Much has been written about the state of online gambling in the United States.
For the last two years, all forms of online gambling have been banned in the nation, which came as a big disappointment to the large online gambling community in the United States.
Yet, 2013 has looked a lot brighter for the online gambling community, especially for online poker as a number of states such as Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have slowly lifted regulations permitting online poker websites to launch.
Now, Representative Joe Barton (R-Tex) in the U.S. House of Representatives has taken things a step further by putting together the Internet Poker Freedom Act of 2013. This act is currently a well thought out piece of legislation that needs to be reviewed by the government. The bill, which is called [H.R. 2666] is extremely detailed oriented and if approved will ensure the licensing of Internet poker by the respective States and will also federally recognized Indian tribes.
The bill is currently being reviewed by the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Financial Services.
While there is no guarantee that this bill will be legalized in the near future, it is definitely a step in the right direction and has gained the attention of the Congress.
However, some people think that the bill does not have much weight behind it. One of these individuals is Mark Lavery, who is a Gambling Law attorney that operates out of Chicago. In a recent release, Lavery said
the bill’s findings referring to the District Court ruling in the DiChristina case holding poker is a game of skill. The bill’s name is phrased in terms of liberty, Internet commerce with a specific focus on a skill-game form of gambling. I think the proximity of legislation in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware relates to the new name and the argument that if people in those states can play a game of skill for money – online poker – then all Americans should be able to play.
However, there are a number of gambling companies who are positive that it will not be long before the US Government makes a decision in favor of online gambling. One of the main reasons behind his is because after Nevada legalized online poker and granted around 30 licenses, there are a number of other States who have wanted to legalize online poker and allow their State to profit from the additional revenue, jobs and taxes that the online poker industry will provide.
Ultimate Gaming Chief Executive Officer Tobin Prior said :
“The Nevada Gaming Control Board has set regulatory requirements for online poker at the highest level. We are thrilled that our product is the first to not only meet these standards, but exceed them. Ultimate Poker gives online poker fans the game they love in an environment they can trust.”
