Play for Money with Facebook

If you've been following Facebook and/or are a member of this social network, you may have heard that Facebook is considering going public. Well there is another piece of news that might interest you. Currently, Facebook is in the process of talks with UK online gaming operators to discuss the possibility of providing real money gambling on its site as early as the beginning of 2012. Since gambling in the UK is legal and regulated, there are plenty of opportunities for Facebook to tap this online gambling market. The companies of interest are Gamesys and 888 Holdings. This opens up a host of questions for Facebook members. Of foremost importance is the question: Will Facebook members in the US be allowed to play real money games? It is very doubtful.

The UIGEA Law

As you are aware, the UIGEA Law prohibits online gambling in most states. Efforts to repeal this law have been on-going for a few years. However, with the retirement of one of its champions, Congressman Barney Frank, it is unclear if the new legislation credited to him will eventually see the light of day.

More Cons than Pros

There are certainly more cons than pros in delivering online gambling to Facebook. Recently, there have been problems concerning members' personal information being tapped. In fact, you may be shocked to learn there are online sites providing you with information on how to hack Facebook accounts and email accounts. If Facebook were to add online gambling to their site, how would they protect member's accounts? Obviously, Facebook would have to upgrade its data protection significantly even before attempting to offer such a wide open invitation to hackers. If (and it's a big IF) Facebook does go forward and offer online gaming, this writer would be more than hesitant to play games for real money given the history of Facebook's inability to protect its clientele. What do you think? We'd like to know.

Take Our Poll

We'd like to get your opinion on whether Facebook should introduce real money gambling on its site. Please take a moment to answer our Poll question. We will post the results in a few weeks.