MGS IP Bans are not just for people in banned states - you could be affected, too

[beaston]

Don't breathe a sigh of relief just yet - even if you're not in, or don't border any of these banned states, there's still a chance that you can be locked out of your Microgaming accounts.

The reason behind this is that Microgaming is using an imperfect method of Geolocation to determine where a player is physically located based on their IP address. The method they're using only has about an 80-90% accuracy rate.

For instance, I use what's basically a wireless modem from Verizon, so I can get online anywhere in America that I can get a signal from them; from any computer that I plug it into (it's USB.) I can travel to any state, and my IP address is still assigned to that "range" of IP's that Verizon has allocated for this type of service.

In my case, even though I live in Pennsylvania, the registered address that Verizon has on file with ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers) is in New Jersey, which is a banned state. AllJackpots (Jackpot Factory group) emailed me several days ago and told me that in order to keep my account from being blocked, I'd have to send them a copy of my drivers license, which proves that I'm not in a banned state, so they could forward it to Microgaming. Their blocks went into place yesterday, and apparently I'm in the clear now, because I can still log into my account.

I've heard reports of people that live in Texas, but yet the state their IP address is registered to is in Missouri.

OrgName: Cellco Partnership DBA Verizon Wireless
OrgID: CLLC
Address: 180 Washington Valley Road
City: Bedminster
StateProv: NJ
PostalCode: 07039
Country: US

To see if you may be affected by this, follow these steps:

1: Visit www.whatismyip.com
- You will see a 4 sets of numbers, separated by a period. Copy this whole string.

2: Visit www.arin.net
- On the right hand side of this page, near the top, there will be a search box. Paste the string of numbers you just copied from the previous page into that box, and click "Search WHOIS."

Take note of the address that comes up and compare the state that's listed with the list of banned states. If it matches, contact every MG casino you have an account with and tell them that your IP may trace back to a banned state, and ask them if you need to send in [scanned] documents to prove that you live in a non-restricted state. In this case, it's better to be safe than sorry.

If anyone has any questions or problems, let me know. I'll be glad to help.

fwiw, here's a picture of my 'modem'