Internet Poker is probably coming to the States in a legalized form as the H.R. 2267 Online Gambling Bill passed the House Finance Committee by a vote of 41-22. Did members of Congress suddenly realize that poker isn’t such a bad thing, it’s not a malevolent force lying in wait to destroy American households? Not really. They just discovered there was a ton of money in the taxable rake . It pays to be the house, and the House wants to be it. So the day may be coming that bwin poker and their competitors are welcome into your computer.
The bill determines a basic structure for the U.S. government to license and regulate Internet poker and other forms of Internet Gaming. There are the core principles on how the U.S. will control and oversight online poker in all its varieties including Holdem poker. A bill does not become a law by getting out of committee but the bi-partisan support is a symbolic victory as well as a crucial first step to becoming law.
The next step is getting passed by the House and then the Senate will have to pass and the President will have the option to sign it into law. Barney Frank’s bill brought out a positive reaction from the PPA’s chairman former Senatro Alfonso D’Amato. D’Amato was quick to say, “The fact is, online poker is not going away. Congress has a choice – it can liscense and rgulate it to provide government oversight and consumer protections, or our lawmakers can stick their heads in the sand, ignore it, and leave consumers to play on non-U.S. regulated websites in all 50 states. I’m glad the Financial Services Committee today overwhelmingly chose to act and protect Americans as well as preserve the fundalmental freedoms of adults and the Internet.”
The PPA also pointed out the benefits the bill could confer to Americans as an improvement to the unweildy legislation that preceded it. They asserted that the new bill will provide additional and necessary oversight over the industry, protect children and problem gamblers better, and will protect consumers that are entitled to play responsiby with stronger measures that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforecement Act (UIEGA).
Sensing a shift in the determinants that were guiding the House’s decisions, the PPA further reinforced the financial benefits to the country. In their press release statement they also said, “liscensing and regulation presents an avenue for companies to return to the U.S., providing the economy with much needed jobs and tax revenue. the bill was further strengthed by several bipasrtisan amendments that provide even greater consumer protections and strong enforecement against unliscensed operators, something that the current law (UIGEA) lacks completely.”
There was not all good news on a day a bill much talked about finally took it’s first steps toward becomming a law. The PPA voiced some concern that the Commitee’s bill still lacked anything precluding lawful Internet poker-only operators to start operating immediately under a regulated system. Bascially, suggesting gray areas in the UIGEA legislation still were not clarified, though they suggested they would work through the legislative process to strengthen final bill.
The principle provisions of the bill included:
A government led approval process of poential online gambling providers as well as a list of those failing to meet the basic requirements. The online casinos would have to utilize state of the art technologies to protect children and problem gamblers (citing close approximation to the commercial and government database used to verify age and identity of online banking customers). Requirements for teh providers to set timebased limits on deposits and losses and to monitor customer who may have excessive gaming habits. Standards set to prevent fraud, abuse and cheating. Proper monitoring to discourage and prevent money laundering and tax cheats.