Poker In US

If gambling and poker is illegal in most states of the US why are there websites that allow anyone in the US to play? Is it legal?

aolguin3 said:

If gambling and poker is illegal in most states of the US why are there websites that allow anyone in the US to play? Is it legal?

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im not even sure why but i know there is only like 2 or 3 sites that take US players anyways so its not very many

im also in a state where its ok so im not worried lol

One opinion is that the poker itself is not illegal; however, financial transactions with the various sites may be questionable. I suggest following the Poker Players Alliance threads for a better understanding.


Cheers!

Gambling is legal in most states in the US as long as it's the type run by the government to extract revenue from the citizens. (Lotto). Making it illegal helps protect the governments revenue stream from competition.

VinnyStrat said:

Gambling is legal in most states in the US as long as it's the type run by the government to extract revenue from the citizens. (Lotto). Making it illegal helps protect the governments revenue stream from competition.

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This is an interesting argument, at least regarding Lotto. The evidence seems to indicate that Lotteries are a regressive tax as they are mostly played by persons with lower incomes. If it is true that most gambling is played with disposable incomes (complusive gambling being the obvious exception), than lotteries would not be effected by other legalized gambling.

The interesting consideration is that online poker, with available low stakes, could conceivably draw some lottery money. Speaking for myself, I only play the Lotto when the jackpot is so ridiculously large that I don't mind spending a single dollar.

Cheers!

Yes. You don't play the lotto for the money. You play the lotto for the dreams that buck buys.(until you lose of course)

I always think that those sites operating and taking US players, are paying some kind money to our government. Just my opinion. However, sites like Stars won't pay any kind of tax. And no site would if they were as big as them. They don't need what money that would come from the US market.

aolguin3 said:

If gambling and poker is illegal in most states of the US why are there websites that allow anyone in the US to play? Is it legal?

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Poker is a lot like sex... It only becomes illegal when money changes hands. So if you can hide the money, you can hide the sausage and if you you can hide deposits and payouts to US players you can operate a game. There must be a papertrail for the Justice Dept. to bring charges and that is why only the nearly untraceable deposit methods are accepted.

Thank you all for the information and hopefully Poker Stars is able to come back and to be able to play for money online without a problem.

Basically its illegal if the government is not getting a cut of the pie. The problem is there is high demand and us players want to play online. The government seems like they do plan to regulate it but, like anything they do is at snail pace. I doubt the government will go after poker players that sounds expensive and would be a waste of time. It is more likely they would try to shut down the site. How can they do that if the site is overseas? Another fact that banning poker seems to be taking your right to free. Why is the government telling me what i can do and cant do in my own house. Its not harming anyone and is a peaceful act.