Poker Legislation News
The current battle over online gaming and poker in the United States is bringing out important political figures on both sides of the issue. What happens, however, if a person wanted to be with one side and was either turned down or better suitors were found? This is the question that must be asked of… Read more »
As the latest battle for online poker heats up on Capitol Hill and in the change purse of Sheldon Adelson, the pro-online poker side has earned more supporters. Recently, both the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) penned letters to federal lawmakers expressing their… Read more »
Although they have previously decided against passing legislation, the Mississippi House Gaming Committee has decided to take a closer look at entering into the online gaming world with a study that will examine online gaming and sports betting. According to the Biloxi-Gulfport Sun Herald’s Mary Perez, the chairman of that committee, Richard Bennett (R-Long Beach)… Read more »
Although he only introduced the bill earlier this week, the author of the bill in front of the New York State Legislature immediately turned around and stated that the bill that he wrote wouldn’t be a high priority for him. On Monday, State Senator John Bonacic (R-Mt. Hope) introduced his bill, SB 6913, with the… Read more »
Count New York as a state that will not want the Graham/Chaffetz anti-online gaming bill to move forward in Washington, D.C. State Senator John J. Bonacic (R-Mt. Hope) introduced legislation on Friday that would legalize and regulate intrastate online poker in the Empire State. The purpose of Senate Bill 6913, as worded in a memo… Read more »
Following Wednesday’s introduction of a bill in Congress by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz to reinstate the Wire Act of 1961’s coverage of banning online gaming, several organizations have come out against said legislation. In one case, the opinion was to be expected but, in another, the opinion was a… Read more »
Senator Lindsey Graham (R – SC) and Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R – Utah) introduced the Restoration of America’s Wire Act Wednesday, a bill which would do exactly what it says: reverse the most recent Department of Justice’s interpretation of the Wire Act of 1961. The Interstate Wire Act of 1961 made it illegal to use… Read more »
One the biggest reasons online poker bills have never gotten anywhere in the California legislature is the in-fighting amongst stakeholders, in particular the many Native American tribes that operate casinos around the state. California is so big, though, and there are so many groups that want to be sure their needs are met that these… Read more »
After more than three years of fighting to rein in their state’s charitable poker rooms operations, the Michigan Gaming Control Board suddenly has dropped their proposed new regulations that would have curtailed the industry. During a meeting of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (the Michigan General Assembly’s legislative arm hearing the changes) late this… Read more »
Last month’s “Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement” that was signed by the governors of Nevada and Delaware that marked the beginning of the first interstate online gambling compact in the United States was hailed as a great triumph by the poker community. For those who are against online gaming, though, it was a warning shot that… Read more »
The Illinois General Assembly held a hearing on Wednesday regarding expansion of their gaming laws to include online poker, drawing out a heavy hitter from the Poker Players Alliance as well as a major opponent of such a move. The Illinois Senate Executive Committee welcomed the PPA’s Executive Director, John Pappas, to their hearing, which… Read more »
According to a published report from Gambling Compliance, the senior Senator from the state of South Carolina, powerful Republican Lindsey Graham, will be introducing legislation that looks to put a federal ban on internet gaming and poker. The report from Gambling Compliance, passed along to the Poker Players Alliance membership through Vice President of Player… Read more »
On Friday, the final day bills could be filed with the California Office of Legislative Counsel, two online poker bills were introduced into the California legislature. Both were written with the goal of seeing intrastate online poker legalized and regulated this year. The first (for no other reason other than the fact I chose it… Read more »
In a ground-breaking agreement, Nevada and Delaware, the first two states to legalize and regulate intrastate online gambling, joined forces Tuesday to allow players from either state to play on internet poker rooms based in the other. Interstate gambling compacts are nothing new; many states around the country have combined to grow jackpots in lotteries… Read more »
In an interview with Laura Myers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the junior Senator of the state of Nevada, Republican Dean Heller, states that he expects a bill that will outlaw online gaming – except for poker – to make an appearance in the Senate next month. Furthermore, Heller says that his fellow Senator from… Read more »
While people around the world expressed their love for one another on Valentine’s Day, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal sent a hate letter to online poker players in the United States. The Republican governor penned a guest column for the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report last week, coming out strongly against internet gambling and vowing to… Read more »
In the battle regarding online poker and casino gaming, the targets of legislation have traditionally been the companies and organizations that provide the outlet. The UIGEA of 2006 targeted the banks and the Wire Act of 1961 targeted the operators (the state of Washington was one of the few exceptions in making playing online poker… Read more »
Although he may be considered Public Enemy #1 to most in the poker community, Las Vegas Sands Corporation chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson is now also looking to use his money in the U. S. gaming industry. Adelson, ranked in 2013 by Forbes Magazine as the fifteenth wealthiest person in the world and… Read more »
Just days after online poker got a new enemy, allies of the game have a new weapon to fight back. MGM International and what politico.com calls “other Washington powerhouses” launched the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection (CCOP) Wednesday, a group stands in opposition to a ban on internet gambling. Though Nevada, New Jersey, and… Read more »
Sheldon Adelson really, really hates online gambling. I mean, it is getting to the point where I can’t help but admire his total commitment to the hate. Most people who are opposed to something are at least willing to let the other side speak, to at least consider for even the briefest of moments, the… Read more »
As you are reading this, Americans are free to play online poker in three states. Though no bills legalizing and regulating online poker have made it all the way through Congress, support on Capitol Hill is growing every year. Opponents of online poker are scared, so scared that they are back on the offensive. The… Read more »
New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak has re-introduced a bill that, if passed, would bring more players to the state’s online poker rooms. His bill, S980, allows for New Jersey’s online gaming sites to accept customers from both other states and other countries; to this point, only those within New Jersey’s borders have been able… Read more »
After 2013 saw three states – Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey – enact laws for regulating an intrastate online gaming platform in some format, it was thought that 2014 might be a bellwether for others to join the party. Just a couple of weeks into the New Year, however, those hopes are being quickly dashed.… Read more »
On Saturday, Marco “AgentMarco” Valerio, one of the preeminent reporters in the poker industry, posted on his site the draft of an anti-online gaming bill that is supposedly strongly backed by Las Vegas Sands CEO and staunch opponent of online poker, Sheldon Adelson. The bill, designed to be introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives,… Read more »
After more than two years of argument over the issue of the state’s charitable poker room industry, Michigan regulators have reached a compromise that, pending approval, would allow the industry to continue in the state. Those regulations, however, have some charity poker rooms pondering whether they will be able to stay in business. According to… Read more »
