US Online Poker Still Thriving
Over the past several years, the enjoyment of poker has surged in the North American region. The cause of such growth is attributed to the expansion of Internet poker and television networks such as ESPN broadcasting the annual World Series of Poker. Millions of Americans have joined online poker rooms.
The legal status of American poker online was ambiguous. But on September 29, 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was passed. This law made it illegal for Internet gambling sites to transact with US banks. During this time, PartyPoker.com was by far the biggest poker room on the Internet. However, on October 2, 2006 PartyPoker announced that it would suspend all US operations.
However, not all online rooms closed their doors to American poker online. Two up and coming sites were Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. Soon after the UIGEA was passed, PokerStars.com released a statement to their customers. They said that they didn't believe that the law affected them and that they were committed to their customers.
A debate that perhaps will never die is whether or not poker is game of skill or a gambling game. PartyPoker.com apparently decided it was a game of chance and abandoned the US market. PokerStars.com took the stance that poker was a skill game, and therefore the law did not apply to them.
The result is that Poker Stars is now the #1 online poker site in the world with thousands of players making a poker deposit every day. During peak hours, over a quarter million people can be found at the tables. This is far more than even PartyPoker had at the best of times. FullTiltPoker is also doing extremely well and averages about 100,000 people online at a time. It appears that even with the passage of the UIGEA, the rise in poker popularity has not ceased. Commercials advertising a Full Tilt or PokerStars download can even be seen on TV.
Anyone wanting to get their feet wet playing poker should try playing some poker hands at one of the many popular US friendly poker sites. A large percentage of the online community still believe PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com to be the best US poker sites, though.
