US bans online gambling

In a very surprising series of events, the US has banned internet gambling. Hidden within the pages of a "Safe Port Act" they have made it illegal for banks and financial institutions to transfer money to online gaming sites. This primarily is affecting the online poker industry which has seen a massive uprising in the past couple of years.

It seems you can't turn on the tv these days without seeing coverage of some sort of poker event. Then at every commercial there are adds for all sorts of different online poker sites.

This new law will make it extremely difficult for these businesses which rely heavily on the patronage of US residents. Here's an article describing what's going on:

Royally Flushed

To see that the stocks for some of these companies take such a downward swing is crazy. I recall reading many articles about people encouraging the purchasing of stocks related to online gaming as a direct result to the ever increasing popularity. Any of those folks that listened are now in a world of hurt. Not too mention the thousands of people who play poker online professionally for their livelihood.

People are already finding ways to bypass the new legislation, but it still is going to put a massive damper on the online poker boom. A sad, sad week for online poker.