Online Poker Players were dealt a big blow this week, as the US arrested two founders of the online payment service NeTeller, and NeTeller very quickly followed up and refused to continue to do business with US customers. While the Administration revels in the latest victory in the War on Poker, gamblers around the country look for alternative methods to play online.
First a little background...
Online poker players are a savvy and intelligent bunch. Years ago, credit card companies allowed players to use credit and debit cards to play poker online, through sites such as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Due to some irresponsible players, credit card companies now decline charges from poker sites. The popular online payment service PayPal soon followed suit.
Poker players then flocked to Neteller, an online payment service much like PayPal, which is based on the Isle of Man. Neteller functions just like PayPal. Customers can transfer money from their bank accounts to their Neteller account, and back to their bank account. Players can also transfer money from Neteller to online merchants. Neteller has no problems transferring money to online poker sites, and most players use this service to cash out their winnings.
Enter the dim-witted 109th Congress. Last year, at midnight before Congress adjourned for the election recess, the Republican Senate passed the SAFE Port Act, which created a Domestic Nuclear Detection Office and gave money to the Coast Guard for modernization.
Tacked on to the bill by Bill Frist and Jon Kyl was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which was passed last May by the House. The act was designed to eliminate the sin of online gambling (except for betting on horse races and lotteries). Unfortunately for them, very few people in congress and on the evangelical right understand how online gambling works. The bill specifically bans US banks from accepting or approving transactions from online gambling sites. Besides the fact that it is very much outside of the means of banks to supervise every single account to rat out sin, the law ignores the fact that poker players do not transfer money directly from their banks to online gambling web sites. Because the Republicans did very little research into their bill, poker players largely yawned and did not worry about the law.
About a week after the bill was signed by Bush, many publicly traded online poker sites, such as PartyPoker, began to announce that they were no longer accepting players from the United States. These public companies, which are perfectly legal in the UK, were afraid to tangle with the US Attorney General and figured that dumping the US market was much easier than fighting a drawn out legal battle.
Other sites, such as the current top-dog PokerStars, issued statements that, in their view, poker is a game of skill and not luck, therefore it does not count as "gambling." Furthermore, the site is under no obligation to abide by US law, especially this ill-conceived law, and is not responsible for babysitting its user base. There was much rejoicing as players flocked to these sites.
This was the state of things through the fall and winter, as players used Neteller to put their money into sites that still accepted US customers. Then, earlier this week, the US Government moved to arrest the founders of Neteller:
The two founders of online gambling payment solutions NETeller were arrested in Los Angeles and New York, respectively, today, according to reports surfacing Monday afternoon Gambling911.com has learned.
John LeFevre and Steve Lawrence, both of Canada, were taken into custody early Monday morning while in the United States. Charges have not been filed yet.
Neither men have been involved with NETeller for a few years now, though it is not known if they are still receiving an "income" from the company.
NETeller is a publicly traded company based out of Isle of Man and is the largest online gambling money processor.
Gambling911
These people have still not faced charges, but the government has already won. Neteller announced that it will no longer service US customers, as it is too much of a hassle to have anyone associated with the company arrested every time they changed planes at Dulles, and it would cost too much to take part in a lengthy legal battle with the US government. Players are now looking for alternative services. By attacking services such as Neteller, the Administration hopes to inconvenience online players enough so that they will give up their sinful lifestyles.
Many Americans use online poker as a main source of income. People are correct when they say that poker is a game of skill instead of luck. Of course luck plays some role in card playing; however there is a distinct reason why some players are winning players and others are losers. Pot odds, card odds, bluffing, position, and betting patterns all play a large part in a skilled player's game. Over the long term, skilled players win, and unskilled players lose.
The Republican party, however, by kowtowing to its far-right wing base, is trying to steal the legitimate livelihood of thousands of Americans who play poker professionally, yet do not live close enough to a casino. Poker players span across the political spectrum. The GOP is making some big enemies, especially among players who were previously uninterested in politics. On many apolitical poker sites, I've read long rants and threads dedicated to calls to action and a near-universal hatred of Republicans, Bill Frist, Jon Kyl, and the American Taliban's state. Players, many of which are former Republicans, have awoken to the fact that their party considers their lifestyle sinful, and are looking to the Democrats to fix the problem.
Repealing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act should be a priority of the 110th Congress, and the next Democratic President of the United States should get out in front of this and declare that they will end the Bush Administration's War on Poker. Any candidate who comes out against the War on Poker will instantly gain recognition among poker players and will gain thousands of new supporters, most of whom have rather large pocketbooks. This may be a key to opening up the Democratic Party to the Libertarian Republicans who seem to define politics in the Mountain and Mid-West.