Bad Beat Monday

Fallout from Friday’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was inevitable, but it may have started sooner than expected. Online poker players woke up this morning to find out that many poker rooms may be shutting their doors to US customers.

As of 11:00am EST, two major online gambling companies, 888.com and Cryptologic, have announced that they will no longer be accepting US customers. 888.com owns Pacific Poker, while Cryptologic, which does not actually run online poker rooms, but rather supplies the software and network infrastructure for several, is the platform for Sun Poker, William Hill Poker, and InterPoker.

The giant of the industry, PartyGaming, has said that if President Bush signs the Act into law (which he will), it will also cease to accept US customers. Said PartyGaming in a press release:

“After taking extensive legal advice, the Board of PartyGaming Plc has concluded that the new legislation, if signed into law, will make it practically impossible to provide US residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites. As a result of this development, the Board of PartyGaming has determined that if the President signs the Act into law, the Company will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation.”

Sportingbet Plc, owner of Paradise Poker, has said that it will stay up and running in the US, but, “Should Sportingbet's non-U.S. international banking partners determine that the act applied to them, then Sportingbet would no longer be able to take deposits from U.S. residents…”

The Prima Poker network has not made an official statement, but over the last couple weeks, some individual operators on the network have closed to the US.

Lee Jones, Poker Room Manager at PokerStars, has stated that PokerStars has not made a decision one way or another regarding American accounts, but did assure everybody that their funds are safe.

Some poker rooms have said that they do not intend to drop any customers at all.

World Poker Exchange has stated that it feels that because it is based in Antigua, it is in the clear.

“The World Trade Organization (WTO) has recognized the right of Antiguan companies to be in this business and has instructed the United States to stop trying to block US residents from playing at Antiguan operations.

Nothing in the bill criminalizes placing a bet or sending money to or receiving money from an offshore gambling business.”

TruePoker.com feels that the wording of the Act is as such that online poker rooms are excluded. Thus, the CEO says things will run as usual.

“TruePoker does NOT make or accept bets or wagers in which it has any stake in the outcome. So, our games and tournaments, and your deposits, are not covered by this UIGE Act of 2006,” said the CEO on a popular poker message board. “TruePoker does not have a stake in the outcome of the games or tournaments we offer, in the US or anywhere else. (We do not offer casino games or sports betting, and so have no stake in the outcome and are not in the "business of betting or wagering")”

Calvin Ayre, founder of Bodog.com, has also said that he does not plan to stop accepting US customers yet. The company plans to study the situation carefully before making any huge decisions.

Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker, and Ultimate Bet have not made any statements yet.

Originally published October 2, 2006