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Online Poker Served Another Blow as US President Bush Signs Gambling Bill Into Law

It was announced by ABC News today that President Bush has signed the recently approved Port Security Bill. The Bill includes the Unlawful Internet Gambling which bans presumably bans online poker as well as online casino. Oblivious to the entire contents of the new Bill, Bush announced that, "We're going to protect our ports. We're going to defend this homeland, and we're going to win this war on terror". Apparently he didn't bother to read it through or wonder why an online gambling bill was snuck into a general terror-combating Port Authorities Bill, which might explain why he hadn't made any mention of the online gambling elements in the bill. True to their word, PartyPoker have set up an automatic screen which pops up before any potential US player stating that they are 'down for scheduled maintenance'. This popup may be placed indefinitely or will be replaced by other notifications to Party Poker players which will state that real money poker games are no longer available to players from United States.

Good News for US Poker Players - PokerStars to Continue Accepting American Customers

dismayed by the US Congress. In a recently released statement on its website, PokerStars.com declared it intends to keep accepting business from players residing in the United States in spite of the recently approved Bill. In its statement Poker Stars say that, "… PokerStars has received extensive expert advice from within and outside the U.S. which concluded that these provisions do not alter the U.S. legal situation with respect to our offering of online poker games. Therefore, our business continues as before - open to players worldwide including the US. You may play on our site as you did prior to the Act. PokerStars believes that poker is a game of skill enjoyed by millions of players and we remain committed to providing you a safe and fun environment in which to play. We value your loyalty to PokerStars, and look forward to continuing to serve you with the best online poker experience, as we have for the past five years, six billion hands, and 40 million tournaments." Among the companies that have already declared will accept US-based players despite the Bill PokerStars is by far the largest and most influential. Other well known online poker sites and companies include Full Tilt Poker, UltimateBet, Bodog, Absolute Poker and Doyles Room.