I currently play poker part time on Cake Poker right now. I used to play on Pokerstars and Full Tilt and did very well playing on those two. My question to you is when will this whole situation get situated? What is the update for online poker? Can we see a bright future for it?
Online poker in the USA will get regulated. It looks like the first licensed and regulated poker room to return to the US will be Party Poker / bwin with the irony that Black Friday was most likely spear headed by Party Poker. Full tilt is in a bad position and Pokerstars might get back in the market although if they do they will probably be expected to pay a very large fine.
When will this happen? It is likely within a year as Las Vegas casinos will be able to make money with this and Party Poker wants to get back to the US markets. Will it be a bright future? For affiliates they will always be able to make money but the commissions won't be anywhere near what they used to be when you factor in higher taxes. Professional poker players will be stuck in the middle as rakeback sites won't be able to offer the same deals which will result from these taxes. More taxes equals higher rake, less bonuses to players and smaller commission rate for affiliates.
What is the legal aspect of marketing gambling as an affiliate, with US as the target market. 1. Is it legal to, for example, be an casino affiliate focusing on the US market? 2. Do I as an affiliate bear any legal responsibility?
First thing before I give any advice or opinion is I am not a lawyer. That said I can at least say that there are no laws that state that advertising or promoting online gambling is illegal. There is a law that says the payment processing aspect of online gambling is illegal but for operators it is a grey area and for affiliates it isn't much of a problem unless you live in the state of Washington. Many American affiliates don't have problems but it is possible that when new gambling laws appear it could include people who do the marketing as well. Some eastern european countries such as Hungary have made it so you cannot promote online gambling unless those companies have a gaming license which the country currently does not have. There doesn't appear to be any legal responsibility towards affiliates but it is possible it could change. In the end it depends on your jurisdiction of residence and business. I highly doubt there will be any repercussions and if there was then think of all the affiliates and players who have used the refer-a-friend feature at bodog or full tilt.
Thank you for a very quick and great answer! I'm not a citizen of the US, and in the jurisdiction where I live it is legal to promote gambling. Though, I want to be able to travel to the US knowing I haven't done anything that's considered illegal. I understand the laws can change, but I think have a better understanding now so thanks again. Cheers
I was trying to advertise my website with AdWords but got rejected by Google, claiming that it falls into online gambling category. This suggests there are certain legal restrictions on advertising online casinos. BTW, my site never offered playing for money - just for fun/practice