The U.S. Outlaws Online Gaming, but Some ..

The U.S. Outlaws Online Gaming, but Some Web Casinos Plan to Stay in the Game

WASHINGTON -- The party's over at PartyPoker, but PokerStars is still open for action.

Dozens of online casinos and millions of American gamblers, confronting a new federal law that makes what they do illegal for the first time, are angry, sad and reassessing their options.

President Bush turned what had been at worst a legal gray area into a criminal enterprise when he signed legislation Oct. 13 that bans financial institutions from making payments on behalf of Americans to offshore online casinos.

The law bans players from using credit cards, direct deposit, online transfers, physical checks and virtually any other means to pony up funds for online gambling...

..The ink was barely dry on the bill when industry leaders PartyPoker, 888.com and BetonSports said American deposits would no longer be welcome on their sites. All three are legitimate British companies that are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange...

Here's what some online casinos said about their plans in e-mails and Web postings last week:

"PokerStars will continue to offer its services to players from the U.S. Players may continue to play on our site as they did prior to the recent developments."

Bodog.com: "We have currently not made any changes to our business and will continue to provide our customers with the best gaming experience we can offer."

PokerRoom.com (Based in England, it offers poker): "...will no longer accept any new U.S.-resident customers for our real money gaming products, effective immediately."

HollywoodPoker.com (Based in St. Kitts): "Normal play will continue for approximately 30 days while we monitor any new developments surrounding this new legislation..."