Congress passed a bill last month designed to stop Americans from betting on offshore gambling sites. For the most part, the Web sites run legally in foreign countries, Erlingsson reported. What is illegal is allowing Americans to play and bet on them. With the recent boom of gambling in the states, Americans make up the biggest portion of the Web sites' business. Most sites are based in Europe or the Caribbean islands, and players use their credit cards to bet. The new law will prohibit U.S. banks and credit card companies from processing gambling transactions, essentially killing the lifeline of online gambling. Many people -- including some in the Bay Area -- are addicted to the games. "I would probably get off work at 3:30, and I would play at least five hours," gambler Dwight Nakatsu said. The 30-year-old said he was an online poker addict. "Yes, I can say I was addicted, because I would have to go home and I would turn on my computer and would have to play," Nakatsu said. After more than a year of nearly daily poker playing, Nakatsu stopped last week. Knowing the president will likely sign a bill prohibiting online poker, Nakatsu cashed out his account, saying he didn't want to take a chance on the account being frozen.
Michael Bolcerek, president of San Francisco-based Poker Players Alliance, said eliminating gambling sites by banning credit card transactions would just push the game underground.
"If there's demand, you'll find a supply, and you'll find ways that are not traceable, and you'll find people who want to play poker and want to gamble," Bolcerek said. "They'll find a venue to do that."
Supporters of the law said the problem is that there are already too many venues.
More than 2,000 gambling sites exist, making it too accessible for addicts and too easy for kids to play, supporters of the law said.
Some people advocate regulation and taxation of online gambling.
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