What is so bad about online bingo in the USA

The way the US government has handled the whole fiasco starting from the 1961 Wire Act up to the UIGEA still leaves me gawping in shock and amazment. For citizens in the land of the free, where the 5th amendment is used daily in courts all over the land, what is the big deal about online bingo, online poker or even online casino games?

Online bingo is my thing, it keeps me going. And if I want to play online bingo there’s nothing stopping me, as a British citizen. However if you happen to live in the good old USA it’s another matter entirely. My question is why?

America gave birth to the internet and the dot com boom, and a whole new industry was born. Gambling has always been an inherent part of our nature, and online bingo is just one facet of that.

I tune in and drop out in the evenings and at weekends to play my favourite online bingo games. It’s harmless, you can play for hours on pennies, or if you’re really good at keeping a schedule you can get by on just playing free bingo games without having to spend a penny of your own!

I’m just trying to imagine the uproar it would cause if Gordon Brown suddenly turned round and declared it illegal to play online bingo - he would be lynched! There’s no way anybody’s going to tell me I can’t play bingo online. No way Jose!

Written by Bingo Lady

UIGEA hearings updates

The controversial and downright destructive piece of anti-online gambling legislation known as UIGEA is to get its day in court in the form of a US Congressional hearing into its continued viability.

As those in the bingo online community who have been following this blog know, the online bingo games industry was hit hard by the arrival of UIGEA in late 2006 with many online bingo halls having to exit the US market to avoid legal issues with US authorities. UIGEA seeks to disrupt the financial transactions between online gaming operators and US-based customers.

The April 2 hearing looking at the practical implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (UIGEA) gives our industry a perfect opportunity to educate US legislators as to the destructiveness of UIGEA. I hope that those in the US fighting UIGEA take this opportunity to really put a spoke in the UIGEA wheel and promote a more favourable solution along Barney Franks’ proposals.

Let’s see what happens over this week before we get our hopes up, but at the same time let’s hope this hearing heralds a return to sanity in the US online gaming market.

Written by Bingo Lady