U.S. Gambling Laws

Legislation attempting to prohibit the use of bank financial instruments for many types of internet gambling passed both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. It got there through a back door route, by attachment in closed Committee deliberations to the Conference Report. Language was added to a bill which had previously only dealt with protecting the ports of the U.S. from terrorist attack.

The legislation does not outlaw internet gambling in the United States. The 1961 Wire Act, the interpretation of which just about everybody has a different view when people try to apply it to internet gambling, are unchanged. The debate on if, how and to what extent the Wire Act can be applied to domestic and foreign businesses that offer internet sports betting, casino games, horse racing and poker will continue.

The legislation has absolutley no provisions telling U.S. citizens what they can or can't do on the internet. In fact, it is important to remember, neither does the often quoted Wire Act, which only has prohibitions on what a business "engaged in the business of betting or wagering" can't do.

The legislation is not criminal in nature against players. Rather, it tells U.S. banks, through regulations to be issued not earlier than mid-2007, and probabaly later, what they must do in order to prevent the use of their financial instruments (credit cards, checks, etc.) to pay for internet gambling.