Posts Tagged ‘harry reid’

Legal US Online Poker may not happen for Years

Sunday, December 16th, 2012

For the past few years, US residents have held out hope that their government would eventually regulate and legalize online poker on a federal level. Unfortunately, this isn’t going to happen in 2012 – and it may not happen for years to come either.

Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl were hoping that Congress would vote on their online poker bill during a lame-duck session. However, the bill “ran out of time” according to Reid’s chief of staff, David Krone. Expanding on the matter, Krone told media members the following:

Our goal is to definitely try again next year but Senator Reid’s feeling is that after a while there comes a time when you’ve lost momentum, you’ve lost the consensus you’ve built. There will be a window next year, but I don’t see it going long.

As indicated from this statement, Reid and Kyl will try to get their federal poker legislation passed next year. But because of the “lost momentum,” it doesn’t look like there’s much chance of the bill passing any time in the future. This is especially the case when you figure that states will begin taking over with operations of their own.

There was a lot of hard work put into getting a poker bill passed. Poker Players Alliance President John Pappas was one of the people who worked hard to lobby Congress and eventually get federal poker regulation a serious look. So he was definitely not happy and spoke about it by saying:

It is an extremely disappointing end to a year where tremendous progress was made. I am most upset for the players, who have been calling on Congress for years to pass an Internet poker law that protects consumers, restores their freedoms and raises revenue. While I don’t think these voices have fallen on deaf ears, I am discouraged that Congress could not coalesce around a solution in the wake of the ongoing fiscal crisis.

What Does 2011 Have In Store For Online Poker Legislation?

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

2011 not only ushered in a new, much more Republican Congress, but also ushered in new questions in the poker community about online poker legislation. With the start of the New Year, all hopes of 2010 poker legislation being passed have been wiped clean. Is there any chance that the new government will recognize online poker as a legitimate activity, like investing in the stock market or trading options?

Up until now Barney Frank has served as the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Frank had a very strong positive attitude towards the passage of online poker legislation and gave the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) some hope. However, the committee is now chaired by republican Spencer Bachus from Alabama, who seems to be very unyielding on his opposition of online gambling.

Executive director of the PPA, John Pappas, hopes that Senator Harry Reid from Nevada will help to conduct federal legislation in the field of online gambling. He says, “I think it’s clear that Senator Reid will continue to be a major player on this issue. Any time the Senate Majority Leader takes notice on an issue, we will need to continue working with his office. If his bill is leading the way, that means the House becomes kind of a secondary body for us to work in. I think for sure the Financial Services Committee will no longer be the leading body in this jurisdiction.”

But will Reid be enough to have online poker recognized as legal? Only time will tell, and it should be quite interesting to follow coverage on this matter as the year progresses.

Are More Senators Jumping on the Online Poker Bandwagon?

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

It’s no surprise that House Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts supports online poker, with his very public work to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) over the past couple of years. By the same token, other congressmen such as New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez have also publicly supporting online gambling. However, in recent months more and more political figures are coming out of the woodwork to support the licensing and regulation of online poker.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid, a democrat, first hinted at his possible support of regulating online gambling sites when he sent a letter asking for the delay of the UIGEA in 2006. Poker Players Alliance (PPA) executive director, John Pappas, says that while he isn’t one hundred percent sure that Reid has come around on the issue, he believes that “[Reid] recognizes that there’s some serious failures in the UIGEA.” The PPA finds the fact that Reid sent this letter very encouraging.

In fact, the PPA has been so encouraged by Senator Reid that they are supporting him in his campaign for reelection. However, Senator Reid has not yet come out and said that he would support licensing of online casinos in the United States, in part because he needs to watch out for the live casino industry, which thrives in Nevada, the home of Las Vegas.

Though Reid is not yet a sure thing, he is expected to become a supporter and other congressmen are expected to follow suit.