Category: UIGEA

Online Poker Regulation and None for Blackjack?

I have to ask, what is this? I am pleased that Senator Harry Reid is finally coming over to our side—even if it is because this is his way of returning the back scratch the Nevada gaming industry gave him to keep him in office. But the man is only looking at regulation for online poker.

Online poker is not the only casino game out there in the online industry. Yes, it might have the most face presence, but it is does not offer the benefits that online blackjack offers.

For one thing, online blackjack offers better odds than online poker. Online blackjack can be played one on one with dealer rather than having your play bogged down with other players.

While I am pleased to see a push in the direction of online gambling regulation for the United States, why could there not be a push for overall online gambling? Or at least all the casino games except for the sports betting.

The Nevada and Atlantic City brick and mortar casinos that would be eligible to apply for an online gambling license in the US have other games on their casino floors other than poker. In fact, online slots are also right up there on the top end of the online gambling cash cows. So why would Reid exclude online slots and online blackjack—two of the biggest draws to online gambling aside from online poker?

The answer I think is simple—this really is Reid’s way of paying back the Nevada gaming industry for backing him to beat Sharron Angle in the mid-term elections, which he narrowly won. I do not think that Reid is really on board for any online gambling regulation—hence why he was opposed to it for so long.

Look at it—he is against online gambling, then he gets backing to keep his office and all of a sudden he whips out a bill of online poker regulation. I think the man is only giving the minimum in online gambling regulation, hoping that online gambling regulation will not go beyond poker.

Hopefully Reid’s bill will only serve to open the door a crack, and hopefully other online games like online blackjack will also be allowed for regulation.

Online Blackjack Players Not Happy with Government

We owe it all to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Ace (UIGEA). When we used to log on to our favorite online casinos there was never a problem. Now our cards are being declined and we are being deprived of a form of entertainment that we enjoy. All because the U.S. government knows what is best for online blackjack players.

This is the prohibition of online gambling.

This is not just about what UIGEA has done to online blackjack players—it also effects online poker players, online slots players and anyone else who does some online gambling for entertainment.

UIGEA was squeaked in under the skirts of a port security bill rather than been discussed and voted on separately like it should have been. So that is the first strike against it. Then this poorly planned law to protect our morals from ourselves puts the burden of enforcement on financial institutions without any clear way of dealing with gambling transactions.

Not to mention overseas online casinos can probably find a way around it, making their transactions to and from players not obvious or linked to the online casinos. And European online casinos are very not happy resulting in the European Commission saying that UIGEA is working against our European Union trade agreements.

Players are frustrated at not being able to choose how they spend their time and money. They are also frustrated with Democrats who say they are working to overturn UIGEA, but cannot see those Democrats making any actual effort—other than Barney Frank, who is still sitting on his bill.

Players are also of the mind that some lawmakers are intentionally keeping UIGEA in place to protect their own interests in land-based casinos.

“If casino gambling was illegal in the U.S., then I would find it acceptable to make internet gambling illegal. But many of these lawmakers, especially Harry Reid, are just keeping prohibition in place to protect the interests of the land-based casinos in their states, and that’s where I have a problem,” player Ralph Butaro said.

Other than lawmakers who appear to be protecting interests, a good many people want UIGEA repealed—financial institutions, professional gamblers and even some of our own land-based casinos, not to mention the aforementioned European Commission.

Voters will make themselves heard in the upcoming mi-term elections, aiming their votes at lawmakers who will be aggressive in repealing UIGEA.

My thought, online blackjack players, is look to history. What happened when the government banned alcohol in the 1920s? History shows that the first Prohibition was not a success. I do not foresee this one being a rousing success either. Americans will find away like they did in the 1920s.