to interpreting the laws regarding online poker,” or was it merely a slap in the face to the online poker industry that somehow offends the WPT? Perhaps it was nothing more than a simple case of following the money. After all, if online sites will no longer advertise on television, they can’t bring televised poker shows into the marketplace and therefore won’t be able to offer competition to the WPT? I don’t know; no one’s told me. Despite different marketing thrusts and competition for players, advertising, and rake, and regardless of the major differences that some big-name players have with the World Poker Tour, I’ve always believed that everyone in the industry was united when it came right down to the bottom line: Keeping poker legal and available for everyone. I guess not. But then again I’ve always thought that the way to win in the marketplace was to provide a superior product at a better price. I didn’t think the way to win was to hitch one’s wagon to a disingenuous law, riddled with hypocritical exceptions that was dragged unseen in the night and appended to a piece of must-pass legislation in order to enhance Bill Frist’s presidential ambitions. I would have thought that businesses engaged in the world of poker would have had a sense of honor that transcended that sort of thing. Most do, but some don’t. But poker, along with the politics that surrounds it, always does a very nice job of revealing character, whether it’s individual or corporate. posted by Lou Krieger @ 11:32 AM 2 comments A foreign diplomat's view of the Internet Gaming Act's hypocrisy Publicly traded Internet gaming companies in Britain and their subsidiaries in the Caribbean have been eviscerated by Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006, the law that makes it illegal for banks, credit card companies, and other financial intermediaries to transfer funds to foreign online gambling sites. As a result of this law being tacked on to the Safe Ports act at the eleventh hour and passed with neither debate nor recorded vote, more than $7 billion was wiped off the market value of companies that that were worth $12 billion the day before UIGEA was enacted into law. The bill’s passage outraged opponents of the bill, who see it an act of protectionism rather than a moral crusade because it did not outlaw horseracing, fantasy sports, or state-owned lotteries. Sir Ronald Sanders, pictured to the right, a former Antiguan diplomat with responsibility for negotiations on financial and trade matters in the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, is a keen observer of the scene. He recently wrote that “revenues to the UK government – and more significantly to governments of Caribbean countries such as Antigua, Belize and Costa Rica - will be reduced immediately and employment will be adversely affected.” Mr. Sanders went on to say that “If the United States was not the main centre of the world for gambling, the bill, ostensibly adopted on the basis of morality, may have been acceptable,” adding that “the US is the major centre in the world for gambling. Five years ago, spending in US land-based casinos alone reached almost $26 billion. It is much more today. And there is no effort in Congress to close down US casinos on any moral basis.” And Mr. Sanders is right. The bill has cut-outs allowing other forms of Internet wagering, including horse racing, US Internet lotteries, and fantasy sports. It also permits states and Native American tribes to authorize Intrastate Internet-gaming of almost any kind. “Even though the moral argument is being touted, and the religious right in the US has welcomed the Bill,” according to Mr. Sanders “it has little to do with morals and more to do with stopping Internet gaming companies from outside the US providing services to US customers.” This is the underlying argument made by Antigua, in their case against the US that was brought before the World Trade Organization (WTO). Antigua complained that in its commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the US bound itself to provide market access and national treatment to the cross-border supply of foreign services including gambling and wagering. A WTO Panel ruled earlier that the US must bring its laws into conformity with its international obligations. This UIGEA, which specifically permits a variety of domestic Internet betting opportunities, discriminates against gaming services offered to the US from other countries, and is even more discriminatory than US law was before Antigua brought its case to the WTO. posted by Lou Krieger @ 9:41 AM 0 comments Wednesday, October 04, 2006 Is the war against online poker over, or has it just begun? While the party’s over for Party Poker and many other online poker sites, and supporters of the law cheer it as a victory for family values, American land based casinos are still eager to bite into the $12 billion online market. There’s some wiggle room, too, because the approved legislation neither bans nor criminalizes online poker. “This bill did not make anything legal or illegal," American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf said. "What it did was affect the mechanism by which Internet gambling takes place…and there is some question as to whether or not that will be effective." Nevada Congressman Jon Porter introduced a bill backed by casinos last May to study and recommend whether US-run online gambling sites could be regulated. Fahrenkopf believes that bill is likely to be considered early next year. Some foreign governments believe this law to be protectionist in nature. Antigua and Barbuda’s case against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization claimed that exceptions for horseracing and lotteries were compelling evidence that the U.S. was not as opposed to gambling as they were opposed to foreign governments taking betting dollars through online sites. Although the WTO ruled in favor of Antigua, in April, 2006, the U.S. said it had addressed the concerns. Antigua then appealed the US response to the World Trade Organization, and is still awaiting a response from the WTO. posted by Lou Krieger @ 2:38 PM 1 comments Tuesday, October 03, 2006 How the Feds will develop regulations for the new law Once the process of developing regulations for the Unlawful Internet Gaming Act begins, government officials will probably propose a "coding-and-blocking" system to identify and stop payments to online gambling sites. Many banks and credit card companies already use this kind of system to block Internet gambling transactions, so the new law will build on a familiar process that's already in place. Because banks and credit card companies will be asked to provide input into the process of developing regulations, they are optimistic that a workable system can be crafted. Some bankers were apprehensive about being held responsible for blocking payments by check as well as those made by credit card. But those concerns abated once Congress allowed check payments to be exempted from the coding and blocking process. The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board have nine months to draft regulations once the bill is signed into law by President Bush. posted by Lou Krieger @ 9:32 AM 0 comments Monday, October 02, 2006 Which online poker sites are staying, and which ones plan to leave the US market? Here’s what the sites are saying about whether they plan to stay in the US market or not, as of 4:00 PM Pacific Time today, 2 October 2006. True Poker Congress passed the UIGE Act of 2006, which covers deposits made by US players to certain types of sites. Our read is that Act covers only sites which offer Sports Betting or Casino type games where you bet against the Site itself. TruePoker does NOT make or accept bets or wagers in which it has any stake in the outcome. So, our games and tournaments, and your deposits, are not covered by this UIGE Act of 2006. TruePoker does not have a stake in the outcome of the games or tournaments we offer, in the US or anywhere else. (We do not offer casino games or sports betting, and so have no stake in the outcome and are not in the "business of betting or wagering") Party Poker After taking extensive legal advice, the Board of PartyGaming Plc has concluded that the new legislation, if signed into law, will make it practically impossible to provide US residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites. As a result of this development, the Board of PartyGaming has determined that if the President signs the Act into law, the Company will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation. Access to PartyGaming's online gaming sites for the Group's US free play customers will be unaffected. Access for all of PartyGaming’s non-US customers will also be unaffected. The Group’s strategic focus remains on developing its existing markets outside of the US and on developing new markets and products. Should activities in the US be suspended, the Directors will also seek to re-align the Group's cost base to accommodate the changed business environment. However, any such suspension would also result in the Group’s financial performance falling significantly short of consensus forecasts for 2006 and 2007. Poker Stars We have not made a decision one way or another as regards closing our American accounts. Cryptologic CryptoLogic Inc. announced that effective immediately licensees of WagerLogic Limited, the company's licensing subsidiary, will not take wagers from U.S.-based players. This is a result of new legislation expected to be signed today by President Bush that prohibits financial transaction processing in the U.S. online gaming market. WSEX We have absolutely no plans whatsoever of dropping any players. In short, it will be business as usual. WSEX.com and all its sister companies are legal and licensed businesses regulated by the Gaming Commission of Antigua and Barbuda. We are wholly located in Antigua and do no business or run any part of our operation on US soil. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has recognized the right of Antiguan companies to be in this business and has instructed the United States to stop trying to block US residents from playing at Antiguan operations. Nothing in the bill criminalizes placing a bet or sending money to or receiving money from an offshore gambling business. Bodog This bill still has to be passed by the executive branch of government before it is enacted into law. Regardless of the outcome this time, the online gambling industry will continue to flourish and Bodog.com will remain at the front and center of this digital entertainment industry for years to come. You should take comfort in knowing that Bodog.com is well situated to adapt to any change in the legislative environment. Bodog.com considers online gambling to be legal under international law and complies with the laws within all of its jurisdictions where it carries out its operations. Ultimate Bet UltimateBet is not going away as a result of this legislation…The new law does not change the legality of playing online games. The law does not impact people who play games from their computers. Instead, the law focuses on the payment processing of unlawful Internet gaming.Our strong belief is that poker is a game of skill and therefore is not encompassed by this law. As set forth in the user agreement, we furnish a gaming environment, and participants are eligible to access this environment for their enjoyment where legal to do so. We do not undertake to assess the legality of play in any particular case as our users may access us from around the world. Poker.com Very quickly, as far as we are concerned our operations are 100% legal under international law and we follow all laws of the jurisdictions in which our operations reside. There will still be plenty of places to play poker and the industry will adapt, evolve and survive. Absolute Poker We want to assure you that Absolute Poker games are still available and that you can continue to enjoy the site as you always have. The new law does not change the legality of playing online games nor will make us close any US customer accounts. The law does not impact people who play games from their computers. Instead, the law focuses on the payment processing of unlawful Internet gaming and we can assure you that our operations are 100% legal. Full Tilt We are continuing to study this legislation and, until our investigation is complete, believe it would be wrong to comment on how these new rules will impact the ability for players to transfer funds to and from Full Tilt Poker . In the short term, we assure you that your online experience at Full Tilt Poker will not change. You will still be able to deposit and withdraw money from the site using the same methods and payment processors you have always used, and your money will remain completely safe and secure. We cannot predict how the online poker experience may change in the future, but we do not expect any immediate impact from the legislation, as the banking industry has 270 days to implement new rules after the bill is signed. Bugsy’s Club We want you to know that we will continue doing business with our US customers. We are a legal and licensed business in the Netherlands Antilles and none of our operations are carried out on US soil. We have no intention of closing USA player accounts or restricting their ability to play on BugsysClub. The World Trade Organization ruling brought by Antigua and Barbuda has repeatedly instructed the United States to stop trying to block US residents from playing at such operations while the US simultaneously favors certain US operations (such as horse betting, lottery etc). Boss Media As the bill on banned Internet gambling payment processing services in the United States turns into formal law, Boss Media AB will immediately take action to block American players resident in the United States from accessing any such services and software provided by Boss Media. posted by Lou Krieger @ 4:08 PM 1 comments Assessing the New Law: A Dark Day for Online Poker The poker world has been rife with speculation regarding the ramifications of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 , and what it might mean for you, me, and other online poker players, as well as for the industry itself. In order to review developments as objectively as possible, I believe it is necessary to examine this state of affairs from two perspectives. The first is the law itself. The second is the response to the law by major online poker sites and other businesses involved in the online poker industry. Looking at the Law Please do not construe this as a legal opinion. I am not an attorney. These are simply my insights into this law and my take on what appears to be transpiring in the poker community. This law does not criminalize your behavior as a poker player As a player, this bill does not criminalize your behavior. The law places the onus on the US banking industry and other payment processors to stop funding online gaming sites. The act is aimed squarely at precluding anyone handling financial transactions related to online gaming. It is designed to stop banks from allowing customers to send funds to offshore gaming sites. It also criminalizes those who accept funds for the purpose of gambling. This law does not modify the Wire Act of 1961 This law does not include language that would modify the 1961 Wire Act to include online gambling, although the bill passed in the House of Representatives earlier this year did contain that language. As a result, online gaming is still a legally gray area, no more — and no less — illegal today than it was before this law was passed. A 270 day period to develop regulations and procedures Once President Bush signs this into law, there will be a 270 day period during which enforcement procedures will be designed. This is a common process at the Federal level: Congress enacts a law and those designed to enforce it are charged with designing procedures to implement the intent of Congress. The banks don't like it and that might be some small help The banking industry is opposed to what they see as burdensome requirements regarding payments to online gambling sites. Because the banking industry is likely to be consulted during the regulation writing period because they will play a major role in the act’s implementation, they are likely to argue for requirements they can meet, and which do not impose an overwhelming financial burden on them. That’s probably good for us. Expect legal challenges You can expect a number of legal challenges to the Act. It seems to fly in the face of the World Trade Organization’s ruling in a trade dispute brought by the tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda. However, the US government has ignored WTO rulings related to online gaming in the past, and is unlikely to change their posture now. Looking at Initial Reactions to the Law As of today, the industry leader, Party Poker, issued a statement saying that they will refuse to take wagers from US, although play money games will be available to those residing in the United States. PokerStars has not made a decision yet, but I will assume they will take a similar course of action soon. Will Neteller stay or go? Financial intermediaries, such as Neteller, might choose to opt out of the American market. They have not issued any indication as to what course they will chart. If Neteller decides to forego the US market, there are other payment intermediaries who would probably relish the opportunity to fill that void. Nolan Dalla was right; I was wrong Earlier today, Nolan Dalla wrote: “I expect this to have a ripple affect across the entire industry. Most of the larger poker sites and likely offshore sportsbooks as well, will be forced to block wagers from US residents. Otherwise, all operators/employees are subject to arrest and prosecution if they enter US territory. Those here and elsewhere who have stated this new law "only applies to financial transactions" have a narrow and tragically misguided view of the legislation. It essentially makes any employee or agent of the offshore site a criminal under US law -- UNLESS they block transactions from US residents.” Quite frankly, I never assumed that the leading sites would comply with the legislation and turn their back on the enormous customer base here in the US. I assumed they would continue to serve the cyber gaming market from jurisdictions where online gaming is legal and regulated — in essence, I assumed they would thumb their noses at this law. Instead, it appears they will comply. Nolan was right and I was wrong, and in my opinion, their reaction to this law might ultimately be a more difficult issue to overcome than the law itself. While players could easily find work-arounds in order to fund gaming accounts regardless of the regulations that are finally set in place to enable this law’s enforcement, it becomes a Pyrrhic victory for the clever player if he is able to fund an online account but cannot find an online game where he is permitted to play. Jobs will be lost; investors will take a major hit Because this legislation is aimed at anyone “in the business of betting,” any site that promotes online gaming, including rakeback and affiliate sites — and even “informational” sites — might fall within the law’s scope. This could have a huge economic impact, affecting numerous websites with thousands of jobs lost in the process. The economic impacts of this law are already being felt, as some of the large public sites have seen their share prices plummet, and many investors are poorer as a result. In this hypocritical legislation, fantasy sprots and online lotteries win; everyone else loses Fantasy sport sites and state lotteries are the winners, despite the fact that they too are involved in online gaming. Fantasy sports sites are OK as long as they do not have their scoring systems based on a team’s performance or point spread, but on the statistical performance of player groups. If poker could be constructed as a fantasy sport, it might find itself outside the scope of this law. However, it would no longer be poker, and no longer appealing to many players. posted by Lou Krieger @ 2:47 PM 2 comments Saturday, September 30, 2006 Unlawful Internet Gaming Act passes Prohibition appears to be back and your personal freedoms are eroding, following the attachment of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006 to the SAFE Port Act of 2006 — a piece of “must pass” legislation. It passed without a recorded vote and no debate on the issue. A 270 day period for adopting regulations and enforcement procedures following signature by President Bush is in place. You can read the bill for yourself at http://www.rules.house.gov/109_2nd/text/hr4954cr/hr49543_portscr.pdf . The segment related to Internet gaming begins on page 212. Using credit cards and other payment instruments for what the bill defines as “unlawful Internet gambling” is prohibited, and financial institutions are required to identify and block payments related for unlawful Internet gambling transactions. The bill provides three exemptions: 1. horse racing under the Interstate Horseracing Act, 2.Indian gambling occurring on a reservation or between two reservations, and 3.Intrastate Internet gambling (within a state’s own borders) In a statement released by Senator Bill Frist, “Gambling is a serious addiction that undermines the family, dashes dreams, and frays the fabric of society. Congress has grappled with this issue for 10 years, and during that time we've watched this shadow industry explode. For me as majority leader, the bottom line is simple: Internet gambling is illegal. Although we can t monitor every online gambler or regulate offshore gambling, we can police the financial institutions that disregard our laws.” In my opinion, passage of this law is disingenuous at best and blatantly hypocritical at worst. It panders to the moral majority that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist needs to further his own presidential aspirations, while burdening all free people with another sumptuary law we don’t need, and which serves no purpose whatsoever except to deprive us of our freedom to choose how to engage in recreational activities from within our own homes. This law probably violates US trade treaty obligations and a ruling by the World Trade Organization in the dispute between Antigua and the United States (discussed extensively in this blog in prior months) because it bans foreign remote online gaming while favoring the forms of online gaming exempted by this new law, such as horse racing and online lotteries. While many other nations are regulating and taxing online gaming, the United States is banning it. What’s really needed is a ban on any laws prohibiting personal conduct that does not harm others. Shame on us. posted by Lou Krieger @ 9:54 AM 6 comments Thursday, September 28, 2006 What's up with the proposed internet gaming ban? No one knows! While Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), are still looking for a way to include an online wagering ban in the Defense Appropriations bill, Sen. John Warner (R-VA), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he opposes the addition of any out of scope measures to that bill. In a letter to Frist that echoed comments made last week by Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the leading Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Warner wrote: "There is strong reason to believe a point of order will be raised should the (defense) conference report have out-of-scope bills attached." If a senator raises a point of order, 60 votes would be required to allow the defense bill to proceed to a final vote. Carolyn Weyforth, an aide to Frist, said negotiations on the defense bill are continuing among House and Senate members "so it isn't known if the Internet gambling ban will be included or not." Weyforth said that when the negotiations on the defense bill are completed, Frist will decide "if other efforts will need to be made to address the (Internet gambling) issue." Sen. John Ensign, (R-NV), a member of the conference committee negotiating terms of the defense bill, said he favors the formation of a federal commission to study the online wagering industry. Ensign’s position mirrors that of The American Gaming Association, the chief casino lobbying group in Washington. In a statement issued a few days ago, they reaffirmed their support of a study of Internet gambling. Many lobbyists are predicting the legislation is likely to linger until Congress returns after the elections, in what would be a lame duck session. At this point, no one seems sure what — if anything — will happen regarding an online gaming ban. And no one knows when. posted by Lou Krieger @ 2:13 PM 0 comments Contributors Lou's Poker Community Lou Krieger Poker Links PokerTime Royal Vegas Poker Lou Krieger Home Page College Poker Championship Poker Book Report Hold'em Radio "Keep Flopping Aces" radio show Aimlessly Chasing Amy Kick Ass Poker Tao of Poker A Slave to Variance Al Can't Hang Guinness and Poker Felicia Lee Haley's Poker Bl-auugh! PokerMagazine.com ConJelCo -- an online poker book source David Apostolico Gambler's Book Shop Previous Posts A short, concise view of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act Who's staying, who's going, and who's undecided Does the World Poker Tour really believe what they just said about online poker? A foreign diplomat's view of the Internet Gaming Act's hypocrisy Is the war against online poker over, or has it just begun? How the Feds will develop regulations for the new law Which online poker sites are staying, and which ones plan to leave the US market? Assessing the New Law: A Dark Day for Online Poker Unlawful Internet Gaming Act passes What's up with the proposed internet gaming ban? No one knows! Archives April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 Get Popdex Citations