A new federal law aimed at restricting online gambling in the United States has come under fire from a rare pair: poker players and people who help addicted gamblers.
Poker players are angry because they say the law has hampered their online opportunities to participate in popular poker games and make money.
“It has unintended consequences,” said Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance, a pro-gambling lobbying group. “Just like the unintended consequences of alcohol prohibition – the speakeasies.”
Gambling addiction experts are unhappy because they say the law doesn’t go far enough and will not slow the growth of the multibillion dollar online gambling business.
“It will make it a little bit less convenient for casual gamblers,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. “But heavy gamblers and certainly problem gamblers … can easily find ways around the law.”
Known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the law was quietly passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush late last year.
It makes it a federal crime for U.S. banks and credit card companies to process payments for Internet bets.
Critics say it does not prohibit online betting operations as originally intended and that it is doubtful the government can effectively trace financial transactions for online gambling.
“How is your bank going to prove that four steps down the line your funds came from (or were intended for) Internet gambling, especially if the companies are not under U.S. jurisdiction?” asked Whtye. “The law adds a couple of steps, but it is not likely to stop problem gamblers.”
An in-depth study by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. News Service last year into the psychoeconomics of gambling showed that addictive betting is growing fast in the United States, and that little is being done to prevent or treat it.
The Internet has expanded the reach of gambling from casinos, lottery outlets and race tracks to living rooms across the country. It has never been easier for gamblers to access credit, play a round of poker or place an online wager on a football game.
Most online gambling operations are located outside the United States, where Internet gambling is technically illegal yet seldom prosecuted.
But in November, New York City authorities used existing criminal laws to take down a $3.3 billion online sports betting ring — the largest gambling bust in the city’s history.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who favors prohibiting all forms of online gambling, said the new law is well-intentioned but lacks sufficient teeth to stop betting on the Web by U.S. residents.
His proposal to ban online betting was stripped from the final version of the law when the overall legislation was tucked into a port security bill and unceremoniously passed by Congress.
Matt Wilkinson, a Wheatfield, N.Y., sales manager who said he’s been playing online poker for five years, admitted the new law has frustrated players, but has done little to stop them from playing. He said when an online site shuts down because they fear enforcement of the law, players easily find another.
Wilkinson believes lawmakers went after online gambling because companies that run the sites operate mostly offshore or in foreign countries.
“Most of them are based in Costa Rica, Antigua, Barbados — places that don’t have a lot of laws in place to report their revenues,” Wilkinson said. “I don’t think the motivation behind passing the act has anything to do with problem gambling.”
Larry Austin, 41, a writer from Porter, N.Y., said he’s an online poker player who objects to the way the federal law was passed.
“They included it in a port security bill and they passed it in the middle of the night,” he said.
Renee Wert, a psychologist who runs a gambling recovery program for Jewish Family Services in Buffalo, N.Y., said he has seen a rise in the number of people seeking help because of online gambling.
Wert said online gambling has a dangerous mix of easy access to gambling, instant credit and few barriers to underage players.
“The faster the rate of play, the more addictive potential something has,” said Wert, who is also vice president of the New York State Council on Problem Gambling.
Denise Jewell is a reporter for the Niagara, N.Y., Gazette and the author of CNHI’s three-part series last spring on addictive gambling in America.
Clark County
January 27, 2007
Even gambling opponents criticize new online betting law
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CAPITOL CROSSROADS: Candidates struggle with Indiana ballot hurdles
Gov. Kathy Davis had her signature invalidated because she listed her address at “9th” street but Marion County’s rolls had her at “09th” street.
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Underwood man found dead in woods
The search resumed later in the day Friday and his body was discovered about 6 p.m. in a wooded area less than half a mile from his family’s 70-acre farm, said Maj. Chuck Adams of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
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Military vehicles leave Clarksville police station
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Jeffersonville law department still being negotiated
The combined salaries of the two attorneys and a paralegal add up to $221,900, which Harmon called a savings compared to the $239,373 the city has paid in legal bills on average during the last two years.
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Most area graduation rates above state average
According to a release from IDOE, Indiana’s state graduation rate came in at 85.7 percent. About 45 percent of high schools met or exceeded the 90 percent mark and 83 percent graduated 80 percent of their seniors or more.
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YOU GOTTA MOVE: Parkwood participates in Greater Clark health push
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CAPITOL CROSSROADS: Candidates struggle with Indiana ballot hurdles
