UIGEA - December 1st 2009

Friday 27 November, 2009 11:14

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With December 1st just around the corner, online gamblers are eyeing the US gambling industry with some trepidation. This is the date that the authorities have earmarked for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to come into effect in the United States, and many are unsure about what will happen and how this may affect their gambling entertainment.

In a nutshell, from this date on, banks will be required to enforce the UIGEA by not processing any transactions to and from online gambling sites. Under the law, banks will be required to report the transaction and refrain from processing it.

Industry analysts are reasonably sure that online gamblers will not see any change in the day to day running of their favorite casinos.

This is because most casinos have actually been trying out the new law to one extent or another since it was first passed in April 2007 and the effects of the law will therefore be much less drastic or keenly felt than what many players fear.

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Another thing to take into account is that fact that it is probably physically impossible for banks and credit institutions to sift through the literally millions upon millions of transactions that they deal with every single day to pick out those that come from what is termed 'illegal' online gambling sites, and to distinguish between those that are 'legal' (such as state lotteries).

Banks have been telling US authorities for years now that they will be unable to implement the law, although their complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

The implementation of the UIGEA on December 1st is the legacy of a desperate Bush administration to push one final prohibition-type law through before it left the White House. Analysts, however, are depending on the Omaba government to see logic in this madness and put an end to one very controversial and unarguably useless law.

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