Canadians Help Americans Fight US Poker Ban

(PRWEB) January 26, 2007 -- Since the Internet Gambling Bill came into law, there has been much confusion over what US based poker players can actually do. Lots of sites are still accepting US players, while others have stopped.

"Americans are not sure if it is still legal to play online or not", says Arif Khan, founder of PokerBandits.ca, "The law is really confusing at the moment, and many Americans think they can be prosecuted for playing online poker, which is not the case."

The law does not make it illegal to play online poker or gamble online, but does prohibit banks from conducting financial transactions with poker and other gambling related sites. As Arif explained, "You are safe to play online poker as long as you use a third party payment processor. All the law does is stop online poker sites from accepting direct money transfer from your US bank account".

Under the new ban, many online poker players have resorted to using third party payments processors like eWallet and Click2pay. Players have to deposit their funds into their eWallet accounts, and then use the eWallet services to pay when playing online poker. Initially created to make it easier to switch payments between gambling sites, these third party payments processors quickly gained notoriety after PayPal had stopped gambling transactions.

Poker fans in the US are already talking about a new era of prohibition similar to the 1930s. When asked about the effectiveness of the ban Arif tells, "This law will not stop Americans from gambling. If someone wants to play in an online poker game they will find a way. This law has alienated many online poker players and has pushed the entire online gambling community underground."

More information about the PokerBandits can be found by visiting:
http://www.pokerbandits.ca

Press Release - 2007-01-29 07:18:42