Online gambling is still a gray area. Some states have clear language, but the US does not at the federal level. Even the big UIGEA only directly said it was illegal for financial institutions to fund online gaming account. The actual regulations are still being worked out. There was nothing about it being illegal for the individual players. I think it's fair to point out that US government seizures have not caused online gamblers to not receive cashouts. That yahoo article talked about recent seizures of fulltiltpoker and pokerstars payouts. All the US players affected still received all of their funds. The legality of that seizure will be determined by the courts in the future. In the largest Department of Justice action, the freeze on Neteller funds a few years back, every single US gambler with a Neteller account received all of their money back.
As of right now, the risk is on the side of the financial intermediaries and online sites. Players have not been subject to criminal action by the US government. That could change in the future, but i've seen no signs of the government going after players.The government is not much to fear right now with respects to criminal proceedings against players. The fear is still rogue operators. If you use a highly respected casino, you will get all your money out (though it sometimes takes a few weeks).
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--- On Thu, 7/16/09, NC Wanderer <larbo929@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: NC Wanderer <larbo929@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [vpFREE] Re: Online casinos legit??
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 8:08 AM
The US government considers online gambling to be illegal.. They recently seized millions of dollars from banks used to process payments to online poker players.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090713/ ap_on_go_ ot/us_online_ poker_2
Even if the odds are good, if you factor in a chance that the Feds will take the winnings, I will put up with the travel, crowds(?), noise and smoke.
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