Owdhamer

Just tried to log on to my Betfair account (opened in the UK & connected to a still active UK bank account) as I wanted to place a £2 bet on the British Open Golf.

Get a big red warning message telling me that 'Our software detects that you are trying to place a bet from within the United States. Betfair are now unable to accept bets from inside the United States'.

Apparently this is mainly due anti-internet gambling bill voted throught the House of Representatives last week.

LAND OF THE FREE!

What a ****ing joke!

'Land of the god-fearing right wing republican moralisers' would be much closer to the mark.

Ironic that I can walk into Wal-Mart with my photo ID and buy a small machine that is designed to KILL people, but if I want to stick a small fun bet on the last day of the Open Golf tomorrow, then I am a criminal.

If I could leave this ****wit country I would be on the first plane home (one way ticket) tomorrow. But family commitments dictate I have to stay in Taliban America.

Lucky me!

Lord Lionheart

Would it be fair to say you are a tad upset that you can't have your 2 quid flutter? PMSL

gruffbrown

Yep, the Wire Act will get ya every time. There's no kickback involved, that's the problem

Gambling

Ray

Coffepots kill very few people ...

Bob

log on via a free proxy that is UK based and then the site won't know your in the US and you'll be sorted....it's how the poker bots get around it and all that fun stuff....you'll find a ton on how to do it searching the search looking to get radio/footie streams online, as well as google being your friend.

Sarah

so did someone from the GOP actually come round and do you up the asshole?
I hear the Republicans love a bit of backdoor brokeback action

jen_andreson

Same thing happened to my brother who was visiting us fr London. First he asked where the bookies was and we had to remind him that there is no corner Ladbrokes, and then he tried online.

I'll tell him about the free proxy tip-thanks for that!

BigDavyG

The thing is that the wire act doesn't explicitly cover on-line gambling, nor has it ever been tested in a court of law.
The betfair ban is as a result of the arrest of the md of another off-shore firm whilst he changed planes last week on the way to Costa Rica in typical sh*t-bag underhand yank fashion.
On many occasions british and off-shore based firms have asked the US authorities for licenses so that they could pay tax, etc and then advertise more heavily in the US - these requests have always been refused. Ironically the US have now charged this md with tax evasion (he wants to pay tax you edjits) and racketering (for which a successful conviction would depend on the US authorities being able to prove that he has actually violated the wire act). Unless the judge presiding over his case is extremely politically motivated I cannot see how a successful conviction could be obtained.
In the meantime betfair have stopped taking bets whilst they consider their position which should take a few weeks (sorted in time for the footie season hopefully).

Interestingly the US have tried to ban things in the past but were reported to the world trade organisation by Antigua - home to many gaming companies. The WTO found in Antigua's favour but in typical fashion the yanks ignored the ruling.

As for why they are clamping down now - well in an election year the republicans are seeking to cover up for their many f**k-ups by targetting gamblers, gays (gay marriage) and scientists (stem-cell research).

Now that I've rambled for long enough, if you really want a bet call betfair and do it by phone or open an account with betdaq - the liquidity ain't as good as bf and you'll have to call them when opening an account once they clock your US ip. Their position is that you can bet from the US but that yanks themselves can't bet on their site - I believe that legally this is the correct position to take.

Personally I'll just be taking a break for a few weeks.
If you want more details pm me, and be lucky

BigDavyG

Oh, and whilst I'm on a role here the british md I mentioned above appeared in court for his bail hearing in an orange jump suit shackled by the hand and foot, linked to other prisoners including rapists.

In fairness he only has himself to blame - his company should have paid off a few congressmen and he would have been sorted

coffee or tea?

Do you think that trying to or having placed a bet online with these and other sites, say poker sites would appear in an FBI background check? I'm thinking of people applying for green cards and citizenship.

And on the question of is it leagal or not, what would one say on the citizenship application when asked about illegal gambling? Having played poker online in the past, not thinking it was illegal or anything I checked no. As far as I was concerned I will not gambling illegally. Was I?

Bob

think of it on the lines of, do you claim to have been speeding?

coffee or tea?

OK but would that kind of activity turn up on an FBI background check?

Just Jenney

CLASSIC SNAP!!! Thanks for the laugh!!!

~ Jenney

Bob

probably illegal activity....

coffee or tea?

But how would they find out? You think the websites or the banks forward the credit card details of all the gamblers to the FBI? That is one hell of a lot of information to go through.

I personally don't see how they would find out, but there again I'm sure they have ways.