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News! Online Poker Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate
New Bill Is Separate from Barney
Frank's Similar Online Gambling Bill, with a Higher-Profile
Position in the Senate
August
6, 2009 (CAP Newswire) -- New Jersey Democrat
Robert Menendez has just introduced into the U.S.
Senate a brand new piece of legislation designed
to legalize and regulate Internet poker.
"To
amend title 31, United States Code, to provide
for the licensing by the Secretary of the Treasury
of Internet poker and other games that are predominantly
of skill, to provide for consumer protections
on the Internet, to enforce the tax code, and
for other purposes," the bill begins.
The
bill would establish a new legal regulatory framework
for Internet poker in the United States, and also
put in place certain consumer protections such
as age restrictions. Officially entitled S.8309,
the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation,
Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, it was
introduced today.
No
matter what success this bill meets with, it represents
another huge milestone in the nationwide struggle
to reclassify poker from gambling to a game of
skill. This movement seeks to enable online poker
to be not only legalized but also change the way
it is regarded in popular culture.
That
movement has gained a lot of transaction over
the past year, with smaller court victories in
states such as Colorado, Pennsylvania, and South
Carolina, and with Representative Barney Frank’s
recent efforts to legalize and regulate certain
sectors of online gambling with his own legislation
(which is separate from this bill).
Home
to the original U.S. gaming resort destination,
Atlantic City, New Jersey has long had its own
internal struggles regarding the legality of gaming,
and has recently clashed with the federal government
on this basis. So it makes sense that the author
of this new legislation is is from New Jersey
— and a Democrat, the party that is apparently
more open to the idea of fully legalized online
gambling. (Although it technically has bipartisan
support, the vast majority of supporters of Barney
Frank’s recent pro-Internet gambling efforts
have been Democrats.)
The
Poker Players Alliance (PPA) not only supports
the new bill, but has provided a copy of it at
its website. Check
it out here.
Greg
Tingle comment...
This
online poker bill is most welcome news, and has
been a long time coming.
Down
under in Australia poker and I dare say, online
poker, is already a strong part of our popular
culture, just as are kangaroos, meat pies and
Holden cars, and having a punt on the (horse)
races and a bit of a spin on the pokies. By the
way, Sportingbet is introducing V8Bet, so punters
can be on the V8 Supercar racing, (Holden and
Ford).
Some
may not like this, and some will, but there's
strong rumblings that sports betting might try
to significantly ride off the back of this poker
bill, as there could be legal arguments that there
certainly are elements of skill (knowledge etc)
in picking sports bet winners. A similar scenario
of sorts with the game known as "Spot The
Ball", which has long been a part of British
culture, with numerous British newspapers running
Spot The Ball competitions. Property listing companies
such as Play4Property.com
are taking the Spot The Ball game internationally,
which isn't that hard to do with the internet
as an medium of media, backed up by traditional
media, journalism, marketing et al.
Friends,
the rules have changed, and will continue to,
in regards to online poker, online games of skill,
online gambling, and the way business is conducted
between people, corporations, media companies
et al.
A
few apt quotes from some gentlemen with some good
ideas and track record of success, getting things
done, and changing the world, and the rules of
play!
James
Packer - "Internet is like electricity"
Rupert
Murdoch - "Big will not beat small anymore.
It will be the fast beating the slow"
Charles
Darwin - "In the long history of humankind
(and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate
and improvise most effectively have prevailed"
My
tip, look to California to plug into online poker,
online sports betting, and quite likely, online
gambling as a whole. They have been pro active
and early adopters on other social issues such
as the environment, poverty and health.
You
can bet that Harrah's Entertainment and their
chain of hotel - casino - resorts will be watching
this space, as will Macau's Cotai Strip, and even
Parliament House down under in Canberra, Australia.
In
this space, I'm sure glad to be a journalist,
media agent and website portal developer, rather
than an owner of a casino or online casino. The
online poker and online casino happenings are
most certainly extremely newsworthy items to cover.
It's of course part of the larger civil liberties
and freedom of speech - censorship debate. We
should have the right to do what we like in our
homes, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Also
remember, sometimes the law is an ass, so just
because something is legal or illegal, doesn't
mean it is necessarily right or wrong. It just
means its (current) law, some of which get changed
for the better, some not.
As
always, know your limits, bet with your head,
not over it. If the gambling, or poker playing
stops being enjoyable, its likely time to stop.
Have fun, whether poker, pokies, spot the ball,
or some other game tickles your fancy.
Greg
Tingle
Media Man
Australia
Casino
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