Poker Forum

I wonder how this will affect the poker economy. A large number of players have been drawn to sites like PokerStars and FullTilt especially because of their WSOP opprotunities. Is Harrah's seeing something in the UIGEA that the rest of us are not? I didn't think that the bill affected the players, only the financial institutions engaged in the money transfers.

Internet players will just have to receive the money and sign up for the events themselves.

i play at fulltilt, and im not worried. winners of big event satellite seats will simply receive the full cash equivalent of the prize package and register at the tourney on their own...big deal.

Well, the bill doesn't affect the players directly but, if you read one of the clauses in the bill, it now makes it illegal for any company or individual to accept monetary compensation from an online gambling site that isn't "directly" related to the gambling that occured. Although the satellite entries into the WSOP would probably be considered direct gambling winnings, Harrah's probably won't take the chance because they don't want to be implicated in anything that will cause them to have problems with the government. It's a shame but, the sites will end up just giving out "cash" payments and having the players register and pay themselves. Different method, same results.