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Act Introduced to License Online Gambling in
U.S
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4:58 PM, Friday, January 19, 2007 by Sarah Polson
NETeller and Citadel may have tucked their tails between their legs and scurried away from the U.S. market's online gambling customers, but there are still several ways for customers to continue depositing and withdrawing money from their online poker accounts.
Aside from those two, popular sites, there are other e-wallet options for players. What your options are may depend on what poker sites you prefer to use, however.
For instance,
UltimateBet
works with Click2Pay and ePassporte. Both online money transfer companies
still work with U.S. customers who want to transfer money to online gambling
sites.
PokerStars.com is also working with ePassporte, and in their payment options, the poker site recommends using that service for deposits as it is a "reliable, safe and convenient way to transfer money to your account."
ePassporte works as a pre-paid and re-loadable Visa Virtual Account. The customers ePassporte account is first loaded with money from a Visa, MasterCard or bank account, and then the customer can use it to transfer money to their online gambling account.
Click2Pay works in a similar way.
There are some good, old-fashioned ways to make a deposit in your online gambling account as well. A wire transfer or a bank transfer is one secure way. Many poker sites supply an address as well for you to send a cashier's check or bank draft.
Amazingly, some poker sites will even accept a personal check for your deposits.
Credit cards are another option, but it depends on who has issued the cards. Many lenders in the United States have blocked the use of credit cards for online gambling sites.
Those that do still allow you to make payments to a gambling site may not let you put money back on your cards from the same site if you want to withdraw your poker winnings.
That seems to be the area most affected by the pullout of NETeller and Citadel. It's still pretty easy to get money to a poker site, but not so easy to get it back.
The most popular way to handle the matter right now is for poker sites to issue paper checks to customers who want to withdraw money from their accounts.
"At this time, the only other regular cashout method available to U.S. customers is by check," PokerStars.com said on their site. "The minimum cash out by check is currently $50. All checks over $1,000 are sent by courier; smaller checks are sent by regular mail, but can be sent by courier if you pay a $25 fee."
UltimateBet issued a similar statement on their site saying that along with PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker, they too were only able to send out paper checks for withdrawals at the moment.
"That may change (it's something we at UB are working on as I write) and we'll of course keep you posted as events warrant," a message on the UltimateBet site said.
Paper checks are the predominant option for withdrawal, but some sites such as Mansion Poker still have a bank transfer option for funds.
What it comes down to is that U.S. poker players will still be able to play online and still get their money. Right now the only thing affected is how many options they have to do it and how fast those options are.
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NETeller quits US market. Absolute Poker Will be bigger than ever!
NETeller has ceased allowing US Customers to use its services as of 8am EST 17th Jan 2007.
Absolute Poker has been expecting this to happen for several months.
We are happy to announce Absolute Poker has many alternative easy, safe and secure deposit and cashout methods so are confident our business and your business will be unaffected and will grow significantly over the coming months.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
WE CAN PAY YOU AS NORMAL!
If you reside outside of the United States of America , have a non US NETeller account we will be able to pay you as normal.
However - If you reside in The US you need to
change your registration details so we can pay you either via your Player
Account, Wire Transfer or Cheque. If you need any help getting any of these
facilities opened please don’t hesitate to contact The Absolute Poker
Affiliate Team.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO YOUR PLAYERS
Absolute Poker has been preparing for this scenario for several months and this means that we have a relatively small number of players that use NETeller versus our competition – we are 100% confident that the majority of these players will make an easy transition to one of the many safe, secure and similar banking methods we have already available.
On top of this Absolute Poker is running a
number of special promotions to help you get any current NETeller player to
use one of the may other deposit or cashout methods available only at
Absolute Poker. (Please refer to the site for the latest promos, reload
bonuses and special guaranteed tournaments set up to encourage players to
use any of the following processing methods:
· Visa & Master Card – The Best!!
· InstaDebit – Just like NETeller!!
· ePassporte – Like NETeller!! ·
· Central Coin – Easy!
· UK Debit Cards – Reliable!
·
Moneybookers – Great!
ATMonline
- Easy to use!
As you may be aware, NETeller has announced that it will no longer provide payment processing services to U.S. residents. As such, NETeller is no longer allowing U.S. residents to conduct funds transfers to or from online poker sites like Full Tilt Poker. This change does not affect non-U.S. residents, and their NETeller services will remain unchanged.
If you are a U.S.-based NETeller customer and would like to withdraw funds from Full Tilt Poker, you will need to open a new account with an alternate payment processor. Rest assured that any funds you currently have on deposit with Full Tilt Poker will remain safe and secure until the time you can establish your new payment processor account.
Please follow the steps below to establish your new payment processor account.
You may withdraw your funds to one of the following payment processors: ePassporte which is similar to NETeller
Follow the step-by-step Quick-Start Guides to create an account with the processor of your choice.
Once you have created your new processor account, please make a minimum deposit with your new processor so that we can verify your account and player information. When you have made a successful deposit, please re-submit your withdrawal request through the Cashier.
If you already have an account with either Click2Pay or ePassporte and have made a deposit with them in the past, please email support@fulltiltpoker.com so that we can update your account information. In your email, please include the following:
As an additional security measure, please ensure that you email us from the same email account that is registered with your Full Tilt Poker account.
If you have any questions about withdrawing your funds, please email us at support@fulltiltpoker.com.
As of 12:01 a.m. (GMT) today, NETeller has immediately stopped processing all transactions between online gambling sites and U.S. customers. Citing restrictive legislation in the United States and uncertainty about those regulations as reasons, the move also came just days after the arrest of the company's founders on charges of funneling billions of dollars to illegal overseas gambling operations.
The change was effective immediately. U.S. customers will still have access to their e-wallets at NETeller, but they will no longer be able to use them to transfer funds to or from online poker or casino sites.
The company has also temporarily suspended the creation of new accounts by U.S. customers.
According to the press release, the decision stems from a series of deliberations over recent months by NETeller's board, which believes the company's position in the U.S. market isn't sustainable since the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (UIGEA).
"Since the passing of the Act, the company has been working diligently on a program of operational and technical measures and procedures to allow implementation of any such decision at the earliest opportunity," NETeller said.
Some of the steps NETeller has taken over the past few months to get to this point include the development of country blocking and instant funds transfer restriction enhancements to the software platform.
The restriction enhancements to the software were created specifically to prepare for the need to automatically block transfers to online gambling sites from U.S. residents. Those features became fully deployed today.
The company also reiterated that its shares would remain suspended until the legal situation surrounding the arrest of its two founders in the United States is clarified.
John Lefebvre was arrested in Malibu, Calif., and Stephen Lawrence was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands Saturday based on an indictment by a grand jury in New York.
They are charged with conspiring to transfer billions of dollars to promote illegal gambling.
Both men, who are Canadian residents, founded NETeller in 1999 in the Isle of Man and were previously directors of the company. According to NETeller, they no longer have an active role in the company other than as shareholders.
NETeller acts as a secure, online money transfer firm. It began processing Internet gambling transactions in 2000 and became a publicly traded company in 2004.
Prosecutors in the case against the founders have cited NETeller's annual report from 2005 which shows that the company provided payment services to more than 80% of worldwide online gaming merchants.
It is their assertion that Lefebvre and Lawrence allowed the company to provide that service, which processed more than $7.3 billion in transactions in 2005 alone, of which 95% came from Internet gambling transfers.
Lefebvre and Lawrence have both been released after posting the $5 million bail that was set for them. They are expected to appear in a New York court next week to face the charges.
President George W. Bush signed the SAFE Port Act into law today which includes the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) preventing banks and other financial institutions from allowing people to use funds to pay for online gambling.
As Bush sat down to sign the bill this morning he talked about the SAFE Port Act and how it will strengthen homeland security, however he made no mention of the unrelated UIGEA section of the bill.
The UIGEA was added to the SAFE Port Act by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R - Tenn.) as Congress was trying to finalize the legislation before breaking for the campaign season. The amended version doesn't criminalize the act of online gambling, but instead prohibits people from using their U.S. financial institutions and other banking tools such as credit cards, checks, or funds transfers to deposit or withdraw money at Internet gambling sites.
Essentially, by signing the bill into law, Bush has made it illegal for online gambling companies to accept money from U.S. financial institutions. The Federal Reserve and Department of Treasury have a 270-day period to create regulations and procedures for U.S. financial institutions to follow in identifying and blocking transactions related to unlawful Internet gambling.
With little
fan fare, and absolutely no mention of the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act (UIGEA), President George W. Bush signed the SAFE Port Act
into law at 10:00 EST on Friday, October 13.
In an eight minute ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building,
Bush made it illegal for financial institutions to process transactions to
and from online gambling companies. The law does not criminalize individual
citizens if they play poker online, nor does it make online gambling illegal
in states where it already was not. What it attempts to do, although many
think it will be unenforceable, is cut off funds flowing out of the U.S. and
into the online gambling sites.
Because the UIGEA is now officially law, several online poker rooms have
made themselves off limits to Americans. Below is a brief summary of the
major casualties.
• Party Poker
• Paradise Poker (will still allow U.S. customers to play until November 13)
• iPoker Network (Titan Poker, Noble Poker, CD Poker)
• Pacific Poker
• Cryptologic rooms (Sun Poker, InterPoker)
• PokerRoom.com
Out of the other rooms and networks that has closed to U.S. customers,
perhaps the strangest development was with JetSet Poker, which announced at
11:55pm Thursday night that it would be ceasing operations completely at
midnight. Fortunately, all players will be sent checks covering their funds
on deposit.
Many poker rooms have said, however, that it’s business as usual, and
Neteller announced that it will not be shutting down to the U.S., so there
will still be many opportunities to play poker online.
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U.S. Congress
passes anti-Internet gambling legislation
3:52 PM, Monday, October 2, 2006 by Lianne Elias
The U.S. Congress passed an amended version of H.R. 4411, the Unlawful
Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, Sept. 30 after it was attached to an
unrelated Homeland Security bill entitled the Port Security Improvement Act
(H.R. 4954). The bill is expected to be signed into law by President George
W. Bush by mid-October.
Despite expectations that the U.S. Senate would block the legislation due to
a lack of parliamentary time , Senate Majority leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.)
managed to negotiate the passage of the amended H.R. 4411 by attaching it to
H.R. 4954, a bill intended to increase security at U.S. ports. Frist had
first attempted to attach the bill to defense legislation in Sept., but
failed.
The amended version doesn't criminalize the act of online gambling,
rather it prohibits American poker players from using U.S. financial
institutions and their banking tools, including credit cards, checks or
funds transfers, when depositing or withdrawing funds at Internet gambling
sites. If the law is enacted by President Bush, it will become illegal for
online gambling companies to accept monies from U.S. financial institutions.
Transactions will be monitored by U.S. banking institutions according to
regulations written by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Department of
Treasury. If President Bush signs the act into law, a 270 day period will be
allotted for the Federal Reserve and Department of Treasury to create
regulations and procedures for U.S. financial institutions to follow in
identifying and blocking transactions related to unlawful Internet gambling.
Currently, it is expected that the U.S. banking industry will not be
required to implement new technologies to monitor the transactions of
clients, but will act in accordance with their own capabilities instead. The
financial enforcement provisions are expected to be finalized in 3-9 months.
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Neteller Makes a
Welcomed Announcement, not so for FirePay
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Neteller will continue to
service U.S. customers, even after the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act is signed into law. Neteller’s future status has been one of
the biggest questions of the past two weeks, as nobody was sure how the
company would handle the new law, even though it technically only applies to
the U.S. financial companies. The company is based in London.
It still remains to be seen whether or not the U.S. government will ever try
to do anything to stop companies like Neteller from doing business with U.S.
customers, but Bruce Elliott, the company’s executive vice president said
simply: “I don’t think we have a very big problem.”
FirePay (www.firepay.com) will no longer allow US consumer payments for online gambling merchants. Effective immediately, FirePay will decline any purchase transactions from US FirePay account holders at any gambling merchant site. Starting on October 23rd, 2006, FirePay will decline any transfer attempt made by any online gambling merchant to a US FirePay account. All US FirePay accounts holders are still able to make purchases and receive payments from non-gambling, online merchants, as well as "Deposit From" and "Withdraw To" their US bank account.
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AbsolutePoker.com:
Open to U.S. players, 100% Initial Deposit Bonus up to $750!!
"As the 4th largest online poker company we continue to welcome all poker players. Absolute Poker is absolutely confident in its ability to continue to offer U.S. customers the very best in online poker with the fastest secure deposit and payout solutions."
FullTiltPoker: Open to U.S. Players, 100% Initial Deposit Bonus up to $600!! & 50% RELOAD Bonus up to $500
In the short term, we assure you that your
online experience at Full Tilt Poker will not change. You will still be
able to deposit and withdraw money from the site using the same methods and
payment processors you have always used, and your money will remain
completely safe and secure. We cannot predict how the online poker
experience may change in the future, but we do not expect any immediate
impact from the legislation, as the banking industry has 270 days to
implement new rules after the bill is signed.
It is also important to note that, once signed, the new legislation will not
criminalize individuals for playing poker online. Instead, the bill will
eventually attempt to prevent the transfer of funds to online gaming. As
poker is a game of skill rather than pure chance, we hope that it will not
be affected by this new bill. Speculation aside, however, we will continue
to work closely with organizations like the Poker Player's Alliance to lobby
for an exemption for online poker and for your right to play a truly
American game from the privacy of your own home and computer.
While this last-minute congressional move has undoubtedly caused concern
among our players, we want to assure you that Full Tilt Poker is legally
regulated and licensed to offer its services to anyone around the world and
that your day-to-day experience at the site will remain unchanged in all
respects.
PokerStars.com: Open to U.S. players
"PokerStars has received extensive expert advice from within and outside the U.S. which concluded that these provisions do not alter the U.S. legal situation with respect to our offering of online poker games.
"Therefore, our business continues as before - open to players worldwide including the US. You may play on our site as you did prior to the Act.
"PokerStars believes that poker is a game of skill enjoyed by millions of players and we remain committed to providing you a safe and fun environment in which to play. We value your loyalty to PokerStars, and look forward to continuing to serve you with the best online poker experience, as we have for the past five years, six billion hands, and 40 million tournaments."
UltimateBet: Open to U.S. players,
100% Initial Deposit Bonus up to $650!! & 100% RELOAD Bonus up to $250
UltimateBet continues to be available for play by all members of the online community worldwide, including US players. the new law does not prohibit the online community playing online poker. At UltimateBet, it's business as usual. All players' deposits are held safely in a segregated account at a Tier 1 legal institution.
VIP Poker: Open to U.S. players
"The company acknowledges the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Bill which was passed on Sept. 30 by the U.S. Congress. The company is monitoring the situation closely and is continuing to take legal advice on any impact this may have on its business.
"The company continues to operate its business in the usual course and will update shareholders as and when appropriate."
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Below are sites that no longer accept U.S. poker players
Bet365poker: No U.S. players allowed
"Following the passing of the Safe Port Act, bet365 have decided to no longer accept customers who are resident in the United States of America.
"Over 96% of bet365's business is from customers outside of the U.S. and, as such, the decision will not have a material impact on the group's financial performance or continued growth.
"However, bet365 regret any inconvenience that this decision may cause and strongly retain the view that proper regulation rather than prohibition is the right way forward in respect of the gambling industry."
Betfred Poker: No U.S. players allowed
"As of today Betfred have stopped taking business from U.S. customers in the wake of recent prohibitive legislation by the U.S. government. To clarify, this means that U.S. residents and/or U.S. citizens will not be able to use Betfred at all for telephone betting, online sports betting, casino, or poker."
CelebPoker: No U.S. players allowed
"We regret to inform you that as a result of legislation regarding internet gambling in the U.S., from Oct. 12, 2006, at 23:00 GMT, we will not be allowed to process U.S. transactions. In light of this we urge all our U.S. players to withdrawal all funds from their accounts as soon as possible.
"This decision has been made by the network, Boss Media's general counsel. We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience this causes, and would like to wish all our U.S. players the very best."
Editor's Note: Please see here for Boss Media's press release regarding this issue. All bolded text in CelebPoker's statement was highlighted by that poker room.
InterPoker.com: No U.S. players allowed
"Due to the imminent passing of the Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act on Sept. 30, 2006, we are no longer accepting wagers from residents in the United States.
"We regret to inform you that from 11 a.m. EST on Oct. 3, 2006, we will be closing all U.S. gaming accounts. Player's balances, minus un-cleared bonuses, will be returned to players within the next 3-4 weeks by check."
Mansion Poker: No U.S. players allowed
Pacific Poker: No U.S. players allowed
Pacific Poker is referring all inquiries to an Oct. 2 statement released by its parent company, 888 Holdings, Plc. Please see here to read the firm's official position.
**Paradise Poker: No U.S. players allowed
Paradise Poker owner, Sportingbet, Plc. has announced it will no longer be taking bets from U.S. players after having sold a majority of its U.S.-facing online gambling businesses for $1. The firm will retain ownership of Paradise Poker. A portion of the full statement is reprinted below:
"Sportingbet will retain the Paradise Poker business, but will, with effect from 11.00am U.K. time, Oct. 13, 2006, cease taking deposits from U.S. resident customers.
"To allow for an orderly wind down of the U.S. Paradise business, Paradise Poker will remain open for US customers for real money poker play utilizing their existing account balances for one month.
"At the end of the month long period, U.S. residents will be prevented from playing real money poker at Paradise. In addition, the Board has taken immediate steps to prevent customers from ten U.S. States where there is law prohibiting Internet gambling from playing real money poker at Paradise Poker.
"The Group will continue to market Paradise Poker in Canada, Europe and other relevant markets whilst maintaining its "dot net" free to play site for all customers."
Editor's Note: Please see here for further details on the sale.
PartyPoker: No U.S. players allowed
Poker Ocean: No U.S. players allowed
The following statement was issued to PokerListings.com by Casino Partners, the company that operates Poker Ocean.
"Due to the imminent passing of the Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act by the United States Senate on Sept. 30, 2006, and in line with the high level of service that we have always provided to our affiliates, it is important for us to advise you that our clients have decided not to accept wagers from residents in the United States. We will therefore stop handling U.S.-based traffic effective October 4, 2006."
PokerPlex.com: No U.S. players allowed
"Due to the recent 'Safe Port Act,' we have disabled all current U.S.-based players and will not be allowing any new real money accounts to be opened. We will keep a close eye on developments and act accordingly."
Titan Poker: No U.S. players allowed
"Due to the recent passing of the Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act by the United States Senate on September 30, 2006, and its imminent enactment as federal law, we will no longer allow real money gaming activities from United States residents."
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Keys to winning at Poker
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