Playing Poker Online If You Are American

Many people have tried it. Your neighbor, your teacher, your father, your son, or your friend may have tried playing online poker. Some have lost money, some have broke even, some have made snack money, some have made a living at it, and some people have gotten wealth doing it. I'm talking about online poker, specifically Texas Hold'em. But what you might not have heard or fully understand is the recent law that was passed in America. The UIGE Act (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement) was passed into law in the fall of 2006.

The law is trying to cut off access to gambling sites by making it a criminal offense for the betting and gambling industry to accept financial transactions from you. Playing poker online is not illegal for you (except the state of Washington due to prior laws), and you will not be thrown in jail or have fines imposed on you for doing so. You can still transfer money to and from sites even with this law in place! While some payment processors have left the market such as NETeller and FirePay, there still remain many processors that are able to deposit and cash out from internet gambling sites.

A major processor that still remains thru all of this is ePassporte (www.epassporte.com). They function just like NETeller did in the sense that you load money into your "virtual VISA" account and then from there can make purchases and spends into gambling websites or purchases from internet retailers. You can even pay your bills with them! (Hopefully with your winnings from poker) When you like to withdraw your winnings from a site that accepts ePassporte all you do is request the withdrawal from the site and they will send it your account. You then have access to your money and can get your money transferred to your bank account or make purchases with your "virtual VISA". Simple, efficient, and legal!

You will need to find a site that accepts American players. Here is a list of sites that accepts Americans according to a chart at USA Poker Online (http://www.poker-prop.net/usa-poker.html). Not all of them accept players from all states, so you will need to check out the site more in-depth to ensure you are eligible for registration. The two most popular sites are Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker.

Poker Stars - www.pokerstars.com
Full Tilt Poker - www.fulltiltpoker.com
Royal Card - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/royalcardclub.htm
Bodog - www.bodog.com
Sportsbook - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/sportsbook-com.htm
Ultimate Bet - www.ultimatebet.com
Absolute - www.absolutepoker.com/
Intertops - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/intertops.htm
Poker Host - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/pokerhost.htm
Carbon - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/pokercom.htm
Cake - www.cakepoker.com
Poker Time - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/pokertime.htm
True Poker - www.truepoker.com
Poker World - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/pokerworld.htm
Bugsy Club - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/bugsysclub.htm
Poker4ever - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/poker4ever.htm
Full Contact - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/fullcontact.htm
Poker Share - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/pokershare.htm
Dream - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/dreampoker.htm
Pitbull - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/pittbullpoker.htm
Crazy - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/crazypoker.htm
Wingows - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/wingows.htm
Golden Riviera - www.poker-prop.net/go-to/goldenriviera.htm

Good luck and hopefully I'll see you at the poker tables sometime soon!