One month remains until mandatory financial services industry compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) on June 1st. In the meantime, the online poker community weighs in on its future.
On sites like PocketFives.com, posters debated what the state of the online poker industry in the United States would be come June 1st. Among those who were optimistic was PocketFives.com Admin “Adam,” who commented, “Supposedly, 270 days after the UIGEA everything had to be in order (July, 2007). Then it got delayed. Then again. Then again. Then again. I will be personally extremely shocked if/when anything actually does happen.”
Also weighing in on the UIGEA compliance deadline was “bonflizubi,” who shared what the lay of the land will likely be come 30 days from now: “All that happens is that the government will, as of that date, finally hold banks, etc. responsible for not processing internet gambling transactions.” Whether players will be unable to deposit remains to be seen. The UIGEA outlawed “unlawful internet gambling” transactions, but did not specify what the three-word term meant, instead deferring to a muddled web of state and federal laws.
Meanwhile, on TwoPlusTwo, a post entitled, “The Official ‘Pledge to Play on June 1, 2010’ thread” popped up. The original poster, “UGotStacked,” explained the objective of playing on June 1st: “We can do this by playing on our preferred poker site that day – preferably one of the top two – Stars or Full Tilt – so we can take a stand and possibly break the single day record of players (for a weekday) of online poker – on the day that it will be ‘supposedly outlawed’ in the U.S.” The thread spans five pages.
According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the industry is growing at an annual rate of 13%. In the site’s traffic report dated April 25th, the number of cash game players on the world’s virtual felts had dropped 2.1% week over week. Full Tilt Poker alone dropped 6% and is slightly over half of the size of PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, in terms of real money ring game players.
A hearing scheduled for the House Financial Services Committee on April 16th was postponed after a conflicting engagement in Massachusetts for Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) came up. Frank has been the internet gambling industry’s main champion on Capitol Hill and introduced HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. The bill has grown to boast 68 co-sponsors, including Dina Titus (D-NV) and William Owens (D-NY), who signed on in mid-April.
Co-sponsors of HR 2267 come from both sides of the aisle. The bill establishes a full licensing framework for internet gambling outfits to solicit customers from the United States. A makeup hearing to discuss HR 2267 and HR 2266, also introduced by Frank, has not been scheduled. The latter bill delays mandatory financial services industry compliance with the regulations of the UIGEA by one year.
In November, the industry received a six-month reprieve to June 1st. Officials from the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve granted the delay of the UIGEA regulations. In the interim, it was presumed that the UIGEA would be clarified or additional legislation would be passed. However, neither has taken place and only one committee hearing has been held. Instead, the House Financial Services Industry and other government entities have been bogged down with a fledgling U.S. economy and extensive health care overhaul.
Only one hearing is scheduled for the House Financial Services Committee next week. On Thursday at 10:00am ET, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hear discussion of “The End of Excess (Part One): Reversing Our Addiction to Debt and Leverage.”
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest poker legislation headlines.
