Election Bodes Well for Online Poker

November 12, 2008

When all the dust cleared, there was one man standing tall – Illinois Senator Barack Obama. By an absolute landslide, this man was named President Elect at 11 pm by CNN and it was the cheer heard around the world. Thousands of Obama supporters stood in Grand Park hoping against hope that he would be our next President, and they were rewarded justly.

But now there is another group who is wondering if they will be rewarded as well. The group would be the poker players of the world. With the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, poker playing became very difficult in the US. Many of these poker players are hoping that the new president is going to do something about that.

There are already many who supported the idea of making poker legal in the US before Obama was elected, but with President Bush in there it was never going to happen. Many felt that it would not have happened under a McCain presidency either, which is why the online poker and gambling interests threw their support behind Obama.

But the real question remains – how does Obama feel about legalizing and regulating online poker and gambling? During his time running, he never came out one way or the other in regards to the issue. The Poker Player’s Alliance is hoping that they have not misplaced their faith, although they really couldn’t have gone the other way either.

What remains to be seen is how legislation moves forward from here. Will there be any further issues regarding online poker playing, or will it be smooth sailing? Only time will tell.