So I assume youve all heard by now

[winningedge]

abou the law that just got passed by the senate restricting online gambling. This may spell the end for online gambling, as far as America is concerned at least... at least the banks have issued this statment:
"The U.S. banking industry just issued some of their first comments on the internet gambling ban in this International Herald-Tribune piece. In a nutshell, despite the ban, banks will still be able to process transactions from Neteller, et. al. since these "online wallets" are not specifically wagering companies. Furthermore, most banks do not currently have technology in place to track deposits in the way the legislation would have them do. Thus, the law is unenforceable.
It's far from a silver lining, but at this point, I think we'll take whatever good news we can get."
Anyone else?

[pinnie]

In a short term I think this will have a dramatic consequences as biggest companies are banning American players. In addition most of the people will think of poker as something unlawful and they don't want to use false accounts etc. to be able to play.

I hope the government will come to a sense and remove the ban. Maybe they will just use this legislation as a way to pressure foreign poker companies to pay some kind of taxes.

[kelkat]

I thought they had thrown the trap tighter than that and you'd have to open an offshore account to continue the betting.

It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds (pun intended) over the next few months.

Anyone know what exactly prompted this legislation in the first place?

[ester11]

Hmm. well i would like to know why they think it is any of their business. As long as people pay their taxes the right way, that should be the only problem that any "official" is sticking their nose in about.

[winningedge]

yeah, we all know what prompted it.. people who think they need to save people from themselves is what prompted it.. personally, I say if you want to screw up your life, its your right to do so.. but leave the rest of us with some self control alone