Internet poker players do not have anything to be worried about. The only time you would get in trouble with online poker in certain places would be if you possessed a poker website where gamers can play for real cash.
The long response
Online poker resides in a legal gray area in different places. There are no national laws that specifically outlaw the action. But some politicians have attempted to use the wire act to internet poker. There’s been much debate over online poker recently but so far, the best to play poker on the World Wide Web has withstood the test. Internet tarotqq has been a possibility for citizens since the late 1990s. Some players have played for years and years on the internet and there’s yet to be a case of a player being charged with playing poker online. The law is just too vague to make it a fantastic case for any player to be charged with a crime.
Though some countries most notably Washington State have legislation on the books against online poker, no player has been charged with a crime for playing poker online. Existing laws are just too vague and poker is popular for there to be a realistic probability of anyone actually getting in trouble for playing poker on the computer. In addition, public opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of internet poker so even the most overzealous DA would think twice before taking action against an internet poker player.
The UIGEA
The UIGEA, or Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, was signed into law in 2006. This act does not make online poker or online gambling prohibited. This act rather targets financial and banking institutions, demanding they identify poker and gaming transactions and prevent them. Up to now, banks have experienced extreme difficulty enforcing this act. Billions of transactions take place daily in the use and banks do not have the funds to identify individual transactions. In late 2009, the execution of this UIGEA was delayed for 6 weeks to allow for more discussion and to give banks more time to follow the law.
Up to now, the UIGEA have shown to be an impotent piece of legislation. The only effect the UIGEA has had is that occasionally credit card transactions to poker websites are blocked. In those situations, players simply pick a different deposit method and continue on as normal. US citizens have a right to do what they want with their own money in their own homes. It is perfectly legal to play poker at a casino setting so that it is tough to justify it being illegal to play online in the home.