Iowa Not Given Up On Online Poker

As the dust starts to settle on the FBI indictment that rocked the online poker world, it looks like some states are stepping up the pressure to approve intrastate online poker. Iowa yesterday to a step forward with gambling as a whole within their state border.

A House committee approved gambling legislation Wednesday that if approved would change the way gambling runs in there state. The legislation passed the committee by a 20-3 vote and now heads to the house floor. This legislation will allow for advanced deposit wagering on horse races and eliminates the requirement for a gambling referendum every eight years for casinos but also will require the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to study Internet gambling and have a report ready by Dec. 1st.

Republican Representative Stewart Iverson believes that requiring this report before an further action is taken is a good first step saying, “I think it behooves all of us in the state to really find out how big internet gambling is in the state of Iowa.”

One of the concerns is consumer protection and on that Iverson added, “And it’s something we do need to get a handle on, but it’s kind of tough to get a handle on it when we don’t actually know what’s going on out there,” Iverson says, “so I think that report would be helpful.”

This legislation will now go to the House for full debate and if passed will only allow a report to be sanctioned for only poker but that will at least keep the ball rolling in Iowa until Dec. 1.

Author: GamesAndCasino