Are U.S. gambling portals safe?

[Thatchatch]

Are U.S. gambling portals safe, in these days of doubt?


The Wizard’s not concerned.


The Wizard of Odds, in his monthly newsletter, tackles the topic. Michael Shackleford, an American resident himself, whose popular site has done away with advertising other venues, and now promotes only BoDog on the entirety of his site; here’s what he had to say:

“I consulted with several attorneys and they tell me it's not illegal to carry advertising for online gambling, so we'll continue to carry Bodog's ads. It isn't my intention to flaunt the law, I simply don't think I'm breaking it, because I don't see anything in it that prohibits advertising”.

Furthermore, he continues to openly express his disapproval of the prohibiting law: “I stand in strong opposition to this law and any law limiting freedom to do as you wish, as long as you are hurting nobody but yourself. I'm proud of Bodog for keeping their doors open to U.S. players and am happy to keep them on as our only advertiser.”

The last time I tried that “do as you wish, as long as you are hurting nobody but yourself”, was as in a plea to an O.P.P. officer who was going to write me a ticket for not wearing my seat belt: it didn’t work. : [

Seriously, most players, and affiliates alike will no doubt will find some comfort in Michael’s words, especially that they involve some legal advice.

All that we can do is hope that he’s right, and that sites such as ours won’t become plunking targets of overpaid people that'd be better off playing tiddly-winks, or researching the holy scriptures to find a passage that could be interpreted as "poker is bad for your soul" or such.



With regards,

[bartongrl1]

As I posted before, this Illegal Gambling Law that was passed should be put in laymans terms stating exactly what, as players, we can and cannot do.

As it stands now, the bill was passed, but there doesnt seem to be much information out there on the darned thing. What gives?

Any ideas who to contact to find out the real facts on the matter.

There you go Thatch, theres a possible article for you to research. Let us Americans know what the dickens this whole thing really does mean as far as our rights as online gamblers go.

[mountmysack]

we have been playing on the net for quite some time, first place the gaming club, my experience has been nothing but losing since feb of this year. They should make every single online gaming site illegal. Just think of all the lives this has effected. Hell I got for sales, and the officer said hey if you want to screw up your life go ahead, but dont screw up everyone elses. One of the sites in question is right up on your home page, grand monaco, frank thompson, what a ripoff site that is.

[bartongrl1]

Well, I have been gambling online and off for a good many years. One thing I have noticed is that I have winning streaks and losing streaks. Unfortunately the losing streaks out last the winning ones by a great deal of time.

As far as effecting peoples lives, yes gambling can become an addiction but there is help for that. The main thing is to set a limit as to what you can afford in a set amount of time, say a month, and stay within that limit.

I have a couple of online casinos that I trust implicitly and those are the only ones I play at. Always check out a casino you wish to play at BEFORE playing.

And be sure to read the terms and conditions before playing, in fact making a copy of them may be a good idea.

One thing to remember about gambling online or at land based casinos, there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and no we wont always win but then thats why its called gambling. Its all about chance.

[regulationsusa]

I am no attorney but I used common sense when reading and here is whats illegal under old laws I have not researched the new law yet but this old law in my opinion should give affiliates something to worry about and when the port act goes into effect even more to worry about.

Hanaway's office sued Vulcan Sports Media Inc., which owns The Sporting News, alleging that from the spring of 2000 to December 2003, the latter had accepted paid print, Internet and radio advertising for Internet and telephonic gambling services, and that its advertising reached U.S. audiences. In January 2006 the Sporting News agreed to a $7.2 million settlement with the U.S. government to resolve the matter. In 2004 in St. Louis sports radio stations KFNS-AM, KFNS-FM and KFRT-AM paid $158,000 to settle allegations that they too had promoted illegal online gambling.

Action taken against online gambling portals
In a lesser known case, but one that goes to the very heart of the online advertising debate, Nicholas Drakos, who hosted a Web site known as Frosted angel nightlight, frosted angel fiber optic, angel frame nightlight that provided bettors with instructions on how to set up accounts with offshore sportsbooks, was arrested in April 2004 after assisting undercover detectives in placing bets on his Web site and charged with promoting gambling, conspiracy and money laundering between January and April of 2004. Drakos was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 90 days on a manual labour program and three years' probation for illegally promoting gambling. County Assistant Prosecutor Melanie Smith said that under state law, a person is guilty of promoting gambling when he or she knowingly engages in conduct that "...materially aids any form of gambling activity."

A clear warning one might think to the many Stateside online gambling affiliate websites. But in truth none of them seem to have cut back on their activities in the wake of the judgement. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 will certainly make things more precarious for such individuals.