House Subcommittee to Look at Online PokerHearing Next Week Titled 'Internet Gaming: Is There a Safe Bet?' |
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The topic of Internet poker, and likely Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-Texas) Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011, are set to be discussed on Capitol Hill on Oct. 25, according to The Hill.
The title of the hearing is Internet Gaming: Is There a Safe Bet? and will examine the online gambling industry as a whole. It will take place in front of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, a sub-panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Barton is a member.
Barton’s bill, which has bipartisan support, was referred to the subcommittee in late June.
“I am pleased that Chairman Bono-Mack is holding a hearing on the important issue of Internet gaming,” said Barton. “It’s a first step to showing why the current law is a lose, lose for everyone — the public, the taxpayer, the banking industry, and the people who want to play poker openly and honestly on the Internet. I look forward to an open exchange of ideas.”
Those interested in contacting the committee to make their voices heard can do so here.
Card Player Magazine recently devoted one of it’s issues to a look at a potentially licensed and regulated online poker market in the United States. In the story, Card Player pointed out that most industry experts agree that Capitol Hill will not vote on a standalone poker bill. Instead, poker legislation will likely be tied to any upcoming deficit reduction or job creation bill. Ironically, it appears any legislation that lays the groundwork for the U.S. online poker industry will, like the legislation that crippled it (the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act), be buried within a larger omnibus bill.
One industry insider told Card Player that “the chances of a poker bill happening in 2011 are 50-50 between Thanksgiving and Christmas.” If such legislation was approved, U.S. gaming companies could offer real money poker by January 2013.
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