Posted on 10/02/2006 12:16:23 PM PDT by seacapn
Internet gambling companies are preparing to cash in their dollar chips as the impact of a new US law sinks in, with many preparing to suspend access to real money gambling by US customers.
Last week Congress passed the Safe Port Act, which also included the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, aimed at cracking down on online gambling companies by making it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.
After the act was passed, senate majority leader Bill Frist said: "Although we can't monitor every online gambler or regulate offshore gambling, we can police the financial institutions that disregard our laws."
Shares in many online gambling companies plunged by 50 per cent this morning in response.
Should the act be signed into law by President Bush - expected in the next two weeks - many gambling companies are likely to suspend real money gambling with US customers, pulling out of the US market, where many have the bulk of their customers.
PartyGaming said the law, which it described as the first piece of federal legislation dealing explicitly with internet gaming, "does make clear that the US government intends to stop the flow of funds from Americans to online gaming operators through criminal sanction".
(Excerpt) Read more at silicon.com ...
No kidding I play at Pokerstars a couple of times a week in their $1.75 18 man tourneys. Lots of fun and cost less than a beer at the local gin mill. But then I never knew $3.50 every couple of days was akin to a crack habit.
IDIOTS
But online poker isn't the same. Lots of people play poker online, and are tremendously insulted by the implication that they have anything at all in common with crack addicts or child abusers. It's one more slap in the face from the Congress.
I'm not into gambling, myself. (My vices tend to be of a more carnal nature.) But I am fully aware of how those corrupt, money- and power-hungry jerks do business when their pockets aren't being lined with bribes: "We must ban (insert activity here) for the protection of the children!"
We don't need a second revolution - anyone who advocates such a thing ain't playing with a full deck.
What we need to think about some serious housecleaning regarding the crooks the Big Two parties foist on us for our "representation" in order to restore our lost freedoms.
I agree completely. BOTH political parties have become beasts devoted entirely to themselves. They are for party loyalty above all else. Oh some might talk a good talk, but is all a bunch political BS.
I call them the "freedom for me, but not for thee" crowd.
This country has been taken over by communists who want to eliminate free enterprise and replace it with state run socialist collectives. Pure Marxism at it's ugly worst.
Um, talk about cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
The main prob with the Pubs is the Pubs who are more Dem than Pub.
Voting Dem is understandable but a case of being unhappy in the frying pan and so jumping into the fire.
Best to vote conservatives who believe that less is more when it comes to govt.
Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Ahmadinejad, bin Laden, and online gambling. I'm sure glad we have a Congress who has its priorities straight when it comes to protecting this country.
:/
"I don't support it and I'm not a gambler"
Same here. I think the government should stick to their job of filling potholes in the nations interstates, and maintaining a ready military than dictating what I can do with my money.
And like you, I'm not a gambler.
These companies could do the same exact thing. Have players play for "prizes" which they then can redeem for cash.
Idiot Republicans. I can't wait to vote against every one of them.
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