Local Gamblers Adjust to Recent Online Crackdown
by Kellie Bigham
Issue date: 11/7/06
Section: Local and State News
Friday, October 13 proved to be an unlucky day for online gamblers and Internet gambling sites alike after President Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
The act, which essentially outlaws the transfer of money from United States financial institutions to online gambling sites, looks to crack down on the $12 billion online gambling industry.
The gambling act now makes it illegal for service providers, such as banks, credit card companies and other payment providers, from knowingly accepting credit card payments, funds, transfers or checks made in connection with Internet gambling. The act also puts the responsibility of enforcement on banks and credit companies and does not look to punish individual players, but financial institutions and gambling sites.
"The new law applies to ban and criminalize the acceptance of deposits from U.S. financial institutions to fund player accounts by online gambling sites that are illegal under other U.S. laws," said gambling law expert Chuck Humphrey.
Online gamblers will now have to use legal third-party financial services to transfer money to and from online gambling sites and personal accounts, rather than simply entering credit card or bank account numbers.
"Cracking down on Internet gambling has proved to be difficult because the Internet gambling industry is headquartered almost entirely outside the United States," said Greg Bergstrom, a spokesman for Rep. Ruth Johnson.
Twenty-two year old Mankato resident Wade Woeffel, who makes a living off of online poker winnings and plays almost every day, said the gambling act has been a blow to online poker, but is not considering a career change quite yet.
"Basically it made it really hard to cash out [winnings]," he said.
But there are still legal ways to allow transactions from bank accounts to poker accounts, Woeffel said.
Woeffel said he, like most professional online players, uses the off-shore money transfer system Neteller. Neteller is an "e-wallet" service that can be used for depositing and withdrawing funds from personal accounts to online merchants.
One of the biggest downfalls Woeffel has noticed since the bill took effect, was the banning of all U.S. citizens from many popular poker sites. Some of these sites that no longer allow U.S. citizens include, CelebPoker, InterPoker, Pacific Poker, PartyGaming, Paradise Poker, Poker Ocean and Titan Poker.
A fear for many online players, Woeffel said, is having their money locked up at sites like these that no longer allow U.S. citizens.
Woeffel said he has $400 in a PokerRoom.com account, but does not consider it a sizable loss. He also said he received e-mails from a few of the sites that no longer allow U.S. citizens, warning him that soon he would no longer be able to log on to his accounts.
Many people, however, including Woeffel, question the future for these poker businesses no longer allowing U.S. citizens because U.S. players account for approximately half of the industry's revenue generated annually according to industry experts.
Woeffel said there was a lot of buzz about the act in Las Vegas last summer for the World Series of Poker.
"People are worried about what they're going to do," Woeffel said.
This fall while playing in an online poker tournament, Woeffel won a trip to Austria to play in a live tournament. A few days before he left for Austria, Woeffel won another trip and seat in a live tournament in Australia. Woeffel said he thinks possibilities like these are numbered because of the gambling act considering many live tournaments will no longer offer seats through online sites, and many sites that still do will not include U.S. citizens.
"Seventy percent of the World Series of Poker participants got their seats online," Woeffel said, so the number of participants could be greatly reduced.
If online poker should happen to fold because of much tighter regulation, Woeffel said there is always a possibility of making a living through live poker.
"The problem with that is I can't play and do my laundry or have a conversation with someone at the same time," he said.
Also, playing online allows Woeffel to play between four to six games at once on up to four different sites.
All in all, Woeffel said he will continue to read up on the latest news regarding the online gambling laws and is willing to play the hand he's dealt.
"I'm not too worried," he said.
Kellie Bigham is a Reporter staff writer
The act, which essentially outlaws the transfer of money from United States financial institutions to online gambling sites, looks to crack down on the $12 billion online gambling industry.
The gambling act now makes it illegal for service providers, such as banks, credit card companies and other payment providers, from knowingly accepting credit card payments, funds, transfers or checks made in connection with Internet gambling. The act also puts the responsibility of enforcement on banks and credit companies and does not look to punish individual players, but financial institutions and gambling sites.
"The new law applies to ban and criminalize the acceptance of deposits from U.S. financial institutions to fund player accounts by online gambling sites that are illegal under other U.S. laws," said gambling law expert Chuck Humphrey.
Online gamblers will now have to use legal third-party financial services to transfer money to and from online gambling sites and personal accounts, rather than simply entering credit card or bank account numbers.
"Cracking down on Internet gambling has proved to be difficult because the Internet gambling industry is headquartered almost entirely outside the United States," said Greg Bergstrom, a spokesman for Rep. Ruth Johnson.
Twenty-two year old Mankato resident Wade Woeffel, who makes a living off of online poker winnings and plays almost every day, said the gambling act has been a blow to online poker, but is not considering a career change quite yet.
"Basically it made it really hard to cash out [winnings]," he said.
But there are still legal ways to allow transactions from bank accounts to poker accounts, Woeffel said.
Woeffel said he, like most professional online players, uses the off-shore money transfer system Neteller. Neteller is an "e-wallet" service that can be used for depositing and withdrawing funds from personal accounts to online merchants.
One of the biggest downfalls Woeffel has noticed since the bill took effect, was the banning of all U.S. citizens from many popular poker sites. Some of these sites that no longer allow U.S. citizens include, CelebPoker, InterPoker, Pacific Poker, PartyGaming, Paradise Poker, Poker Ocean and Titan Poker.
A fear for many online players, Woeffel said, is having their money locked up at sites like these that no longer allow U.S. citizens.
Woeffel said he has $400 in a PokerRoom.com account, but does not consider it a sizable loss. He also said he received e-mails from a few of the sites that no longer allow U.S. citizens, warning him that soon he would no longer be able to log on to his accounts.
Many people, however, including Woeffel, question the future for these poker businesses no longer allowing U.S. citizens because U.S. players account for approximately half of the industry's revenue generated annually according to industry experts.
Woeffel said there was a lot of buzz about the act in Las Vegas last summer for the World Series of Poker.
"People are worried about what they're going to do," Woeffel said.
This fall while playing in an online poker tournament, Woeffel won a trip to Austria to play in a live tournament. A few days before he left for Austria, Woeffel won another trip and seat in a live tournament in Australia. Woeffel said he thinks possibilities like these are numbered because of the gambling act considering many live tournaments will no longer offer seats through online sites, and many sites that still do will not include U.S. citizens.
"Seventy percent of the World Series of Poker participants got their seats online," Woeffel said, so the number of participants could be greatly reduced.
If online poker should happen to fold because of much tighter regulation, Woeffel said there is always a possibility of making a living through live poker.
"The problem with that is I can't play and do my laundry or have a conversation with someone at the same time," he said.
Also, playing online allows Woeffel to play between four to six games at once on up to four different sites.
All in all, Woeffel said he will continue to read up on the latest news regarding the online gambling laws and is willing to play the hand he's dealt.
"I'm not too worried," he said.
Kellie Bigham is a Reporter staff writer
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