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The United States Senate has passed Port Security Bill which will not only increase security along all United States ports but will also makes it illegal for banks to allow online payments to be made to online gambling operations.

American banks now have 270 days, according to the Act, to work out a way to enforce the legislation. This might be ridiculously expensive to implement and then administer.

So what does the bill change for players?

The state of online gambling is exactly the way it was before for players - still in a grey area. It is no more illegal now than it was before the bill passed. Why? Because the bill does not include language that upgrades the 1961 Wire Act to include online gambling. It just seeks to make it much harder for Americans to finance their wagering.

“This last minute deal reeks of political gamesmanship. The American people should be outraged that Congress has hi-jacked a vital security bill with a poker prohibition that nearly three fourths of the country opposes,” said Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance.

“Congress has an opportunity to regulate and tax online poker leading to potentially billions of dollars in annual revenue for the federal government and the states. If the goal of Congress is to protect people from the possible dangers of gambling, a prohibition is the worst way of achieving it. All it will do is push poker underground, essentially creating online speakeasies, which will provide no protection for youths, no services for the problem gambler and leave only the most unscrupulous operators in the game.”

The sad thing about this act is that it will not stop individuals from gambling online, and it will not stop the unregulated annual flow of billions of US$ out to offshore companies instead of taxing that money in America.