Grab your $30 Bingo Billy bonus NOW – Click here to PLAY!
It seems that good things are never set to last as according to sources inside Washington there’s going to be a hearing that could impose a federal ban on online gambling.
If this ban manages to be enforced we could see several years’ worth of work to legalize online gambling being flushed down the drain by a select few.
What’s Going On?
Although it’s not been confirmed, there are Washington insiders that are suggesting there’s a subcommittee currently working within the House Judiciary Committee that are trying to hold a hearing that could restore the American Wire Act.
For those not familiar, the American Wire Act is a piece of legislation that’s been designed to ban several elements of online gambling in the US. This ban is imposed at the federal level and would essentially overturn the Tenth Amendment that states that complete national control should be determined by individual states rather than one ruling body.
What Does This Mean for Online Bingo In the USA?
If this American Wire Act goes through, the online bingo USA market could be irreparably damaged or set it back a considerable amount.
For example, the online bingo market in the US is still relatively fresh with the first sites not initially appearing until 2010 in New Jersey when it was finally legalised. If it were to suddenly be throttled back now it would mean that it wouldn’t have the chance to really get going to eventually flourish and grow like the European market has since the late 90’s.
Also, if this legislation goes through it will be considerably harder for American players to find sites to play bingo online as the market could either shrivel up completely or just become extremely restricted.
Although there are some European sites you could try out, the majority of them don’t accept US based users. Plus, using a site outside the states isn’t exactly the most secure or safest option as there’s not guarantee they’re been strictly regulated and controlled, which isn’t reassuring to players.
One thing that it is worth noting about the Wire Act is that it might not necessarily ban current sites, but it will reduce or possibly stop new sites from appearing on the market.
This in turn will mean that the market could become stale as the innovation of providers to bring in new games or features will be restricted. Which, of course, is bad for bingo providers as it could lead to their players going elsewhere for their gambling fix.
There are rumours that this piece of legislation could be getting passed as a means of exerting some control over the US gambling industry.
If that’s the case we could see things like taxation on earnings from these games, a reduction in the types of games or offers available. Perhaps we could see a move away from privately owned sites to corporate brands or even government controlled websites, although, the latter is a bit of a stretch.
Regardless of what happens, the Wire Act, should it go through, will be incredibly detrimental to the US bingo market as a whole. Not only will it substantially weaken the sites we currently have, it will also push players away from these sites, which could ultimately cripple them, in the long run.
We might not even see the US online bingo industry recover from this at all. So until the Wire Act is ratified, we will just have to cross our fingers and hope it doesn’t do too much damage.
Check out bingo sites that accepts US Dollars. Read here.
