RSSPresident George W. Bush to sign “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act”
It appears that on-line gambling is about to get a lot more difficult to do. President George 
W. Bush is expected to sign into law, Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Bush was expected to act quickly after Congress approved the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act making it illegal for financial institutions and credit card companies to process payments to settle Internet bets. It also created stiff penalties for online wagers. (Breitbart)
On-line gambling companies took a beating in the stock markets upon hearing this news.
Optimal Group (OPMR – commentary – Cramer’s Take) plunged 31% after the company said the passage of an Internet gambling law would hurt its business. Shares fell $3.68 to $8.08.
More stock market carnage as “on-line gaming” industries stocks collapse.
At 6.40am EST (11.40am GMT) Monday Sportingbet PLC shares lose little over 57%, trading at 77.75p. Leisure & Gaming PLC shares dropped by 71% trading at 11p. Betcorp PLC trades at 54p, losing 31%.
Meanwhile PartyPoker (PartyGaming, trading at 77.75 down 57.8%) announces it will abandon the U.S. market.
Of course the Gaming Company lobby groups are not happy.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was rammed through Congress by the Republican leadership in the final minutes before the election period recess. According to Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), no one on the Senate-House Conference Committee had even seen the final language of the bill. The Act is title VIII of a completely unrelated bill, the Safe Port Act, HR 4954, dealing with port security. It can be found on pages 213 – 244 of the Conference Report: http://www.saveonlinegaming.com/hr49543.pdf. It is based on the Leach and Goodlatte bills, HR 4411 and HR 4777, but there are some important differences.
Others discussing this issue: Ankle Biting Pundits and Ace of Spades.
UPDATE: Online gambling set for takeover wave
The days of wine and roses may be over for the lucrative on-line gaming industry. According to many, the on-line gaming world will consolidate in the wake of the US crack down on internet gambling.
Internet gambling companies face a wave of consolidation in the wake of the US clampdown on online gaming, which could see American casinos and gambling businesses swooping for bargains in the sector, the heads of two of the biggest online gambling sites said on Monday. (MSNBC)
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48 Responses to “President George W. Bush to sign “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act””
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If we want to gamble in Detroit we have our own casinos or we can go SOUTH of the border into Windsor Canada and gamble.
This is add another nail to the Aruban and Carribean offshore casinos.
This will definitely be of a disadvantage to the Michael Posners of Aruba. Does this mean that the Credit Card companies will not pay off gambling debts even if the bet is made in Aruba?
I believe that this bill would make it illegal for our credit-card companies to pay gambling debts to offshore casinos. A friend of mine who plays online poker says there will always be ways around it … using PayPal, for example … but certainly this will throw a crimp (no pun intended for card sharks) into this sort of thing.
Let’s hope the bill presents another thread in the web that is enmeshing Aruba.
One question: will this simply cause people to utilize regular casinos instead? My gambling friend tells me that the overhead is lower for online gambling, and so the odds are better.
Chess is good enough for me.
This will NOT even effect Aruba. All the money from these sites come back to the USA. This will probably HELP Aruba. People will have more money to gamble in the casinos.
Baby steps. How many billions of dollars is this setting back the on-line gambling industry? Aruba is one of the biggest players. Paybacks an itch isn’t it.
I Am Not Against Gambling -
But I Am In Favor Of The Ban of Online Gambling
It Is Dangerous Because People Do Not Realize
The Amount of Money They Are Losing When It
Is Not Physically Handed Over – As In A Casino
Too Many That Were Seriously Addicted To Gambling
Were Spinning Out of Control – Robbing Banks
Losing Their Houses and Families -
At Least In Vegas When You Are Out of Cash
You Will Usually Quit And Walk Away -
This will have very little effect on Aruba. The owners of most of these online sites live in the USA.
people just don’t get it… the reason these inter net gaming companies operate off shore is because they can use lower odds of winning. things that just aren’t legal in the states. this way the site owner makes a fortune & the player rarely wins.
i really hope law enforcement agencies can enforce these rules & crack down on people attempting to find other means of sucking the american dollars out of our country.
soon our only rights will be, to pay our tax’s and work. the goverment will see to our every need. soon we will lose the right to think for ourselfs. these our amaerica’s darkest day’s…. ooohhh well I wonder how
Pairs Hilton’s donig, better quick turn on the TV
I am sure this isn’t about protecting state revenues generated by legal and state-run gambling operations? This is a joke! Forget about personal responsiblity, don’t wanna believe in that anymore.
nychic, please spare us that b.s. – there’s a McDonalds everywhere you look, and the last time I checked heart disease was the #1 killer in the US. Mabye we regulate that if you want the #1 with a coke, you have to pay in gold dubloons.
yoyo -
Funny you should mention that -
Did you not hear about the recent proposal by
The New York Health Department to ban Trans Fats
from city restaurants !
——
kelmal -
Once again – You do not know WTF you are talking about -
The owners of online gambling sites are NOT in the USA
If they are caught here – they are arrested -
2 of them were arrested just recently –
Most are from the United Kingdom, Antigua, Aruba and
Costa Rica -
The only exception may be Mike Posner – who is most
likely in hiding somewhere -
Yo Yo
You once said something I thought was very wise.
You said comparing Aruban crime ratios to that of the USA
was like comparing a grape to watermelon.
Now tell me how is it that you wanna compare FAST FOOD
to the more seriously addictive and destructive ONLINE
GAMBLING?
I agree with you that there needs to be personal accountability on some level. Unfortunately, some
hopeless f-tards are incapable of self-governance.
That’s why laws like this make it through
when the timing is right. This new law
may turn out to be a good thing.
I guess time will tell…
If it sucks, this is America
it can always be rolled back!
———–
Kelmal, Gretamal… there is no saving
you!
If I were you… I would find myself
playing with plastic bags on my head often…
…and here is to hoping for the best!
——————
up yer B A Z O O T, billygoat.
&
-J 4 N-
sucka
Although I do not agree they should be banned – I do try to avoid them as much as I can. They are in almost everything it seems…good that is.
And Kel – the owners are all overseas(but I bet nychic you just thru aruba in there for effect) and if they’re americans and they come back to the US they might get arrested, as has happened before.
But I guarantee there will be many ways to get around it. It’ll probably take someone a 2 days to figure it out.
Carpe – hey, what’s done is done, and I do hope they get the results they’re lookin for. I just get tired of the “all-wise Government” telling us what and what not to do. But the day they close all casinos in the US, is the day they should prohibit online gambling. Its very hypocritical.
Of course as long as there’s a loophole so you could get a college football game thru…
side note – The practice of piggybacking unrelated bills should be curtailed or halted. This is one of the lowest practices around.
________
SM: Attaching bills happens all the time and in many cases much more egregious than this. We will see where the dust settles in all this.
yoyo -
here is the article from the NYTimes:
http://tinyurl.com/eru53
yoyo -
do your research prior to opening your big yap
it seems Posner was invovled from the start:
——-
Articles
Aruba’s Oldest Casino Now Online
by Chuck Greene, WINNERonline
19 Jun 2000
Aruba’s oldest casino has just become the Western Hemisphere’s first land-based casino to offer gambling on the Internet. Excelsior Casino, operating as a successful brick and mortar casino for 30 years, has partnered with GamblingSoftware.com to launch {edited}excelsiorcasino dot com, an instant-play casino for the Web.
“It’s a natural progression for us,” said Walter Posner, Owner of Excelsior Casino. “We’re going to bring 30 years of experience and credibility from our land-based operation to the Web.”
Excelsior Casino Aruba is located in the Holiday Inn Resort, Aruba, a 600 room facility. The casino has been in existance for 30 years.
Online gambling was a bad idea from the get go, credit cards paying overseas gambling debts is stupid & never should’ve been allowed. If you want to lose your house, home & shirt i say fine but allowing gambling debts to rack up on a line of credit is something banks should have never been done in the first place.
Yes, Michale Posner started one of the first online gambling companies and it has a very very poor rating of a C Classification whatever that means. I am not familiar enough with gambling to know but it is not something good. Cheating the betters I would assume in some way. On line, whose to prove it, right? Had to do with horse racing that he was given warning from the international gaming commission out of the UK.
Anyway, I do not know the name of his operation and it may be in the name of others the way he has the Excelsior casino but he does own one and one of the largest. Yes, Aruba is a haven for this and online porn and always has been and further has that nice off shore banking problem as well for laundering drug money as well.
No, the loop holes will be plugged and no American banking concern is going to be caught violating this for if you recall, this was a big issue in Florida a while back. The fines are tremendous and no bank wants to pay them. Or lose their banking licenses.
I have seen the information on Posner’s outfit and will see if I can find it and post.
Ouch! This is going to leave a mark!
Why is Kelmel posting as Gretamal now? Is this supposed to fool us or is it a tribute to Greta van Sustren or what? She still doesn’t have a clue for she doesn’t even know where the real money in Aruba is.
I once had an Aruban poster try to tell me that the Mike Posner in Aruba is a different one than the one who went to prison in this country for being a Chicago mob boss. Said theirs was born on the island. Yeah, right! Sounds like something Kelmel would claim for it is very same one although he uses two other names at times, same guy, same Murder Mansion and Good Ship Lollipop mob. Just a new location. And he is into online gambling now as well. Or at least he was last time I read who was. They take in HUGE amounts of money daily or rather they used to but not any more!
MORT, It’s a tribute to Greta for all she has done to get justice for Natalee.
nychic, The BIGGEST online gambling site is a site called BO-DOG. He lives in the USA and makes MILLIONS from online gambling. There is No difference with on line gambling and casino gambling. If you have credit cards you can MAX. them out gambling on either one.
I think you will all find that this bill is larger than just the issue of online gambling. Who are the ones paying once the charge card holder goes broke? Where are the funds going that these people are collecting. I think it is really larger than most realize.
MISS-u, They file BK. That is one of the reasons there are so many BK’s filed.
If US citizens want to gamble outside of the US, they are free to travel to any casino in the world except Cuba’s (and if you want to gamble that badly in Cuba, you can get there via Jamaica). So what’s the problem? Why should on-line gambling losses help support corrupt governments? The games are rigged. Duh. Bill should have been passed years ago.
kelmal -
Do I have to say it again ? You are FOS
There was just a special on your buddy bodog
He lives in Costa Rica and he can NEVER enter the U.S.
check it out:
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2108601&page=1
para, You can get to Cuba from Canada, Cancun, Turks & Caicos plus many other places. Canada has trips going there every week. Cuba is a BEAUTIFUL island !!
From where I live Jamaica is the closest gateway to Cuba.
The Van der Sloots suck
and they should stop murdering
and raping teenage girls immediately!
Stop online gambling
GO YANKEES
para2, From where I live Canada is the closest. We just go South of the border and we are in Canada.
Gretamal,
As usual, you are sadly misinformed yet again. How can one person always be wrong! Guess you missed the recent banking reform laws that make it very difficult to file bankruptcy against credit cards. Try it if you don’t believe me!
New legislation makes it just about impossible to include them or any other banking loans in a bankruptcy petition. So if you are counting on that, I would talk with a good bankruptcy attorney before running up too big of a gambling bill! You may be in for a very nasty surprise.
Am I the only one who is angry about this? How can Congress pass an act at the last second when most of Congress hasn’t even seen the bill? This happens all the time and it’s NOT ok with me.
MORT, How can you be WRONG 99% of the time. Credit cards are UNSECURED debt. If you file BK there is NOTHING the credit cards can do. They just write it off. Call a BK attorney and ask. If I were you I would investigate something BEFORE you put it on here because you are looking like you could star in Dumber and dumber !!!
MORT, I know this for a FACT because my brother in law is a BK attorney. Credit cards can’t do nothing. There is a means test and if you pass the means test you write all your credit card debt AWAY.
kelgreta, Educate yourself a little bit. You sound like you are on the Jr. High debate team. Luv ya!
————————————————————
Credit card issuers sometimes challenge the discharge of their debt in bankruptcy by filing an adversary proceeding claiming that the debt was incurred by fraud and therefore should be excluded from the discharge under  §523(a)(2). This is sometimes called a “non-dischargeability action”.
Credit card debt may be non dischargeable in bankruptcy under either of two legal theories:
The application submitted to get the card was fraudulent
The card was used without an intent to repay; this is far more common
This issue used to arise only in Chapter 7 prior to the 2005 bankruptcy code amendments. Now, creditors can contest the discharge of debts in a 13 as well based on a claim of fraud.
windy, You are right. In those 2 cases you can’t get rid of your credit card debt. All other cases you can!!
No sh*t Sherlock. I just showed you that I was right. With documentation and proof. I wish the Holloway case had a little more of that from the Arubans.
Also, Read point number 2 about the card being used without intent to pay. This is pretty easy to prove with the gambling scenarios that you give.
Quit trying to be so smart and get to class!
Just skip over the troll’s comments.
That’s what I do. The troll is not here for intelligent debate.
The troll is here to get a reaction, ANY reaction.
just another government intrusion. if you want to intrude regulate it tax the you’ll be totally happy. many of my friends have already set up bank accounts in other countries to do online gaming where there is a will there is a way. i use my canadian bank account and play on line
“It Is Dangerous Because People Do Not Realize
The Amount of Money They Are Losing When It
Is Not Physically Handed Over – As In A Casino”
–Uhh, do people not take their plastic cards to Las Vegas as well? It is not the government’s job to protect us from ourselves; apparently, we have to protect our rights from the government.
david, Yea There are ATM’s at the entrance to all casino’s. Many people max their cards out and then have to file BK.
kelgreta,
You really are dumb! I’ve had better debates with my 6 year old. Pay more attention in school.
windy, I know several people who ran up credit card debt from GAMBLING and then filed Chap. 7 BK !!! All debt was wiped clean.
windy, By the way. I am an adult. If you call me dumb it doesn’t hurt me. Calling people names is VERY childish !!
Read your own post #31 you ASS HELMET! Practice what you preach! I guess 18 can legally be considered an adult. However, your childish posts speak volumes of your maturity level. Kill any dogs lately?
wind, LOL !!!!!!!!!
( carpe whips out legal pad & scribbles down )
A$$ HELMET!
lol. Love it.
Oh the possibilities!
As a former 40 hour/ week online poker player until Bush passed the law: I believe in freedom of choice and I am not a Bush supporter in any way (this is Rightest Sen. Jon Kyles Bill of AZ. anyway). YET, I do believe the passing of this Law is best for humanity and support it. I am a very good poker player made the final table in my share of big online tournaments but would have to say that I lost more time playing than it was all worth. Gambling is addictive at any level and they state governments all all hypocrites for banning online gaming while promoting their lottery tickets.
Another problem is that the revenue was leaving the US and that meant less money was being spent on all types of possible sales here and that other countries were benefitting. Yes, Bush had to pass the bill because of his aprroval rating and the upcomming elections in Nov.. U.S. citizens were spending to much time and money on online gaming and not on their families, investments or goods. (Oh yes, and if you lost money it was and still is tax deductable not to mention all the cresit card debt, interest rates and increase in bankruptcies and bad credit scores created in the last few years)
We are all better off wheather we want to believe it or not for this law. Our economy will improve, our personal lives will improve and we can have home games wiht live people if we still choose.
Leftist or Rightest this is Bi-Partisan for the people! US!
P.S. after all the poker Iv’e played in the last year I’ve probably broke even or at best made a $1,000 but wasted a year of my life no doubt! (although I sure understand odds, stats and aggresion a lot better)
[...] So much for the Caribbean countries respecting the new internet gaming law passed in the US. I guess they feel it does not pertain to them, Briton in Curacao continues firmly with internet gaming. CURACAO/LONDON — Despite the American’s ban on internet gaming, the Briton Alistair Assheton continues firmly with offering online gaming and casinos. [...]
WHAT!!!NOOO!!!no more online gambling??!!what’s next??PORN??I might as well sell my computer!!!my life is over i want to die!!!where’s my xanax?!i can’t breathe!!