Ok, for months we have been hearing about that famous UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) which was passed last year. This poor piece of legislation, written by people with no knowledge of the financial works, driven by 'contributions' to political campaigns and hands-washing of the Abramoff scandal, this stupid and absolutely useless and unenforceable law was able to scare away most of the industry away.
- Other publishers, such as Esquire Magazine, have been warned by the government not to take online gambling advertising. Facilitating the transfer of funds to online casinos is also a bad idea. As of 2006, it became illegal for American banks to process transactions originating from or directed toward any online gambling operator.
- Since the bank is run by people with inside knowledge of the gaming world, they can verify deposits' legitimacy by tracking tournament participation and winnings. Analysts predict that community banks across the country, and not just in Nevada, will be on the lookout for profitable niches, and online gambling would undoubtedly be one of them.
- Gambling Block is a strict measure introduced by the banks to limit endless gambling activities which have turned out to be a great threat to the financial sector. The vice, in other words, could be described as a feature that allows a person to block his card from being used for gambling transactions.
Do you know what I say - Let them run! Let all of the lousy, sneaky, cheating online gambling companies run away from the US market and never come back (I pity the Europeans which would be unfortunate to play at their properties).
LEGAL US ONLINE GAMBLING GUIDE Gambling online is quickly becoming the way to place a bet. More Americans are turning to their mobile devices and laptops to play their favorite slots, poker games or bet on sports online.
With a risk of being unpopular - this is the best thing to happen to our industry since the invention of the WiFi-ready toilet seat on which many Americans seem to gamble, according to some Senators who know a great deal about the Internets.
Why is this so good? Well, because it was the Laxative that cleaned up the industry. There were literally thousands of online casinos, sportsbooks, poker websites and almost all of them were in for the short run. Which became obvious after the first 'real' trouble. Many of those gambling websites sold their customers' information, too. And many online gambling 'entrepreneurs' would cry you a river about this law, and many advertisers would, too. But if you look at what matters - the players at those websites - they came out winners. Would any normal person knowingly give away all their personal information to a gambling website which is bound to sell it to the highest bidder? Would you play at a website which you know could disappear tomorrow? Of course not.
So let them run..and don't forget to flush. Let the real companies, which are proving to be in for the long run continue to enjoy making money, and their players to enjoy quality entertainment, high payouts and dependable service.
Do Banks Allow Online Gambling Games
Because the 'law' which was passed in 2006, although having the right target (the financial side of the business), would not have the means to enforce it. And any online gambling company which would care enough about what they do, and hire a financial consultant, would have know that.
The Banks and the gambling transactions fiasco:
The deal with the credit cards looks somewhat easy - the credit cards assign a merchant code which correspond to the type of service that merchant provides. This is used to evaluate the credit risk from that transaction and help some credit card issuers block transactions to high-risk merchants, such as phone cards or roving merchants. For example, the online gambling merchant code is 7995. This would of course be easily blocked, and almost all of the banks have been blocking transactions to online gambling for years by using this code method. However, it is not that hard to become a credit card processor under a different code - all the gambling websites currently allowing US players bypass the system this way and are able to accept credit cards for depositing money.
According to Steve Verdier, Senior Vice President and Director of Congressional Relations Group for the Independent Community Bankers of America, in 2004 there were 36,000,000,000 checks written and 12,000,000,000 electronic transfers (ACH) conducted. It is safe to assume that in 2007 these numbers are much higher. And the purpose of the bill was to make the banks weed out through all these transactions, find those which go to illegal Internet gambling websites, and block them. Sounds like a good plan, yeah? But if the former Senator Jim Leach would have done his homework right, he would have known that everybody on the planet with a bank account is a potential recipient of a check or ACH, and when you make a bank transaction (non-credit card related) such as ACH, all the information which the receiving bank has is the account number and the bank's own number - there is no information sent about the 'type' of recipient. And there is a provision in the bill, that if it is not practical of feasible to block those transactions, they would be exempt. Also, there are exemptions which require banks to allow transactions to legal online gambling websites, such as online horse betting. And when we add the fact that if a financial institution is 'over-blocking' transactions, resulting in many legal transactions being blocked as well, that financial institution holds no liability for that action, we could expect quite careless approach which may lead to blocking of batches of transactions and a lot of unhappy customers being late on their phone bills.
Mr. Verdier also says: 'Court injunctions are not to apply against financial transactions providers, but what we worry about is that some clever prosecutor would come up with something outside of the bill, to use as an excuse for an injunction, then will have a federal judge, who is probably not an expert on the payment system, may be enforcing and directing that the entire payment system of the United States be transformed so we can track and block those payments.'
So, after reading all these facts, can you imagine the mess which lays ahead for the banking sector once the regulations are in effect? You probably don't know much about how the payment system in the United States work (and you don't have to), but even you, after reading the basic facts, would come to the conclusion that not only you cannot block transactions to Internet gambling websites, but also that a big mess would result out of it. Don't you think that a Senator, a man elected to hammer the laws of the country would have done at least this much of a research?
But wait, it gets even better:
Do Banks Allow Online Gambling Winnings
No financial transactions, deposits or withdrawals, are ever made directly to an online gambling site. They always go through a third-party payment processor - credit card processor, ACH processor, or an e-wallet such as Neteller, and those processors are based outside of the US jurisdiction and they are not 'gambling' transactions per se, because the money goes from an US bank to a bank in Costa Rica, for example, which is perfectly legal under US laws (placing money in a third party institution by itself is not considered a bet or wager under the new law), and then the gambling website receives it from the Costa Rican bank. Flip the scenario 180 degrees for withdrawals. Basically, you can 'layer-up' as many offshore banks as needed, so a transaction would not be seen as online gambling.
One thing that I see, is the end of the e-wallets as a form of funding any online gambling activity. The days of Neteller and alike are long gone, and most likely the unreliability of any future e-wallets which may come around to feel the gap would steer the gambling sites away from them and they would depend on in-house payment processing using electronic checks and credit cards.
And there will be a lot of publicity and scare tactics when the regulations come out. But the wimps are already gone, so there would be not much left to scare. Oh, I can see the PR machine wheels turning, but it's an empty mill they are running..
Anyhow, I was able to find all this information. If you are an online gambling website owner, who is dedicated to his business, wouldn't you do at least this much of research? Instead of running away just by hearing 'online gambling bill'? Most of the online gambling websites left the market the day after the bill was passed. Without taking time to analyze it and see what actually it is all about - don't judge a book by its cover, and don't judge a bill by its abbreviation. They just left the next day, their luggage long time packed, and left thousands of customers and partners in the dust. Why? So they don't have to actually do some work and find the legal way around it. This would have made their 'business' a little harder.
Because their business plan was 'let's make as much money as we can, while it lasts' and not 'let's build one of the best companies in the industry'. But there are empires currently build. Next year Forbes may add a few more folks from the online gambling sector to their list.
And we all learned a valuable lesson, and the gambling industry has become as clean as it has ever been.
Congratulations, you have just went through the NASDAQ-bubble-burst of the online gambling industry!
04-10-2007
Once you've joined an online gambling site, you'll need to fund your account if you want to gamble for real money. Adding funds to your account is known as depositing, and the process is very simple at most sites. It will vary a little from one site to the next, but typically you just need to follow some simple steps.
- Log in
- Visit the cashier
- Select your preferred method
- Enter the relevant payment details
- Enter the amount you wish to deposit.
You'll notice that the third step listed above is to select your preferred method. There are actually a number of different methods that can be used to get your funds online, and most sites offer you plenty of options in this area. Not all methods are available at every single gambling site, but you'll usually find at least one method that's suitable for you.
On this page we explain a little more about the most common deposit methods and how they work. It's worth familiarizing yourself with these so that you can decide which is the best way to deposit your money.
Depositing using a credit card or a debit card is very simple. It's also the most popular method among gamblers. Virtually every gambling site accepts credit and debit cards, although they don't necessarily accept every single type of card. Visa and MasterCard are usually fine, but American Express, Diners Club and other cards are not so widely accepted.
Credit and debit card deposits are typically processed instantly, so you can expect your funds to be available to use right away. At most sites, you'll be able to withdraw any winnings back to any card used to deposit with.
Please be aware that, although most USA gambling sites do accept card deposits, some card providers will block transactions.
Most gambling sites, including those in the USA, allow you to deposit via wire transfer (also referred to as a bank transfer). This is a good option in any of the following circumstances.
- If you want to deposit a large sum of money
- If you don't have a credit card
- If you don't feel comfortable submitting banking details online
Using this method is a simple matter of arranging a transfer from your bank account to the bank account of the site you wish to deposit at. You'll obviously need to request the relevant bank details first, unless the site publishes that information, and you'll probably be asked to include a specific reference number on your transfer. Once your transfer is received, the funds will be added to your online account. This doesn't necessarily happen instantly though, as there may be a processing period.
E-Wallets
An e-wallet is a bit like an online bank account. E-wallets are generally very easy to setup and fund, and you can then use them to spend your money at any online outlet where they're accepted. Atlantic city casino revenue may 2019. They can be very useful for gamblers, particularly those who use a number of different sites and are frequently depositing and withdrawing from them.
There have been many e-wallet services come and go over recent years, but a few have been around for a while. There are three in particular that are very popular.
- PayPal
- Neteller
- Skrill (previously known as Moneybookers)
Unfortunately for American gamblers, neither Neteller nor Skrill accept US customers and PayPal does not allow gambling transactions in the US. If you live elsewhere though, then you should seriously consider using one, or more, of these for your deposits.
The use of prepaid vouchers and virtual credit cards has become noticeably more widespread over the years. These are good options for the following people.
- Those who do not have a credit card
- Those who do not have an e-wallet
- Those who live in the United States
The basic concept is pretty simple – you buy a pre-paid voucher or card for a fixed amount and can then use that voucher or card to make your deposit. You can't usually withdraw using this method though.
There are several different types of prepaid vouchers and cards that can be used at gambling sites. The ones that are most widely accepted by gambling sites are Pasteandpay (which can be used in the USA), Ukash and Paysafecard.
You can use money transfer services such as Western Union to deposit at some sites, although the number of them offering this option has decreased a little over the last few years. Depositing in this way is simple enough, but the exact process will vary from one site to the next. It's a decent option if you're in the United States, particularly if you don't have a credit card.
Using checks is a very straightforward way to add funds to your account. You simply have to post a check and, once it is cleared, the relevant amount will be credited to your online account.
However, as gambling sites use encryption processes when processing online transactions, this is not really an issue. It's not a particularly popular option due to the time it takes, but it's available at many sites nonetheless.
Before we finish this article, here is a small selection of questions that we are frequently asked about depositing at online gambling sites. The answers to these questions follow.
The Banks and the gambling transactions fiasco:
The deal with the credit cards looks somewhat easy - the credit cards assign a merchant code which correspond to the type of service that merchant provides. This is used to evaluate the credit risk from that transaction and help some credit card issuers block transactions to high-risk merchants, such as phone cards or roving merchants. For example, the online gambling merchant code is 7995. This would of course be easily blocked, and almost all of the banks have been blocking transactions to online gambling for years by using this code method. However, it is not that hard to become a credit card processor under a different code - all the gambling websites currently allowing US players bypass the system this way and are able to accept credit cards for depositing money.
According to Steve Verdier, Senior Vice President and Director of Congressional Relations Group for the Independent Community Bankers of America, in 2004 there were 36,000,000,000 checks written and 12,000,000,000 electronic transfers (ACH) conducted. It is safe to assume that in 2007 these numbers are much higher. And the purpose of the bill was to make the banks weed out through all these transactions, find those which go to illegal Internet gambling websites, and block them. Sounds like a good plan, yeah? But if the former Senator Jim Leach would have done his homework right, he would have known that everybody on the planet with a bank account is a potential recipient of a check or ACH, and when you make a bank transaction (non-credit card related) such as ACH, all the information which the receiving bank has is the account number and the bank's own number - there is no information sent about the 'type' of recipient. And there is a provision in the bill, that if it is not practical of feasible to block those transactions, they would be exempt. Also, there are exemptions which require banks to allow transactions to legal online gambling websites, such as online horse betting. And when we add the fact that if a financial institution is 'over-blocking' transactions, resulting in many legal transactions being blocked as well, that financial institution holds no liability for that action, we could expect quite careless approach which may lead to blocking of batches of transactions and a lot of unhappy customers being late on their phone bills.
Mr. Verdier also says: 'Court injunctions are not to apply against financial transactions providers, but what we worry about is that some clever prosecutor would come up with something outside of the bill, to use as an excuse for an injunction, then will have a federal judge, who is probably not an expert on the payment system, may be enforcing and directing that the entire payment system of the United States be transformed so we can track and block those payments.'
So, after reading all these facts, can you imagine the mess which lays ahead for the banking sector once the regulations are in effect? You probably don't know much about how the payment system in the United States work (and you don't have to), but even you, after reading the basic facts, would come to the conclusion that not only you cannot block transactions to Internet gambling websites, but also that a big mess would result out of it. Don't you think that a Senator, a man elected to hammer the laws of the country would have done at least this much of a research?
But wait, it gets even better:
Do Banks Allow Online Gambling Winnings
No financial transactions, deposits or withdrawals, are ever made directly to an online gambling site. They always go through a third-party payment processor - credit card processor, ACH processor, or an e-wallet such as Neteller, and those processors are based outside of the US jurisdiction and they are not 'gambling' transactions per se, because the money goes from an US bank to a bank in Costa Rica, for example, which is perfectly legal under US laws (placing money in a third party institution by itself is not considered a bet or wager under the new law), and then the gambling website receives it from the Costa Rican bank. Flip the scenario 180 degrees for withdrawals. Basically, you can 'layer-up' as many offshore banks as needed, so a transaction would not be seen as online gambling.
One thing that I see, is the end of the e-wallets as a form of funding any online gambling activity. The days of Neteller and alike are long gone, and most likely the unreliability of any future e-wallets which may come around to feel the gap would steer the gambling sites away from them and they would depend on in-house payment processing using electronic checks and credit cards.
And there will be a lot of publicity and scare tactics when the regulations come out. But the wimps are already gone, so there would be not much left to scare. Oh, I can see the PR machine wheels turning, but it's an empty mill they are running..
Anyhow, I was able to find all this information. If you are an online gambling website owner, who is dedicated to his business, wouldn't you do at least this much of research? Instead of running away just by hearing 'online gambling bill'? Most of the online gambling websites left the market the day after the bill was passed. Without taking time to analyze it and see what actually it is all about - don't judge a book by its cover, and don't judge a bill by its abbreviation. They just left the next day, their luggage long time packed, and left thousands of customers and partners in the dust. Why? So they don't have to actually do some work and find the legal way around it. This would have made their 'business' a little harder.
Because their business plan was 'let's make as much money as we can, while it lasts' and not 'let's build one of the best companies in the industry'. But there are empires currently build. Next year Forbes may add a few more folks from the online gambling sector to their list.
And we all learned a valuable lesson, and the gambling industry has become as clean as it has ever been.
Congratulations, you have just went through the NASDAQ-bubble-burst of the online gambling industry!
04-10-2007
Once you've joined an online gambling site, you'll need to fund your account if you want to gamble for real money. Adding funds to your account is known as depositing, and the process is very simple at most sites. It will vary a little from one site to the next, but typically you just need to follow some simple steps.
- Log in
- Visit the cashier
- Select your preferred method
- Enter the relevant payment details
- Enter the amount you wish to deposit.
You'll notice that the third step listed above is to select your preferred method. There are actually a number of different methods that can be used to get your funds online, and most sites offer you plenty of options in this area. Not all methods are available at every single gambling site, but you'll usually find at least one method that's suitable for you.
On this page we explain a little more about the most common deposit methods and how they work. It's worth familiarizing yourself with these so that you can decide which is the best way to deposit your money.
Depositing using a credit card or a debit card is very simple. It's also the most popular method among gamblers. Virtually every gambling site accepts credit and debit cards, although they don't necessarily accept every single type of card. Visa and MasterCard are usually fine, but American Express, Diners Club and other cards are not so widely accepted.
Credit and debit card deposits are typically processed instantly, so you can expect your funds to be available to use right away. At most sites, you'll be able to withdraw any winnings back to any card used to deposit with.
Please be aware that, although most USA gambling sites do accept card deposits, some card providers will block transactions.
Most gambling sites, including those in the USA, allow you to deposit via wire transfer (also referred to as a bank transfer). This is a good option in any of the following circumstances.
- If you want to deposit a large sum of money
- If you don't have a credit card
- If you don't feel comfortable submitting banking details online
Using this method is a simple matter of arranging a transfer from your bank account to the bank account of the site you wish to deposit at. You'll obviously need to request the relevant bank details first, unless the site publishes that information, and you'll probably be asked to include a specific reference number on your transfer. Once your transfer is received, the funds will be added to your online account. This doesn't necessarily happen instantly though, as there may be a processing period.
E-Wallets
An e-wallet is a bit like an online bank account. E-wallets are generally very easy to setup and fund, and you can then use them to spend your money at any online outlet where they're accepted. Atlantic city casino revenue may 2019. They can be very useful for gamblers, particularly those who use a number of different sites and are frequently depositing and withdrawing from them.
There have been many e-wallet services come and go over recent years, but a few have been around for a while. There are three in particular that are very popular.
- PayPal
- Neteller
- Skrill (previously known as Moneybookers)
Unfortunately for American gamblers, neither Neteller nor Skrill accept US customers and PayPal does not allow gambling transactions in the US. If you live elsewhere though, then you should seriously consider using one, or more, of these for your deposits.
The use of prepaid vouchers and virtual credit cards has become noticeably more widespread over the years. These are good options for the following people.
- Those who do not have a credit card
- Those who do not have an e-wallet
- Those who live in the United States
The basic concept is pretty simple – you buy a pre-paid voucher or card for a fixed amount and can then use that voucher or card to make your deposit. You can't usually withdraw using this method though.
There are several different types of prepaid vouchers and cards that can be used at gambling sites. The ones that are most widely accepted by gambling sites are Pasteandpay (which can be used in the USA), Ukash and Paysafecard.
You can use money transfer services such as Western Union to deposit at some sites, although the number of them offering this option has decreased a little over the last few years. Depositing in this way is simple enough, but the exact process will vary from one site to the next. It's a decent option if you're in the United States, particularly if you don't have a credit card.
Using checks is a very straightforward way to add funds to your account. You simply have to post a check and, once it is cleared, the relevant amount will be credited to your online account.
However, as gambling sites use encryption processes when processing online transactions, this is not really an issue. It's not a particularly popular option due to the time it takes, but it's available at many sites nonetheless.
Before we finish this article, here is a small selection of questions that we are frequently asked about depositing at online gambling sites. The answers to these questions follow.
This is probably the question we are asked the most, but there isn't really a definitive answer. There are advantages and disadvantages to all the methods listed on this page, so it ultimately comes down to whichever method works best for you.
Depositing online is perfectly safe, with one proviso. You should only ever deposit funds at gambling sites that you know are reputable and trustworthy. Most sites are reliable, but you must make sure. If you need help with this, we'd suggest simply stick to the gambling sites that we recommend. You can be absolutely certain that they can be trusted.
You can deposit pretty much whatever amount you want to. Sites do generally have minimums and maximums, but these are low enough and high enough respectively to suit the vast majority of gamblers.
It's rare for gambling sites to charge fees on deposits, but not completely unheard of. You'll usually get a warning before completing a deposit if you are going to be charged a fee, or you can always check with customer support.
One thing to watch out for when using credit cards is that they may consider a gambling transaction to be a cash advance. This means they'll charge a fee on the transaction, and the rate of interest may be higher too.