On December 23, 2011 the U.S. Department of Justice has officially revised their stance on the federal Wire Act of 1961. Previously the wire act made all fors of USA online gambling illegal. The DOJ now states that the wire act will only apply to sports betting. This change of opinion brings down the Federal wall and now puts online poker and online casino gambling in the hands of each state.
While nothing has officially happened yet, we can see the writing on the wall and I honestly believe that 2013 will be the year of state regulated US poker sites and online casinos. If this happens we will see much easier deposit and withdrawl methods and it will be a safer industry as a whole.
The UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) was passed by the House and Senate in September 2006 and George Bush signed this act into a law in October 2006. The Safe Port Act was a bill to improve security of the United States Ports. The UIGEA was added to the Safe Port Act at the last minute. The UIGEA does not prohibit online gambling! It outlaws financial institutions from transacting with online gambling companies. The UIGEA did not ban online gambling, instead it banned gambling financial transactions. The problem is that the UIGEA is so vague that banks have found it impossible to enforce.
While there are no hard and distinct rules either way, the individual state is left to its own devices where gambling legislation is concerned. Some choose to completely block online poker (like Louisiana, Kentucky, and many others) while others (like California) have chosen to pass additional measures that essentially legalize online gambling within the state. State laws do not supersede Federal laws, but because of the gray area the entire affair is cast into, the Federal guidelines essentially give the individual state the rights to govern how they see fit.
They say the main objective of all these gambling laws and statutes is to protect the American consumer from fraud, but we know it's because they want their cut of the taxes! There are several poker rooms that still accept American players; be smart and select a popular poker site listed by GamblingUSA. We have researched all these US poker sites and we even play at all of them. If you experience trouble using a credit card to secure funds, consider looking into an eWallet account like ewalletxpress or usemywallet.
Some politicians in the U.S. government are realizing how much money they are losing by not legalizing and regulating online gambling. The United States could raise over $52 billion in revenue over the next decade by lifting the UIGEA and taxing online gambling instead, according to a study by Reuters.