Legalization of Online Poker and Casinos

Senator Joe Barton is working on a bill to legalize online poker and casino , but the bill not address the full range of online gambling . A new bill introduced by Senator Barney Frank of New York and John B.T. Campbell from California would allow the operation of online casinos . The bill went through the Senate committee and received support from Republican and Democratic members of the financial committee. Republicans and Democrats of the committee backed the idea, but the legislation never made it to the floor of the house of Representatives.

Online gambling advocates hoping to make a profit in the United States await the final approval of this legislation. The online gambling industry takes in over $6 billion dollars annually. States, looking for a source of potential revenue, have tried to pass laws to make online gambling legal. The most recent attempt occurred in New Jersey. Law makers managed to pass a bill, but it Governor Chris Christie vetoed it when he reached his desk.

Current US law prevents banks in the country from processing the winning payments made by overseas casinos. Despite these restrictions, the demand for online gambling has not ceased. The Department of Justice cracked down earlier this year on three of the largest online poker rooms. An attempt to collect the $3 billion demand from these companies has not met with success.

John A. Pappas, the Executive Director of the Poker Player’s Alliance, called the Department of Justice’s position untenable. The birth of the online poker rooms has increased attendance at events such as the World Series of Poker. The Poker World Series went from a few hundred players to a few thousand players after the creation of the online poker room industry. According to The Republic, Pappas expects that the US rules will change and the Department of Justice will have to give up on its collection efforts.

Large gambling concerns, such as Caesar’s Entertainment, say that they would get into the online market if it were legal. Lobbyists for the gambling industry have spent millions of dollars in an attempt to change the existing laws of the United States. Many Representatives and Senators have not responded to the pressure applied by lobbyists for the online gambling industry.