No Online Poker Bill a Good Thing

Sadly, another year of having the UIGEA, as ambiguous as it may be, is in place for the United States and there was no movement in getting online gambling in any form regulated. The efforts of Senator Reid, the Poker Players Alliance and other supporters fell short in getting any legal online gambling bill through the Senate during this lame duck session.

To some however, namely some professional online poker players, this was not a bad thing and they are glad nothing happened. Now they still have a job to go to at the start of 2011. A passage of the Reid bill would have put them out of work due to the fact that the current popular U.S. poker sites would have been excluded from getting licenses. All the online professional poker players we have talked with and others we have seen post in forums all are behind getting laws changed in favor of regulated online poker but they also want something done that would allow poker sites already servicing U.S. poker players to remain doing so.

In the Reid bill, current sites servicing U.S. online poker players would not have been allowed to operate. So popular U.S. poker sites like Full Tilt, PokerStars and Bodog who have worked tirelessly to promote a safe and legitimate place for players to play, would have most likely been left out of the licensing in favor of the land based casino industry.

Gaming Analyst Steve Schwartz put it this way;

“Imagine that a playoff system was finally put in place in college football, but Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, Ohio State, and Texas were unable to play in the playoffs. That is what it would be like to create online poker legislation that excluded current sites accepting US players.”

So maybe we should count our blessing that the Republicans found out about Senators Reid’s plans in time to stop them. Yes, we need a regulated online gambling system in the U.S. but we need one that does not have hidden political agenda’s on either side, but a fair solution aimed at the millions of U.S. gamblers already playing and the sites that are in place providing a safe and legitimate experience.

Author: GamesAndCasino