Legal Loophole Offers Hope against UIGEA

You will probably recall that, in an earlier article, a number of prominent US authorities expressed the view that despite the recent implementation of the hated UIGEA legislation, the nation’s online gamblers are likely to be largely unaffected if they so choose.

The legislation does not ban online gambling outright but rather directs banks not to process transactions that they believe could involve transfer of funds to online gambling providers. In the meantime many states are permitted to license the sale of lottery tickets and sports betting, which they appear to regard as a less of a moral infringement than playing cards or video poker on the internet.

Now, the State of New Hampshire has found a glaring loophole in the system that will allow its citizens to return to cyberspace for their thrills and to do so without fear of breaking the law.

Because the law addresses only banks and payment processing the State will now undertake to sell a new form of physical ticket, similar to that issued for the lottery but with one big difference. The ticket will act as a voucher that may be redeemed at online casinos and poker rooms that participate in the scheme.

Each ticket carries a unique code number that the purchaser will be asked to type into the payment interface of the online gaming outlet. This simple action will result in the online account of the player being immediately credited with the equivalent in available funds for play.

This clever legal workaround also means that players will not need to expose their credit card details to an online gambling outlet but that, instead, they may be purchased for cash or by credit card in denominations of up to $100 from trusted State lottery outlets. The State is also said to be providing the option to obtain the lottery tickets online.

The new project has been christened “PlayNowNH” by its creators and the first lottery tickets are due to go on sale to the public next month. Just as in the case of the traditional lottery and sports betting operations, prospective players will need to be 18 years old or over to buy tickets.

The newly legal internet punters will have a reasonable portfolio of games to choose from with slots, poker and speed bingo on offer initially and, no doubt, much more to follow.

This smart move by the New Hampshire administration is likely to attract the interest of other states and could very well constitute an opening of the floodgates that could provide a brand new headache for the nation’s lawmakers and maybe a heart attack for one or two of its “Granny Grundys” also.