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US Online Poker In the Eyes of the Law |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 22 March 2011 10:15 |
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It would be an impossible task for the US Department of Justice to prosecute all the online poker players in America. But it only takes one to get the ball rolling; as far as they are concerned any form of online gambling is against the law. Estimates range that there are between 10 and 15 million online poker players in the US, and this apart from all the other illegal online gamblers. More people would be in jail than out! PokerStars which is licensed and operated from the Isle of Man has taken legal opinion from five Law Firms in the US which state that they are not violating any laws. It is to be hoped not, because I just came from the Poker Stars site, where I went to double-check its licensing details; there were 221 286 members online playing poker simultaneously, and 7 171 tournaments in play! Now that is what we call a massive amount of poker players fors a Monday night!
It is estimated that PokerStars generates an annual global revenue of $1.4 billion - $500 million of this is profit. The primary owner of PokerStars - Isai Scheinberg according to rumour never enters the US, he spends most of his time in Canada; there is a very good reason for this, because he would more than likely be indicted. Many online gaming entrepreneurs, despite having their roots in the US, live in the jurisdictions where they business is licensed, for example two of the principal shareholders of Party Poker, Ruth Parasol De Leon and Russ De Leon, live in Gibraltar where their site is licensed, and they no longer offer poker to US players.
FullTilt Poker, although not as big as PartyPoker still generates $500 million in annual revenue, of which $100 million is profits and has deep roots in the U.S. In fact it is believed that Howard Lederer and Professor Chris "Jesus" Ferguson are shareholders in this site, these guys live in the US and can be found regularly playing poker in Las Vegas. Their financial links to the site are not clear but the links clearly exist; these guys are used to taking big gambles.
Poker has become a national pastime in the US; actually poker has become huge internationally and we are only referring to online poker in this case. The online poker market grew by 24% in 2010, and its rake was $4.8 billion! Its phenomenal growth can be attributed to a few factors; Chris Moneymaker who won the WSOP Main event, a bracelet and $2.5 million purse. He was an unknown as a poker player, an accountant from Tennessee and he got to the WSOP by playing online poker. The launch of televised poker tournaments on the Travel Channel and ESPN played a contributing role and when Forbes Magazine cover featured Calvin Ayre, billionaire owner of Bodog.
While UIGEA only loosely defines what actually constitutes illegal gambling in the US the Dept of Justice doesn't see it this way. Lawyers hold firm that the law interprets in such a way as to exclude online poker, PartyPoker pulled out of the US in 2006 on advisement from their legal advisors…
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 March 2011 10:16 |
