Yanks find loophole for poker ban
12th February, 2008
American poker fans are reportedly finding ways around their country's ban on online gambling with the help of a blog about legal loopholes.
While the notion of online poker being a crime is often bandied around in the US, in fact laws passed two years ago only prohibit websites from accepting funds from American gamers.
That means people who wish to play online poker can easily get around the ban by signing up to one of the websites which still accepts US registrations. All such sites are listed at unitedstatesofpoker.blogspot.com and they include major operators such as Doyles Room.
The American legislation also tries to make it more difficult for US gamers to use online payment processors to deposit funds - but again a number of safe PayPal-esque websites that accept third-party gambling transactions are springing up in response.
Analysts say websites which fall outside US legal jurisdiction are under no obligation to adhere to the country's allegedly draconian anti-gambling laws.
Also this week it was revealed that Austrians can for the first time enjoy the pleasures of online poker, with a new state-run online gaming house finally opening up the market for its citizens.
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