The US authorities have also been very active in blocking out advertising opportunities for online poker rooms, despite any clear legislation backing up these policies. The US government has been sued for its allegedly unlawful practices of threatening companies taking online gaming advertising as they are not breaking the law.
The opponents to online gambling argue that it lead individuals to compulsive gambling and debt problems. Also the anonymity of online gambling makes it possible for under aged persons to gamble, for example by using their parents' credit card. At a casino there is greater control and much harder for under aged people to gamble. However, the argument falls quite flat as there are many offline venues offering gambling/wagering without much control and gambling problems have not proved more likely in an online environment.
Importantly, poker is clearly a game of skill, which sets it apart from most type of wagering and gambling. In classical casino games such as roulette and black jack it is virtually impossible for the player to gain an edge to be a consistent winner. Poker as a skill game, or sport, may well affect legislation concerning online poker. But still the climate in Washington D.C. seems to be moving against online gambling. In October 2002 the US House of Representatives approved the Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act (HR 556), which purpose is to outlaw credit card usage, electronically transferred funds or other instruments used to pay for online gambling. During the last couple of years most major credit card companies, and also PayPal, have decided to block online gambling transactions. Instead many people use the Canadian-based company NETeller. Transfer from NETeller to the poker rooms are instant and free of charge. Transfers from the poker rooms to NETeller are also free of charge, but it might take up to 72 hrs before the money is in the NETeller account.
For most European citizens it is legal to play poker online. If the poker room is operating with a European gambling license, any profit is completely tax-free for the European player. If the poker room is operated with a non-European gambling license it is not clear whether or not profits are tax-free.
A remote danger of playing online is the risk of the poker room going bankrupt, not paying out the players holdings. A way to reduce the risks involved is simply to cash out often and then deposit again if needed. This is also an incitement to play at the more established poker rooms whenever you are playing for any kind of serious money. The likelihood that one of the bigger poker rooms would be going bankrupt is very small, as the industry is highly profitable and if a player would face bankruptcy it would naturally get bought up by an external party that would take over operations and honor player holdings.
End Of Tax And Legal Issues |
