Easy question. Tricky answer.
What do we know?
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We know that it IS NOT illegal in the United States to PLAY poker online. This question was directly asked in the house and eventually the federal prosecuter had to give a straight answer. No players have ever been prosecuted.
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We know that it IS illegal in the United States to OFFER AND RUN poker play for money online. This is why all poker sites are run offshore.
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As far as I know though NO AFFILIATE has ever been prosecuted for offering poker yet. In this case google and microsoft “agreed” to this $31m settlement rather than try to actually test the law in court.
It was simply “chump change” for these organisations – and the cheapest option. Corporates are good at working out the costs.
So I think that we still don’t know about affiliates status – but if big companies don’t want to fight it – then it doesn’t sound good for the little guy.