There will be a new President and administration sworn into office January of 2009 and while everyone is waiting to see if President Bush pushes through any last minute bills, online casino players are extremely interested in seeing whether or not the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 becomes full blown, enforceable law.  However, there are some online casinos that are poised to jump into action, eyeing a return to the American online casino gambling markets.  Some of the biggest online casino operators are hoping that the new administration will set into motion moves to regulate online casino gambling in the United States instead of banning it all together.

In 2006, when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was put in place by the Republicans in Congress, the act was worded vaguely and was rushed to be into place.  The act stated that banks and other financial institutions were no longer allowed to legally accept any form of deposit from or request to transfer money to online gambling sites, which included online casinos and poker rooms.  Unfortunately, in the haste to get the act processed and approved, there was no clarification in the act as to how the banks and financial institutions would recognize what was and wasn’t a transfer to and from these websites.  The ruling also caused most online gambling sites to pull access from American citizens, one of the largest markets in the world.  For two years the government, online gambling sites, banks and financial institutions, states, and citizens have been fighting for some resolution to this issue.

So far, only a few things have happened towards an agreement with this issue.  The first thing is the state of California has taken steps towards regulating online gambling in an effort to allow their citizens to participate in the market without it being illegal.  The state lawmakers are working on this with positive results.  The second thing that has happened is some online casinos and poker rooms have reopened their doors to online gamblers in the states that have no rules against it, which is all but 11 in the nation, and have offered them alternate ways to fund their accounts.  Finally, the Treasury Department recently published new rules regarding the UIGEA that has basically stated that banks and other financial institutions must ‘tweak’ their agreement letter to clients and include rules and regulations surrounding the UIGEA.

Online casinos and poker rooms are hoping that proper regulations are put into place under the Obama administration, regulations that they hope will police the industry and allow American citizens to once again enjoy their services.  Many nations overseas have already proven that regulating the industry works and President-elect Obama has already stated that he intends to keep ‘Internet freedom from being violated by overzealous political figures’.

"With the Obama Administration, America has a group that is going to do the right thing by the online gambling community. How long that will take is yet unknown, but the reality is that it will get done. Once regulations are in place, online companies will once again re-enter the American market," said observer Bill Batsky.