so are we allowed to charge a membership fee to our website and have a free poker game on our website and then have monthly tournaments or something ??? then they are not gambling on the site... well i appreciate all your information
Insert standard "I'm not an attorney" clause here. Some quick google'ing says that you can't. It's not a matter of money passing hands via the games but for example: http://www.gambling-law-us.com/Federal-Laws/internet-gambling-ban.htm I was going to write my impressions of what I just read but I think you can do the same. I'm looking at the wording "passing of money between accounts" myself.
Insert "okay i understand you are not an attorney" clause here so basically just for talking . .. this is my plan basically i have a poker site, and i want to have a "newsletter" well in order to get my newsletter you must pay 4.95 a month. And then I would have as what is known as a FREE ROLL tournament where it is FREE to enter but you have the chance to win REAL CASH ! so the bettors are just playing for fun they are not actually betting real money IE gambling . . . PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, I THINK THIS IS INTERESTING ! ! MY POKER FACE - - > < - - MY POKER FACE !
You aren't going to be able to do this legally in the US. Any type of payment that allows you to get around anti-gambling laws is going to violate federal lottery laws. You have to allow anyone to play for free. If there is any type of charge in order to allow you to play, it is going to be illegal. If you allow anyone to play for free (no strings attached) then you are going to need to review laws governing sweepstakes - and in addition to Federal law, they vary by State and local law and you'll need an attorney to work this out.
wow what a big deal for something so small I appreciate your help, and will contact an attorney on monday and see what they have to say about my type of project then I will get back to everyone for the final say so . . . at least for my state anyways ! Well have fun and talk to you guys soon!
This is not a good idea at all. If it were so easy to circumvent the Wire Act then you'd see an abundance of sites offering "freerolls" only available to members paying through another avenue.
This thread pretty much dooms your effort. Be sure to mention to your attorney that you already posted publicly about how you are having people buy a sham "newsletter" so they can enter a freeroll - it will help him give you the correct advice that much more quickly.
I dont know I am not sure. But if money doesnt change hands, what is wrong with playing a game of poker or blackjack or something like that? How is it any different from SimCity or WOW?Gambling is just another fair way of how money transfers from one hand to the other right? Is the government trying to play moral police or thought police on the people's thoughts, deeds, words and actions?
How about all the USA Players on Fulltilt. Are they going to get arrested? I know of several cop friends playing poker online..etc
Maybe reading the link I provided as it defines "bet", "gambling" and what's not covered as such would have been helpful.
actually no money would change hands for the ENTIRE GAME PLAY ... you play for fun... and then the winner of playing for fun gets like 500-1000 dollars... I am still going to speak with an attorney, I just havent found one and I have a TON of websites that I own that I have to build so when I get to the E's then I will find more information out about this specific site.
Just host the site offshore in another country that gambling sites are legal, register an LLC in a state like Nevada, and then purchase a domain from NameCheap.
If you host a site in another country where gambling is allowed, then you are safe. You can use different payment processors to accept payments without running into issues as well, as paypal and other popular processors don't allow gambling. You were wrong there. Sorry, bud.
Just because you type the words does not mean they are correct. You obviously have no idea how the law works in the United States. It okay, you are free to think what you want, but I will red rep you if you continue to give incorrect legal advice in this forum.