Online Casinos Directory

Is gambling a game of chance? Or is it a game of skill? What games fall into the ‘game of skill’ heading? If they do fall into a ‘game of skill’ heading, then are they exempt from gambling law?  These and many more questions were never delineated by the UIGEA. In fact, all it really did do was put the responsibility of watch dog onto the financial industry. It is this vagueness that caused people like Barney Frank and others to create amendments to the law. They are hoping that they can both legalize and regulate gambling to bring in much-needed billions of dollars in tax-revenue dollars.

It seems that Congress is heading towards a compromise in terms of the issue. The official announcement has not come yet, but it seems likely that the Treasury will extend the deadline of implementing the UIGEA another six months. iMega’s chairman Joe Brennan said, “It is really surprising we got this concession. It is very unusual for any department of the government to essentially forestall an act of Congress. This is a testament to the power of Congressman Frank. This has been his pet issue, because it is part of his core values for some time now.”

Many are excited about the deferment of the UIGEA because they believe it will give representatives enough time to adequately come up with a more relevant law regarding online gambling. That opens the door for legalizing and regulating online gambling and having access to the huge money involved.  As John Pappas, the executive director of the PPA, observed the following about the hearings: “We thought it would probably have to wait until January, so we’re pleasantly surprised to see this happen in December. I think Barney is sending a strong message to regulators and others that he’s serious about changing this law. He’s going to move forward with his plans to license and regulate this industry.”  It seems to be only a matter of time before online gambling is regulated and legalized. The billions of dollars that are being funneled out of the country in gambling dollars could be kept within the country. Of course there are decriers who still believe that it’s a bad move to legalize online gambling, but if the necessary precautions are monitored and taken, problems should be mitigated relatively quickly.

Everyone is worried about December 1^st and the UIGEA implementation that is planned. The UIGEA is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and it was set to go into motion on December 1^st. It targeted the banking institutions that may be used to fund or deposit money directly related to gambling. The UIGEA makes banks responsible for flagging and denying any transaction that is related to online wagering. Banks were not happy about that due to the added cost to them to create filters and a flagging system. If a transaction got past their security watch, they could be fined millions of dollars as a result.

People were also not happy because that meant that anyone in the US was not able to transact for gambling purposes using their financial institution. The result was people continued to direct funds to offshore gambling websites that accept US players. Politicians cited the problem with offshore gambling is that billions of dollars were being channeled out of the country and into other countries economies. As one politician put it, “The US is letting millions of dollars in funding slip through its fingers every day it does not legalize online gambling.”

Online operators were not happy either with the UIGEA ruling. It means that a whole market is not legally allowed to participate in the billion-dollar industry that is online gambling. US operators had to move their businesses to offshore areas like Gibraltar or Macau, where casino and gambling laws are much more operator-friendly. The taxes are manageable and they are set up via their infrastructure to handle online gambling as an industry. Many US online casino operators have left the country to do business as a result.

The hot topic for online gambling has been December 1^st and whether or not the UIGEA would be made law.  Barney Frank and a number of other Congressmen have requested that the UIGEA be pushed back one year before implementation.  They are hoping that within that time, a more adequate online gambling law can be instituted and brought into the market. A law that is both all-encompassing and thorough in its writings.  The main problem with the UIGEA is that when it was written, there were no real decisive laws on what “gambling” actually is defined as.

Part two coming next.