Re:Twitch finally takes action against gambling
by jtokoph on Wednesday September 21, 2022 @12:51PM
(#32927868)
Sites like pokerstars are regulated and legal in some US states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Michigan
Re:Twitch finally takes action against gambling
by Tenoke on Wednesday September 21, 2022 @01:23PM
(#32928332)
Sure, but only Americans are allowed to play on the sites allowed in the US. Some entities like pokerstars have seperate sites for the rest of the world but those are very much unapproved in the US, and thus only Americans can stream poker on Twitch from now on (and they make up a small amount of the streamers given the poor rules in the US for playing it).
Re:Twitch finally takes action against gambling
by robertlagrant on Wednesday September 21, 2022 @12:40PM
(#32927717)
Does poker count as gambling in the US?
Re:Twitch finally takes action against gambling
by DawsonBruce on Wednesday September 21, 2022 @01:17PM
(#32928234)
The UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) was passed in November of 2006, as part of the SAFE Port Act [0], which placed online poker into a legal grey area for most U.S. citizens. A lot of major poker sites withdrew from the U.S. market as a result.
The legality of both in-person and online poker varies from state to state.
[0]: https://www.beatthefish.com/us-poker-sites/uigea-unlawful-in...
Re:Twitch finally takes action against gambling
by mod on Wednesday September 21, 2022 @06:18PM
(#32932320)
> A lot of major poker sites withdrew from the U.S. market as a result.
That's a nice way to put it.
In reality, they all flaunted the (bullshit) law, and set up all kinds of phony businesses and things to process all the payouts, because banks wouldn't do gambling stuff. I got a check from a golf shop once. Then the feds went after them on fraud and similar charges, and shut down Full Tilt, Poker Stars, and Absolute. Seized domains and funds and stuff.
That's when they "withdrew from the U.S. market."
This effectively kills most poker streaming, no? The US only allows a handful of sites in their US-only version so any non-US citizens streaming are unable to even use the platforms that are approved there. I rarely but occasionally watch a bit of them as a cheap way to relive my poker days so I am not too happy about this.
Further, it seems like the problem was that a streamer was soliciting loans which doesn't have that much to do with whether US-approved gambling sites are allowed or not.