Yahoo Goes Live With Real-Money Poker Site

Yahoo Poker, a real money online poker room, was launched by Yahoo, the search engine and internet service provider.

Yahoo’s partner in this venture is Gibraltar based St. Minver Ltd. Yahoo Poker will run on the International Poker Network (IPN), a site offering both poker rooms and sportsbooks. Yahoo Poker plans to market to the European poker market. US based players will not be able to play at Yahoo Poker because of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Although Yahoo Poker is the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) to offer real money play, AOL has a play money website, and Microsoft includes play money poker with their Windows Vista system.

If UIGEA is overturned, I’d look for AOL and Microsoft, as well as Yahoo and who-knows-who-else, to offer real money online poker to customers in the United States and worldwide.