Microgaming Bars US Players From Bingo Sites

The news comes just two weeks after the company announced that it would begin blocking US players from a list of 13 American states. The decision to enforce a blanket ban on all US players won't only affect internet bingo sites, but any online casino that runs Microgaming software. Existing players don't need to worry about having their accounts cut off, however – the ban only applies to new sign-ups and is effective from November the 10th.

Nor are Microgaming alone in this decision. Last week another major online bingo software developer Vegas Affiliates announced that they, too, will no longer be accepting any new registrations from US players. In a press release, Vegas Affiliates said that "while we find this a tough decision to make, we are excited at the same time with the opportunities that are in store as we now have a chance to focus entirely on the non-US markets."

The reason for Microgaming's decision to cut off the USA isn't particularly sudden, as a number of factors have been brewing in the past few months. The most obvious of these is the case underway in Kentucky, where a US Judge ruled that it was legal to seize the domain names of 141 online gambling sites – including some bingo sites - even though those sites aren't based in the USA.

Another key indicator is an ongoing challenge by the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, a piece of American legislation designed to curtail “unlawful internet gambling” that never defines what constitutes unlawful internet gambling. The US government recently filed a brief that makes it clear they aren't planning to rethink the law unless forced to do so.

None of this affects UK bingo or players from Europe, or anywhere else in the world, for that matter, but it's interesting to see such a big company making such a financially detrimental decision - the USA is a massive gaming market, despite the fact that the legality of playing is currently in question there.

Source : bingostreet.com