AP/DowJones on Gambling legislation: Banks say regs aren't that strict

[Zetack]

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Wouldnt the big banks like BOA and Wachovia have the "means" to enforce it?

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Yeah, but what's to stop me from getting an account with my little local bank? Tasty.

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I don't think that's the issue. Only the most fervent of doomsayers seem to think that serious players won't be able to get their money on some poker sites somewhere.

The issue is how difficult it will become for the casual, the recreational, the first time player to get their money on a site. Cause I'm pretty sure very few of these folks are going to be thinking, hey, I'll just research which banks don't enforce this stuff and switch accounts so I can try out this online poker thing I've heard so much about.

Also, what may trickle down into public consciousness, whether true or not, is that online poker is illegal. Which may deter some of the first timers from ever giving it a try.

--Zetack

[PokeReader]

While a problem, I'm not sure that is the biggest problem. If Goodlatte is still there, treating this, (and that is what the bill is modeled on) like money laudering, at some point we will have a problem. While there will be no macro pattern on our end, sending the money, in the end all the money is going one place. The U.S. has the legal authority to freeze the account of the gaming site. If where they have their money does not operate in the US and will not cooperate with the seizure of the account, then it seem to me that check from the Bank of Costa Rica or whenever might no longer be accepted through the U.S. banking system. Which would mean you'd have to wash it again, which they'd eventually stop.

It's kind of pointless to guess, because we don't have the regs yet, but the main thing the banks are happy about are that they aren't on the hook anymore. The earlier bill held the bank civilly liabily for unknowly processing internet gaming payments. I note again the one payment option that is not included in the bill is cash. At least the bigger pros can legally pay a courier to take cash back and forth. Of course, there are all kinds of legal problems with travelling with cash now, but it can be done, and legally, but he would have to work for the players, and not the gaming company.