Americans can still play at PokerStars
 

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=23633

Risking legal and financial repercussions, the second largest Internet poker company in the world, PokerStars, has announced that it plans to continue operating in the U.S. even if the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act becomes law, according to the Independent.

The Act, which was recently passed by Congress and will become law if the President signs it, makes it illegal for payment processors to transfer money to gambling companies. However, PokerStars is arguing that the law doesn?t apply to them because poker is a skill-based game and not gambling. The company is taking a big legal risk; however, some see it as having no other choice. As much as 80 percent of PokerStars revenue is derived from the U.S.

If PokerStars is proven wrong, the Royal Bank of Scotland may be forced to discontinue its relationship of payment possessing with PokerStars in order to comply with the American law. Barclays has also said that it will continue to process transfers to gambling companies as long as the money doesn?t originate in the U.S.

Staff Reports - Free-Market News Network

I had heard of another company based in Antigua that was filing a lawsuit saying that this law breaks the NAFTA treaty and some other agreements set forth by the WTO. I would expect others to follow suit as well.

The WTO is fighting against the US ban for quite some time already, will be interesting to see how this all ends.

That's one of the problems with creating laws like this specific to one country.

Imagine every country had thier own gambling laws, 2257 laws etc... It would be impossible to be compliant with one law and not break another etc...