Circa 2002 (back when it was the wild west & anything went) I had my 1st online gambling run.
After hitting the bar (GWI/Gambling While Intoxicated/what the hell, that's what I do at the bricks & mortar casino
![Wink](http://www.eccie.net/images/smilies/wink.gif)
) I signed up. Got a match play bonus. I think I paid $250 on a credit card and got $500 in play. I put $100 a piece on a couple of football games for the next day and with about $300 left I went over to the blackjack table. Sure I was skeptical. Let me win a few hands....then they'll screw me over
![Laughing1](images/smilies/modern/laughing1.gif)
![Laughing1](images/smilies/modern/laughing1.gif)
Well half an hour later I'm up $6k. I went to bed. Woke up the next morning not sure if it was real or not
![Ablow](images/smilies/modern/ablow.gif)
![Ablow](images/smilies/modern/ablow.gif)
It was
![Innocent](images/smilies/modern/innocent.gif)
![Innocent](images/smilies/modern/innocent.gif)
So decided to request $5K of the 6ish. I figured I'll believe it when I see it. A minute later I get an email with a FedEx tracking number. Two days later I got a check for $5K (that didn't bounce)
Didn't win either of the football plays...oh well not bad for an hour's work, even for an HDH
After that I probably gave back a grand or so. I quit betting with them after my credit card company caught on to them and started charging me cash advance fees with them. With a casino, at the time, 30 minutes away, the cash advance fees pissed me off. For a couple of years they still sent me birthday gifts, x-mas gifts, it's thursday gifts...some of it was nice stuff...set of poker chips, luggage, golf balls...
The best solution I've found if you aren't worried about short term cash flow particularly if you travel to London once or twice a year, is to fund an account while there, wager on line and then whenyou go back add or subtract from the account as necessary (hopefully subtract!!!). I assume something similar can be done by having a trusted friend there (or anywhere gambling is legal) that can facilitate your account, although I haven't tried that.
From what I can tell the US is just going after the places in Banana Republics and leaving the European places alone as long as they play by the rules (not sending proceeds directly to the US)
As an aside, I've always stayed away from Poker. Too vulerable to scams (e.g. players colluding) even if the casino is legit.