There have been rumors that Florida may be one of the first states that would regulate Internet gambling. Recently, state Representative Joseph Abruzzo filed the Internet Poker Consumer Protection and Revenue Generation Act of 2010.
The legislation shows a regulated system of Internet gambling in the state of Florida. If the legislation is approved the state would be the first to use the rules of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in order to aid in regulating online gambling. The UIGEA was passed to get rid of online gambling in the United States, but in the last few years online gambling has grown and not shrunk.
There is a clause in the UIGEA that lets states regulate and conduct intra-state online gambling by law. The legislation of Abruzzo takes advantage of the clause. The bill that was recently filed would let operators of Internet hubs to run Internet poker websites. To get a license operators of the hubs would have to be hand picked by Florida and there are strict guidelines in the bill that would have to be adhered to.
First, the hub operator must have a business license in the state of Florida. Second, the operator must be licensed in more than one state. Third, the operator has to be licensed to offer Internet poker in a country outside of the United States.
If these guidelines were met there would then be a $500,000 application fee that must be paid to the Pari-Mutuel Wagering Trust Fund of the Department of Business and Professional Regulations. If the application is approved the operator would have to pay an annual license fee of $1,000.
When the Internet poker website is set up there are stringent rules in the proposal of Abruzzo. The minimum gambling age would be 21 and this safeguards against both underage gambling as well as money laundering. The online hub operators also have to fully insure all of the software that is being used on the site.
Safeguards for the online players have been a main reason that US Representative Barney Frank has proposed legislation to overturn the UIGEA. There are currently millions of Americans that are gambling over the Internet at websites that are not regulated by the American government.
In the state of Florida and person attempting to get a license has to make sure that the player online is protected against fraud. One of the big problems for lawmakers that are looking to legalize online gambling is addiction to gambling and Abruzzo has that taken care of in his recent proposed Bill.
The Internet hubs have to have limits on the amount of deposits and how much money a player is allowed to deposit daily. Also, a limit has to be placed on how much money a player online can lose in a certain amount of time. There will also be a time limit placed on how long a player can gamble.
Another issue that lawmakers are dealing with is the percentage of taxes on the winnings. In the Internet Poker Consumer Protection and Revenue Generation Act of 2010, Abruzzo has set a plan for 20% of the winnings every month that will go to paying taxes.
If the recent legislation will be passed remains to be seen, but it will depend on the ability of the lawmakers to foresee the financial potential and to come to a middle ground on the differences they have on the issue of online gambling.
Abruzzo has laid out a good Bill that covers all the aspects that makes most bills get thrown out, which may make Florida the first state in the United States where online gambling would be regulated and legal.
March 4th, 2010 | Posted in Gambling Thoughts, News, Poker, Rumors | No Comments
Many states have been discussing making online gambling, especially online poker, legal in their states. However, they keep running into federal laws that make gambling over the Internet illegal. However, the state of Iowa has come up with an idea that may make it legal to gambling online in the state. Iowa is also looking into making sports gambling legal is the state.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 has really hindered plans of lawmakers in the United States that want to not only legalize, but regulate the Internet gambling industry in their state. They may want to take a close look at the Iowa plan that would go around the federal laws that are currently on the books.
U.S. Representative is one of group of 7 people that is trying to expand gambling in the state of Iowa. He knows, and has stated as such, that gambling is going to stay in Iowa and he is under the belief that the state should be the leader when it comes to the online gambling industry in the United States.
When he recently talked about the proposal that may come out of the 7-member group that will be discussed next week in a House State Government Committee hearing Quirk stated, “Look, either we’re a gambling state, or we’re not, and with seventeen casinos I’d say we’re a gambling state.”
One of the ideas that the group, and other, is how to work their way around the laws of the UIGEA, which makes it an illegal act for financial institutions from taking part in any Internet gambling transactions. It looks as if the group Quirk is working with and other lawmakers may have now come up with a plan that might just work.
Gamblers would be able to go into casinos in the state where they reside to open up an account and then deposit money into. They would then be allowed to bet over the Internet with the money that is in the casino account. This would skirt the law, as obviously casinos are not financial institutions.
The one main catch with this plan is how the person would get paid and how would they be able to withdraw their funds. Under the current plan, which is still being worked on, a player would go back to the casino to deposit more funds into their account or collect what they have won being paid from their accounts.
Making sports betting legal in the state of Iowa may be harder within the government of the state. There are a lot of lawmakers that are very opposed to any type of sports gambling being legal. Mary Mascher, who is the Chair of the Government Committee, has already made the threat to remove any sports wagering language in any gambling bill that is presented to the committee.
February 21st, 2010 | Posted in Gambling Thoughts, News, Poker, Rumors | No Comments
Lawmakers in the United States should resume their talks about laws dealing with online gambling laws in the spring of this year. However, even though talks are not currently taking place in Congress it does not mean that the issue is on the backburner. US Representative Barney Frank, who has been the leader in the attempt to overturn the online gambling ban, keeps getting support for legislation that he proposed last year.
Since the beginning of this year Frank has added a couple of sponsors to his bill that will overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). Now there are 65 co-sponsors to the bill and it looks as if when talks resume that making online gambling legal in the U.S. may happen. Besides gaining support from the bill Frank has showed that he does not only want to overturn the UIGEA, but also regulate the online gambling industry and he has laid the groundwork for doing so.
There have been studies that by regulating the Internet gambling industry in America would reap the U.S. billions of dollars annually.
The 2 new co-sponsors to Frank’s bill are Representative Charlie Melancon from Louisiana and Representative Eliot Engel from New York.
The Internet gambling industry is one of the fastest growing industries the world over and they United States has been out of the lucrative market since 2006. The UIGEA was ratified by the Bush administration in 2006, as the bill was to criminalize the activity of gambling over the Internet, but how the law is now written it is very unclear.
Both US lawmakers and financial institution representatives have stated that it would be virtually impossible for the bank to deny payments that go to and from Internet gambling websites. The UIGEA rules were to go into effect in December of last year, but Frank and other lawmakers delayed the date of the implementation until June later this year.
Before June Frank would like to get his bill ratified in Congress, Even though the Internet gambling laws may not change very quickly being in that it is an election year in Congress he is still under the belief that delaying the rules of the UIGEA will allow him to show that the regulation of online gambling can move forward.
Another thing that Frank has going for him is that several states, such as New Jersey and California, are talking about legalizing online gambling in their jurisdictions.
February 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Gambling Thoughts, News, Rumors | No Comments
California is known as being one of the more liberal states in America. This is why it is not surprising at all that lawmakers from the state of California will begin discussions about being the first state to legalize Internet gambling in the United States.
The Governmental Organization Committee, which is mainly responsible for laws dealing with gambling in California, will start talks in February about the legalization and regulation of online gambling. Chairman of the committee Roderick Wright has recently confirmed that these discussions will take place and the main topic will be about Internet poker.
California does not have a lot of wiggling room to bring more than the game of poker to Internet gamblers. The state has quite a few compacts with Indian tribes that involve gambling in land-based casinos and any foray into the Internet gaming market would have to be approved by the tribes before it is regulated and legalized.
One tribe that is in favor of the legalization and regulation of online gambling is the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. This tribe is a leading casino provider in the state of California and their view of the issue will carry a lot of weight with other state tribes.
If it is the case that California changes their laws to include Internet poker regulations it is probable that the Indian tribes would first want the chance to go online. It is a distinct possibility, in terms of gambling revenue, that it will be beneficial to both the state and the Indian tribes in the state.
The Internet gambling issue is one of the more popular and debated issues in the country these days. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIEGA) has been at the center of many of those discussions and debates.
US Representative Barney Frank has proposed legislation that would overturn the UIGEA as well as set up a special foundation that would regulate the Internet gambling industry in the United States. Frank, and many others who support the legalization of the online gambling industry, recently scored a victory for their cause by having the rules for the UIGEA, which were to go in effect on December 1, 2009, delayed until next June.
The talks in California dealing, mainly, with online poker will be watched closely by other states and by lawmakers at the national level. If online poker is legalized and regulated in the state it becomes more likely that it will happen at the national level as well.
January 9th, 2010 | Posted in Casinos, Gambling Thoughts, News, Poker, Rumors | No Comments
Recently the U.S. Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve Board announced that they would extend the compliance day for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) were very happy with the decision.
The extension is a victory for online poker and the PPA, which had submitted the petition for the extension. The recent ruling will allow Congress to revise the act letting them clear up the definition of unlawful online gambling in terms of distinguishing it from the game of poker.
Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, who is now the chairman of the PPA recently stated, “The PPA is extremely pleased with the decision by the Federal Reserve and Treasury to grant the six month extension. This is a great victory for poker, but an even greater victory for advocates of good and fair public policy. These additional months are critical to provide legislators time to clarify UIGEA and pass legislation to license and regulate poker early next year.”
Executive director of the PPA John Pappas stated that he believes the 6 month extension, instead of the year that the PPA has originally wanted, would help poker’s cause, as it would give Congress a sense of urgency in those who want the online poker industry in the U.S. to be legalized and regulated. Pappas said,
“I think it will it will force Congress to act quickly on this rather than drag their heals thinking they can deal with this later because they have a year. Hopefully we’ll have some movement in the House and Senate. If there’s good progress being shown, we’re hopeful we would be granted another delay.”
Internet poker main advocate in Congress is Representative Barney Frank and he helped get the extension and he also scheduled a House Financial Services Committee hearing to discuss various bills dealing with online poker such as the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act and the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. Frank recently stated, “This will give us a chance to act in an unhurried manner on my legislation to undo this regulatory excess by the Bush administration and to undo this ill-advised law,” Frank said in a statement.
The PPA and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association filed a joint petition for the extension back on September 18th of this year. In the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board ruling on the matter they said they had received letters of support for the extension by financial institutions, associations that represent financial institutions, and members of Congress.
In the past few years Internet poker had been vilified in Congress, but it seems that the tide is turning, as many experts believe it is just a matter of time before online poker is a legal and regulated industry in the U.S.
Pappas stated, “I think we’ve had a lot of smaller victories that led to a change in how Congress views our issue, but I think this might be our biggest single, changing moment. This really puts it squarely on the shoulders of Congress to do something during this period of delay, and we’re hoping we can get some quick action. That’s why I think the timing of Frank’s hearing next week couldn’t be better.”
December 13th, 2009 | Posted in Gambling Thoughts, News, Poker, Rumors | No Comments
Nevada Senator Harry Reid has been saying for a long time that he would do whatever is best for his home state in terms of online gambling. For quite a few years what this meant was taking a strong stand against Internet gambling when it has been talked about in Washington between federal lawmakers.
However, now there are many gambling and economic experts that are under the belief that the casino industry in Las Vegas may, in fact, benefit if they changed their views on the legalization of online gambling. The stance of Reid may become very important in the upcoming fight in Congress in terms of the legalization and regulation of the Internet gambling industry in the United States.
U.S. Representative Barney Frank has been the main politician that wants to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The UIGEA came into effect under the Bush Administration back in 2006, but the law has still not been enforced.
The UIGEA was slated to begin the enforcement phase on December 1st of this year. However, the Department of the Treasury recently delayed the act’s implementation until June 1st of next year (2010). What this does is give Frank more time in order to sway other lawmakers into thinking that reversing the Internet gambling ban would be a good thing for the United States and its citizens.
One of the lawmakers will be Senator Reid, who carries a lot of weight in the U.S. Senate. In past years there would be zero chance that Reid would have stood behind regulating the Internet gambling industry, but his views may be changing.
Many gambling analysts are under the belief that the casino industry in Las Vegas would actually benefit if the online gambling industry were regulated. The thinking is that the companies that own the casinos would have first crack at getting the licenses, which would be needed in order to offer online gambling to residents of the United States.
The views of the casino companies have varied even though it is the case that casino revenue is down with the slumping economy in America hurting the gambling industry. Wynn Resorts does not want to regulate online gambling while Harrah’s has already stated that they are in favor of it.
It will take some time for lawmakers in the U.S. to deal with the complicated details of regulating the online gambling industry. However, before that can happen Reid has to make a stance on one side or the other of the issue. The gambling industry will be watching this very closely and will have to side with Reid. A vote for the legalization and regulation of the Internet gambling industry may be the kick in the pants that Vegas needs to revive the gambling economy in the city, which is vital.
December 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Casinos, Gambling Thoughts, News, Rumors | No Comments
There were a couple of articles published in the media recently that were in favor of the legalization and regulation of Internet poker in the United States. These are articles were not from gambling publications or non-mainstream publications, but rather a couple of the biggest newspapers in the country in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
The articles were not simply covering a court case on the bill to legalize poker, but they were written by respected columnists that had their say on the issue and both understand the core of the issue, which still seems to be unclear by members of Congress.
Columnist Michael Hilztik recently wrote in the Times, “It’s fair to say that the American approach to Internet gambling, which is legal in much of the rest of the world, is absurd.”
George F. Will recently wrote in the Post, “Congress probably should fold its interference with Internet gambling and certainly should get its 10 thumbs off Americans’ freedom to exercise their poker skills online.”
Poker advocates could not have written any better statements and it is not a coincidence that both papers spoke to the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).
John Pappas, executive director of the PPA, recently stated, “I think we see pockets of interest from the national media on this issue. I wouldn’t say the tide is turning because it’s always seemed the media understood this issue a whole lot better than Congress, that licensing and regulation is far superior than prohibition. Media has been there for a while, and we hope that it’s going lead to changing minds on Capitol Hill.”
The PPA is taking a lot from these articles, as they have made many copies of them and every single time a representative of the PPA meets with a member of Congress they leave a packet of these articles with them.
George F. Will, who is seen as a Republican columnist, made his article very useful in trying to persuade Republican members of Congress, which is the main group that poker advocates need to convince to legalize and regulate the online poker industry. There are many articles published by poker publications and smaller regional newspapers, but they do not get the national attention that can have a bigger influence on Congress.
Pappas stated, “It obviously helps when you go into (government) offices and can show articles from major publications. But smaller stories in hometown papers are great for congressmen because those are the papers their constituents read. A combination of both, hometown stories and national high-profile stories, works best.”
Typically opinion publications in the media reflect the views of the public, which is the main reason that Congress pays attention to them. Once members of Congress come to the realization that many, who elect the officials, people want to legalize Internet poker in the U.S. then legislation may happen.
November 8th, 2009 | Posted in Gambling Thoughts, News, Poker, Rumors | No Comments
Many, including US Representative Barney Frank, have been saying that online gambling regulations in the United States would reap billions to the government. Those billions would help in some of the spending that is taking place in Washington these days and some have said it could aid in the new health care reform.
Recently Representative Jim McDermott released an analysis from the Joint Committee of Taxation and the analysis backed up the claims of Frank, and others that want online gambling to be regulated. McDermott’s analysis was that by the regulating the Internet gambling industry in the United States would bring in around $42 billion within the first decade.
Michael Waxman, who is the Spokesman for the Safe and secure Internet Gambling Initiative, recently stated, “This analysis further reinforces the fact that a regulated environment will generate billions in new revenue to offset the costs of health care reform or other vital government programs.”
Waxman, and others, are under the belief that many people that are opposed to the regulation of the online gambling industry in America are worried about is that the support for legalizing and regulating online gambling is increasing. Frank ahs already introduced legislation in Congress and his bill already has 62 co-sponsors. However, with other more pressing items on the agenda, such as the health care issue and Afghanistan, that the bill will not be heard this year.
Waxman went onto to say, “With the completed analysis, and support for Internet gambling regulation growing daily, it’s only a matter of time before Congress acts and begins allocating the billions in new revenue sitting on the table to one program or another.”
Preparations are under way by Frank to have his bill discussed in Congress. There are some that are under the belief that the Bill will be passed by Frank’s House Committee by the end of this year, but that looks unlikely. This snowballing of online gambling legalization and regulation has had some politicians that are set against the idea to come up with a plan in order to defeat the Bill when it is introduced.
Since so much money will be generated for the US Government many experts believe that it is only a matter of time before Internet gambling is, once again, legal in the United States.
October 30th, 2009 | Posted in Gambling Thoughts, News, Poker, Rumors | No Comments
U.S. Representative Barney Frank is getting a lot of support in Congress for his legislation that would both legalize and regulate Internet gambling in the United States. Even though it is the case that there is much support for his bill Internet gambling legal expert Tony Cabot thinks that the bill will not pass at this time.
Recently Cabot was in Amsterdam for the recent International Masters of Gaming conference one of his opinions was focused on more than others. He Believes the current websites that pull in the most money from U.S. residents, mainly Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, will be the big guns in the passing of Frank’s bill. The thought is that the two poker websites that take wagers from U.S. residents, which will leave the sites low on the list of websites that may receive licenses in an American Internet gambling industry that would be reformed.
Cabot believes that to keep that from happening these websites would have to use their resources to make sure that the bill does not pass. Also, many land-based casinos are not for the legalization and regulation of Internet gambling in the U.S.
Casino giant Steve Wynn has already hired lobbyists in order to battle against Frank’s bill. Conversely, Harrah’s want to legalize online gambling and have it be regulated. They have started the process of getting to know the operating procedures for Internet gambling.
Even though Cabot believes that the Frank’s Bill is not coming at the right time there are other lawmakers that disagree. Recently Bob Barr, who was himself a candidate for the president in the last election, said that Frank’s bill was being discussed thoroughly in Washington. Barr believes that the revenue that the U.S. Government would generate from regulating the Internet gambling industry is too big for lawmakers to ignore.
Recently Senator Ron Wyden made a proposal that would have the revenue that would be generated from Internet gambling help pay for health care reform in the U.S. Then Wyden pulled back on his proposal since the issues of health care reform and online gambling are too big to take care of in one fell swoop. Cabot believes that this is the major reason that the timing of the bill is not right. However, Cabot has stated that online gambling regulations will become a reality in the future, but it will not be happening in the near future.
Cabot recently stated, “Nothing is going to happen this year. Barney Frank has already pushed his (legislation proposal) back, and once we get into next year we will be into an election cycle. The Democrats, in particular, are under a lot of stress at the moment and the last thing Democrats want to get involved in is an unpopular fight because the Republicans will be all over it.”
October 2nd, 2009 | Posted in Gambling Thoughts, News, Poker, Rumors | No Comments
Congress recently was back in session for what looks to be a very important few months in what the future of Internet poker will be. The bill to keep an eye out for is the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, which is authored by Representative Barney Frank and will be discussed thoroughly after being in limbo since being assigned to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security back in June.
Poker Players Alliance president John Pappas stated, “It’s time to build some momentum with the Barney bill. He pledged to mark it up this year.”
Even though the year for Congress is set to come to an end on October 30th it is expected that it will be extended until December, as it is not an election year and there is very important legislation dealing with the slumping economy that is up for review.
Other key bills that are poker related to watch closely include Frank’s 2nd bill, HR 2266, the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act, and the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act introduced last month in the Senate by Sen. Robert Menendez.
Pappas expects that Barney’s main bill will come up for debate in the committee either this month or next month. Currently the bill has 54 co-sponsors, which shows that the legislation will still not pass unless there is much more support. A bill that is controversial like this one is not going to make it all the way with only 4 Republican supporters.
Pappas stated, “It’s all going to be subject to compromise. That’s the purpose of Barney holding hearings, to see where the opposition is coming from and see what is needed to improve the bill.”
It would be encouraging for the poker community to amended to the point that it would have a legit shot at getting through the House when the next session takes place.
The other bill by Frank will have to get more action right away. The Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act is set up to delay the enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by one year in order to give Congress the chance to review these bills to both legalize and regulate Internet poker. The UIGEA, which would levy penalties on banks for sending money to poker websites, is set to be totally implemented on Dec. 1st. This bill only has 35 co-sponsors to date.
September 9th, 2009 | Posted in News, Poker, Rumors | No Comments
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