In September of 2006, Congress passed the SAFE Port Act, which contained what has come to be known as The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. It was signed into law by President Bush in October of 2006. The Act is incredibly vague and due to distinct differences between federal law and the law of individual states, the lines are extremely blurred. At its basic level, the Act prohibits the exchange of money between an online casino and paying U.S. customers.

Few casinos and companies are very clear on what, exactly, the Act means, but some of them – specifically those who have to answer to larger companies and particular those companies and casinos not located in the U.S. – have had to quit allowing players from the U.S. to play poker on their sites.

For most online poker, players in America, news of this Act told them one thing and one thing only: that they would no longer be able to access online poker rooms. However, online casinos and poker rooms in Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. are banding together to create a network of online poker sites which still accept players from the U.S.

Some sites will not and some sites cannot. If you have ever tried to sign up for an online poker game only to find yourself barred from joining and banned from playing, now you know why. This might only be a temporary turn of events but it does not seem that any new developments are forthcoming. The government simply wishes to ban people in the U.S. from exercising their rights and abilities to play in online poker rooms.

Not every casino is standing for this, however. Major brands are joining many networks set to allow people from the U.S. to play poker on their sites.

All you need to do is do a little research on the internet. Page after page after page of results pop up immediately – but hold on a second before you start signing up with any of them.

Make sure that you are joining a reputable casino. Most of the sites out there banding together to fight the new law make a point of guaranteeing that they are pointing you towards reputable sites with bonafide online poker rooms. With more and more major names joining the fight, you will not be forced to join a substandard game that may or may not be as legit as you would like.

It is the hope of everyone who enjoys online poker, as a hobby or as something more, that this Act will at least be made far less vague than it currently is. As it stands, some states are still barred from certain sites, but search a little longer, and you will find there is refuge out there. For certain, if Congress and the President cannot make themselves perfectly clear to all affected parties, they do not need to have a law at all.