Legality of UltimateBet in PA

[labergen]

I recently set up an account at UltimateBet.Com, but I came across some info in the Help Section that I'm confused by; in response to a question, it says "Yes! Play is restricted to individuals 21 years of age and older, and who are residents of jurisdictions where the use of this site is not prohibited by law. Minors are strictly forbidden to sign up, play and/or use any credit card on this site." Does anyone know if it's legal to play at this site if the player lives in Pennsylvania, where I live? Also, any suggestions on methods to use to fund my account; for example, credit card, or some other service? Thanks.

[lunchmeat]

Online poker in America is in a sort of legal gray area. I don't think anyone has ever been prosecuted for playing online poker and from what I've read it's generally considered legal on a federal level. Some states, however, have outlawed internet poker. Whether or not PA is one of them I do not know, but I'm 99% sure that no one has been prosecuted for one of these state laws either. I wouldn't worry about being arrested either... it's not like you're commiting serious crimes like downloading The Collected Works of Metallica from kazaa.

Fund your acount by going to neteller.com and setting up an acount with them. Neteller allows you to transfer money for free from your bank acount to a poker site... Yes, it's safe.

Lastly, if you're new to internet poker, the games at Ultimate Bet are supposed to be relatively hard to beat. I can't tell you for sure, since I've never played there. But I definitely can tell the games at partypoker and pacific poker are comically loose/passive and therefore easy to beat. I'd advise going to one of those sites first.

Search through some of the threads here for more info about these topics.

[OnlinePlayer]

Although not LEGAL, online poker is also not ILLEGAL in any state in the US. Kind of a paradox, I know. Let me explain further.

Most likely, placing a bet is legal in PA. (Does the state permit race tracks or casinos?) So as a gambler, you're protected (sort of).

No state has yet passed a law banning internet gambling. Without direct prohibition, it's not "technically" illegal.

Further, most of the attention of any law enforcement agency who would want to stop it, would be to go after internet gambling websites. But, since the US government has no jurisdiction, they would be unsuccessful unless the site was based in the USA or the web owner turned himself in.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

My opinion - and that's all it is, an opinion - is as follows.

Technically, when you are playing online poker, the game (and with it the exchange of money between the players facilitated by the site) takes place on the server, not on the client. Thus, since the servers are located in Costa Rica (e.g.), your State government has no more right to tell you that you can't log on your computer to play poker in Costa Rica than it has to make it illegal for you to get in your car and drive to Atlantic City to play poker.

Plus there are certain assumptions of a right to privacy that prevents them from snooping into what you're doing on your computer.

Again, just my half-baked, libertarian opinion.

[GrannyMae]

Plus there are certain assumptions of a right to privacy that prevents them from snooping into what you're doing on your computer.

and then along comes the Patriot Act, rendering this statment obsolete.

[img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[MS Sunshine]

On Thursday, July 31, the ACLU will be hosting a live online chat discussing the FBI's broad new surveillance powers under the USA PATRIOT Act. Hear about the Fourth and First Amendment defects to a provision in the law that allows the government to obtain records or personal belongings from any person or entity, including public libraries, upon the mere showing of "relevance" to a terrorism investigation.

Ann Beeson, ACLU Associate Legal Director, will be answering questions about the USA PATRIOT Act from 1-2pm Eastern Thursday, July 31. Just visit www.aclu.org to join this important discussion.

[bull7]

Legislation is introduced into the U.s. Congress as well as many state legislatures every year. An outright prohibition has yet to pass anywhere to my knowledge. The federal government has tightened up considerably upon the transfer of funds however. It is reasonable to assume limitations will become even greater in the future, making deposits to, or withdrawing funds from internet sites increasingly more difficult. Any jurisdiction, be it state or federal, could pass laws requiring ISP's operating within their jurisdiction to block access to any category or group of internet sites. The cold reality is US law and regulations have not yet caught up to, nor addressed the many legal, social, economic and political issues posed by the creation and huge growth of the world wide web. I expect the issue of taxation to be the first widely addressed, with many more soon to follow.

[TimTimSalabim]

There's probably some FBI guy right now saying "Man, Tim's usually such a solid player, I can't believe he just 3-bet with Jack-ten suited".

[Hung]

[ QUOTE ]
Lastly, if you're new to internet poker, the games at Ultimate Bet are supposed to be relatively hard to beat. I can't tell you for sure, since I've never played there. But I definitely can tell the games at partypoker and pacific poker are comically loose/passive and therefore easy to beat. I'd advise going to one of those sites first.

[/ QUOTE ]

As a newbie it's better to start playing with the strong players. You'll learn more and after awhile you go to party/empire and clean the tables. If you go to party now you'll think that everyone has gone mad and you'll play like they do. Which is not good. You've to avoid trouble hands. And you can only learn to play tight if you play with the stronger players. UB is a good place to start. They have a lot of stakes and the site is a bit tighter then other sites. IMO of course.

[TomCollins]

Play against hard players to learn???? I am a relative newbie to Hold'em and I couldn't disagree more. Moving into tough games was the worst mistake I made. 1) I didn't have the bankroll for it. 2) My expirience was very little, and that kills you fast at higher limits.

If you have $500-1000 to burn, play hard games, but if you want to learn, start small and work your way up. This doesn't mean play 1-2 for 3 months then start playing 10-20. Small steps. Get the basics at $1-2. Then notice the differences on the bigger games, read up, and play that way. But even an expert who chooses to play at a harder game is no expert. The true expert will play with the fish every time, or at least, whatever game is the most profitable. If you want to learn from a big money game or from a tough game, WATCH.