Online Poker Legalization to Move Ahead
The latest news in online poker circles is that an amendment to legalize online poker in the United States is likely to be attached to the upcoming Payroll Tax Extension legislation. It was reported that Nevada Governor Sandoval called the top executives of casinos to inform them of the agreement between Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid and Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl for adding online poker to the payroll tax bill. It was public knowledge that these two powerful Senators had been in discussion over the past few months over the development of draft legislation that would add more clarity to the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The objective was that poker be defined as a game of skill and therefore be exempted from the purview of the UIGEA.
If this actually happens it will be just one more step towards American players playing poker at online websites licensed by an American regulatory authority without fears of being ripped off by unscrupulous operators or of the Department of Justice impounding the poker site’s bank accounts. Therefore celebrations at this stage are premature. There is no guarantee that the Payroll Tax Extension bill will pass over the next few weeks. Though, experts say that the chance of this happening right now appears to be better than 50%. If online poker is no longer covered by the UIGEA, it will be a big relief because the Department of Justice has already opined that the Wire Act will no longer be applied to online poker.
Online poker players will never forget that Kyl (in picture) was the co-author of the UIGEA. The UIGEA specifically exempts horse racing and state lotteries. Kyl had stated in an interview that there was a need to look at each online gambling vertical individually with respect to the UIGEA and that is what he would be doing. He also said that Reid had supporters in Nevada who wanted to deal with online poker and that is why the two of them were talking. If this effort succeeds then possibly the online poker community may forget the hardships that Kyl has wrought on them since 2006.
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