Online Gambling Restrictions - A US Player's Pespective

While moves are afoot to repeal UIGEA and move toward a regulatory environment for online gambling, the current situation still imposes substantial restrictions on US players.

The US government's objective at the time of enacting UIGEA was to prevent US citizens being able to play for real money at online casinos, poker rooms and offshore sportsbooks. It sought to do this by making it illegal for financial institutions in the US to process online gambling transactions thus severing the flow of funds between US players and offshore based online gambling operators.

But while Paypal, VISA, Mastercard, US based banks and other large payment processors were forced to comply with the operative provisions of UIGEA, many payment processors have since sprung up beyond the jurisdiction of US lawmakers to fill the void.

Similarly, many of the industries largest and best known brands, some publicly traded companies with revenues in the billions of dollars and probity measures every bit as strict as large terrestrial operators in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, decided to honor the provisions of UIGEA and close US player accounts. However other casinos happy to continue accepting US player bets have simply stepped in to fill the void. And while many are respected brands with long operating histories, the fact remains that UIGEA has on balance lowered the bar on the quality of the average US customer facing online gambling operation.

A US player can register and account with dodgybrothersbestcasino.com based in Belize and deposit funds using bestquickpay.com, the latest virtual wallet service based in Costa Rica and play blackjack online for real money. But they are unable to do so with Ladbrokes.com - a company listed on the London Stock Exchange and subject to UK Gambling Commission probity requirements.

The legislation has been ineffective in blocking access to online gambling completely. Rather, it has closed the door on the best the net has to offer in online gambling.