The UIGEA or Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is Title VIII of the SAFE Port Act of 2024. This is the result of the efforts of Senators Bill Frist, Robert Goodslate and Jim Leach.
According to this Act it is unlawful for any American financial institution to transfer funds to any online gambling site. At the same time, the Act does not include in its definition for ‘gambling’ online lotteries, fantasy sports and horse racing.
This is an effort to curb the addiction to online gambling in the US and prevent funds drain to offshore and other online casino/poker sites. It is an indirect measure aiming at regulating and controlling to a large extent the gambling of US citizens.
The direct impact of the UIGEA fell upon the online poker and casino sites because they could no longer accept players who were based in the USA because they could no longer pay their dues. A very important fact that needs to be highlighted here is that under the UIGEA, gambling per se is NOT illegal. What is illegal is transferring funds from any US based account to any online gambling site.
In other words, it does not prohibit US citizens from gambling online; this Act does not make gambling illegal. It does however make it quite difficult for an American citizen to make payment to these sites. Fortunately, there is a way around this problem. Most US based players are – as a result of the UIGEA Act – not able to pay their dues through any of their US-based bank accounts.
The best way around this problem is using credit cards (Mastercard and Visa are both accepted and legal instruments for payment for online casinos), prepaid debit cards and ePassporte among others. With a little research you will find a dozen or more ways to pay successful to these online casinos and gambling sites without directly using any US financial institution intervention. You can still stay legal and gamble till your heart’s content.
Most leading casinos and online gambling sites will be happy to assist you in finding the easiest way to deposit your money.
Most reputable casinos offer quality support personnel that can help you in any other way and point you in the right direction on getting your account set up and playing online.
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