Poker Thoughts for the week ... US Poker Ban
Well everyone in the industry seems to be wandering around in circles, running off in different dierections or jumping of cliffs like lemmings.
Due to all the legal implications either real or perceived, NON US poker forums like 4kingpoker that do not operate as poker rooms are struggling to know what the future holds.
The internet is a global means of communication and yet the US online gambling bill (a US law regulating the tranfer of money from the US to online gambling sites) seems to be potentially effecting just about everything and everyone else in the world interested in playing poker either online or in live games ... This IMHO seems to be ethically wrong.
I'm not going to get into the whole "US Poker Ban or Not" debate ... why ?
Well because everyone including lawyers and legal eagles seem to have found little concensus - On the one hand sites like PartyPoker and Pacific Poker (both traded companies) have made it clear and have withdrawn from the US poker market. On the other most sites seem to be taking either a clear stand that as don't operate out of the US therefore the law does not apply and they feel it goes against international trade law, or they are currently continuing "business as usual"
The most important thing from a players point of view is that the reputable sites are assuring players their money is safe on their poker sites.
It's true that the new bill does only restrict the payment via banking systems from the US to a gambling / poker site and therefore some argue that this is not a US poker ban. But the interesting thing will be how much the US government take this view also.
One thing is clear that everyone will be watching and waiting to see what happens once the bill is signed and the 720 days for the banks to implement it are up. Let's face it US banks / credit cards haven't been dealing with poker sites for a good while already so many are predicting business as usual ... Neteller is still planning to operate and it is unclear whether the bill has any hold over a European payment system or not.
In short it seems that online poker for US players is still the grey area that it was before the bill was passed.
The most startling factor is how the online gambling bill ever got to this stage in the first place. Senator Frist has managed to attached it to the port security bill which was guaranteed to pass no matter what was attached to it. However many are expressing concerns that such an irrelevant piece of law could be attached so easily - maybe these voices will multiply in the halls of power and cut the bill out all together.
For legal reasons (ie. I'm NOT a lawyer) I would advise all players around the world to always check the legal status of playing online poker in their country of residence - and I do NOT encourage anyone to break any laws which may apply in their country of residence. Any statements by the poker sites regarding whether sites are "open" or "closed" to US players are quoted directly from the respective sites and are NOT the views or opinions of 4kingpoker or this blog - They are in thepublic domain and reproduced purely for entertainment / information purposes.
Poker Heaven Bonus & Review
4kingpoker Forums ... Hot & New threads in the forums.
Saga ...
Jamie Gold WSOP winner gets sued
Poll ...
Who is your favourite make poker pro ?
Poll ...
Who is your favourite woman poker pro ?
4kingpoker Losses ... Managed to have a great morning on Poker.com (which incidently looks brilliant since the graphics redesign) and played $130 dollars up to just short of $500 in the space of a couple of hours. Come the afternoon and yes the inevitable happens - I play looser more speculative poker and p** it all away ... well I've ended up in modest profit. Again this proves that if I concentrate - I WIN but if I get cocky and push too much - I LOSE ... As they say ... It's not rocket science.
4kingpoker Tournaments ... We have scheduled up 6 tournaments at Poker.com over the coming month with a mix of $50 Freeroll's & $3+0.30 buy-ins with $50 added.
Sunday 15th October 3pm EST - Poker.com $3+0.30 buy-in with $50 added
4kingpoker buy-in tour game 7
Wednesday 18th October 7pm EST - Poker.com $50 FREEROLL
4kingpoker freeroll tour game 15
Sunday 22nd October 3pm EST - Poker.com $3+0.30 buy-in with $50 added
4kingpoker buy-in tour game 8
Wednesday 25th October 7pm EST - Poker.com $50 FREEROLL
4kingpoker freeroll tour game 16
Sunday 29th October 3pm EST - Poker.com $3+0.30 buy-in with $50 added
4kingpoker buy-in tour game 9
Wednesday 1st November 7pm EST - Poker.com $50 FREEROLL
4kingpoker freeroll tour game 17
Added to all the action at Poker.com we have the WEEKLY $250 FREEROLL at Titan Poker which is open to all sign-ups to Titan through 4kingpoker (use BONUS CODE: 4kingpoker).
4kingpoker News ... As a result of the US gambling bill my time has been stretched trying to figure out what it all means - long story short nobody really know with any certainty.
