Online Poker Legalization

            If you are a poker player that may not be able to make it to the casino, then you may have at some point enjoyed this game on the internet. If you have played poker online, then you may also recall the significant date of April 15th, 2011, otherwise known as "Black Friday" to the online poker community. On this day, major online poker sites such as Full Tilt and Pokerstars were shut down and the online poker bankrolls of players in the United States were frozen (O'Brien 295). Recently, websites have been created and advertised that allow individuals to place bets on items such as fantasy football drafts and other various sporting outcomes. However, in the development of these websites that legally allow betting in the United States, online poker for real money remains illegal in most parts of the United States. In the wake of the recent developments of these websites where picking the outcomes of sporting events is considered a skill, online poker should be legalized because research shows that it is a game of skill as well (Hannum and Cabot 1).
             Currently, there are three statutes in place under federal law that makes internet gambling illegal. The first and most recent statute is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which is a law created in an effort to prohibit internet gambling. This law holds banks and credit card companies accountable by prohibiting wire or credit card transfers to gambling websites or to the banking institutions of the website operators. The second statute is the Travel Act, which carries penalties of imprisonment andor fines if a person uses any facility in interstate or foreign commerce with intent to distribute the proceeds of any unlawful activity. The third statute is known as the Wire Act which prohibits gambling website operators from using foreign or interstate wires to send or receive wagers or information that can be used for placing bets (D'Addario 1).