Congressman Barton Puts Forward New Online Poker Bill
This week saw the introduction of a bill to that would regulate online poker at the federal level. The bill, introduced by Texas Congressman Joe Barton, shares many common elements to previous legislation Representative Barton has brought forth in the past.
Bill would only deal with online poker
The new legislation seeks only to regulate the game of online poker at the federal level, and would not clear the way for any other form of online betting. States would have the choice to opt out should they not wish to offer online poker to residents.
Representative Barton has said that he believes such regulation is necessary at the national level in order to offer uniformity and protections within the online poker market. Currently, only three states – New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware – have passed laws that permit citizens to gamble over the Internet.
In Nevada, which saw its first online poker site launch this past April, only online poker is allowed. Delaware and New Jersey will permit comprehensive Internet wagering when the sites go live in those states, something that is expected to happen later on this fall.
In a statement, Barton spoke to the need of providing online poker players with a safe and regulated marketplace, and one in which age verification was strictly enforced in order to limit the ability of would-be underage players from accessing real-money online poker rooms.
“Poker is an all-American game. It’s a game that I learned as a teen and continue to play today. Just like millions of other players I enjoy the strategy and skill involved,” Barton said.
“I continue to be supportive of the Americans who play poker online. They deserve to have a legal, on-shore system that makes sure everyone is playing in an honest, fair structure. The complex web of state and local regulations now being devised could leave players at risk,” the statement went on.
Some see Barton Bill as having little hope of passage
Though many industry pundits, including poker lobbying group the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), have come out in favor of Barton’s proposed legislation since it was introduced this past Thursday, there are many who think that due to the current political makeup of Congress, it has little chance of being passed.
Earlier this year, Nevada Democratic Senator Harry Reid said that he didn’t have much hope of achieving the passage of a federal online poker bill. At the end of last year, a draft piece of legislation bearing his name, the Reid/Kyl Bill, failed to gain any traction – in fact it was never formally introduced – owing to a lack of GOP support.
In Reid’s view, nothing has changed in the intervening months to suggest that the political climate is any more welcome to the idea of allowing the game to be accessed nationwide. Whether or not legislators will back the new Barton bill remains to be seen, however in the meantime more states continue to consider regulating some form of online gambling in order to shore up budgets still left struggling in the weak economy.
Check back with us as we continue to track the progress of Barton’s legislation as well as initiatives to regulate online gambling at the state level.
