Poker Industry Reactions

May 15, 2009

Last week Congressman Barney Frank finally introduced his legislation that would make online gambling legal. The Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (HR 2267) would serve as the legislation that would legalize and regulate the online gambling industry. There are those in the poker world that are excited by the legislation, and then there are those that are more cautious about what this means for them.

The bill is similar to one that was introduced a year ago and there is another bill that would be under consideration that would delay the regulations of the UIGEA for a year. Between all three bills it would appear that Frank is covering all of his bases. The Poker Players’ Alliance, or PPA, said that the bills are good, and that they are going to assist Frank in getting them passed.

The bills will make online poker playing legal in the eyes of American citizens, even though they have maintained all along that online poker playing is legal. Under the terms of the UIGEA, online gambling was made illegal, but poker playing was not. However, there is a stigma attached to poker playing and many thought that they were interrelated, but they are not.

Frank had said that it was important for poker players to contact their Congressmen and let them know to support the bill, and the PPA said that they are more than one million members strong and that they would be offering support for it as well. The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative was also very supportive of the bills, saying that they thought that the way the bills were written it was very considerate of what they had been trying to get passed and that it was a big step in the right direction.

iMEGA came out in support of it as well, stating that the bill that would push off the UIGEA regulations for a year was very supportive all by itself. This would give them an opportunity to get a stronger case together to battle the UIGEA if need be.