Online poker is legal in three U.S. states, but some banks and payment processors are still rejecting deposits into online poker sites in those jurisdictions. The ban is a remnant of the antiquated 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which made it illegal to process payments for web gambling. The onus was put on credit-card issuers to prevent such transactions.
That was a federal law, and now states are legalizing web gambling on their own, which was made possible by the Department of Justice easing up on its anti-online gambling position in December 2011. The leftover friction from the UIGEA in the face of state legalization of online poker was one of the reasons why many in the casino industry preferred a federal online poker bill over a state-by-state patchwork. A bill authorizing the activity nationwide would have created uniform regulations. These days, the chances of a federal online poker bill are essentially zero.
According to Bloomberg, the banks that are currently not welcoming online poker with open arms in Nevada or Delaware include Bank of America and Wells Fargo, the second and fourth largest banks in the U.S. by assets, respectively. In addition American Express and PayPal are also restricting such transactions. New Jersey will kick off statewide online games on Nov. 26.
Other financial institutions reportedly have adjusted quickly to the changes in the law.
The restrictions probably won’t last for too long, as a Nevada regulator reportedly said that the Silver State is currently communicating with at least one of the aforementioned to iron things out. Casinos are extremely powerful and influential in Nevada.
It’s difficult to ballpark how many in Nevada or Delaware would be affected by current online poker restrictions, but it has been reported that Bank of America serves around 57 million, while Wells Fargo has around 70 million customers. Nevada has around 2.7 million people, while Delaware has less than one million. New Jersey 8.7 million.
In Nevada, players cannot transfer money to other players, which gaming regulators were keen on including in the rules in order to avoid “shadow banking.”
Of course there are numerous ways to deposit into online gaming accounts in the states where it is legal right now, but the less than perfect (or non-existent) acceptance rates from the firms listed above could be a thorn in the side for an Internet poker industry that is trying to gain the traction needed for a reboot in the U.S.
Online poker sites, especially, thrive on liquidity, so the more players the better. Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware will likely share player pools for online gambling, a move that in addition to the credit card updates would inject more money into the while industry.
The rebirth of online gaming in the U.S. is under the control of the brick-and-mortar commercial casino industry, instead of offshore technology firms like it was pre-Black Friday, though some are being cut deals to return with smaller roles. The U.S. commercial casino industry saw gaming revenue of $ 37.34 billion in 2012, which was slightly under the record set in 2007.
Clearly, commercial casino firms are doing well, as the effects of the Great Recession are slowly dissipating. The online gaming deposit issue is just annoying.
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