Barney Frank's HR2267 bill passed

Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 29 July 2010 / Leave a Comment

Barney Frank in action

In order for HR2267 to be passed there has to be no fewer than 14 amendments made to the wording of the document. Some of the amendments were trivial but some could have a lasting effect on the online poker, some may say they could change it completely.

July 28, 2010 could go down in history as the day that got the ball rolling to allow American citizens the freedom to play online poker after Barney Frank's HR2267 bill was passed by the House Financial Services Committee with an overwhelming vote of 41-22-1.

HR2267, or to give its full title, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act highlights how the US government could fully licence and regulate online gambling. Since the passing of the UIGEA in 2006, it has been illegal for US banks and financial institution to process payments from online gambling sites, which resulted in many poker sites, Betfair Poker included, in closing their doors to American players. HR2267 is seen as a way to have the UIGEA overturned an allow American's to once again take part in online poker freely.

Of the 41 votes for passing HR2267, 34 came from Democrats and seven from Republicans and only one voter, Ron Paul, a Republican for Texas, abstained from voting, instead simply marking the fact he was present in the voting process. Although the passing of the bill does not guarantee it will be passed into law, it does show how far things have progressed as just four years ago the UIGEA was voted in by a six to one majority but yesterday the same people voted two to one in favour of regulating the industry.

Former Senator, Alfonse D'Amato, the chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, said, "The fact is, online poker is not going away. Congress has a choice ― it can license and regulate it to provide government oversight and consumer protections, or our lawmakers can stick their heads in the sand, ignore it, and leave consumers to play on non-U.S. regulated websites in all 50 states," before adding, "I'm glad the Financial Services Committee today overwhelmingly chose to act and protect Americans as well as preserve the fundamental freedoms of adults and the Internet."

In order for HR2267 to be passed there has to be no fewer than 14 amendments made to the wording of the document. Some of the amendments were trivial but some could have a lasting effect on the online poker, some may say they could change it completely.

Credit cards will not be allowed to be used for making deposits under HR2267 and the minimum age to gamble online will rise to 21-years old. Players will also have to set daily, weekly or monthly stop losses, something put in place to prevent problem gambling and something almost everyone who gambles online would agree with.

As mentioned some of the proposed changes could alter the online poker landscape for good. Firstly, to obtain a licence the online gambling company has to be based in the US and have the majority of its employees based in the US also. As the majority of online poker sites are based in Europe, particularly Malta, Gibraltar and the Isle of Man, including their head offices where thousands of employees work behind the scenes there could be mass redundancies in the online gambling sector or at the very least forcing people to emigrate to the States.

The biggest possible change would be a result of Amendment 1, introduced by Congressman Brad Sherman of California, which states that sites that have intentionally broken the internet gaming laws cannot get a licence under the new scheme. This would mean the two biggest online poker sites in the world, PokerStars and Full Tilt, would not be allowed to offer their services to American citizens!

One of the main problems this would cause is the fact both sites currently donate large sums of money to the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) cause of regulating online poker and knowing they could not obtain a licence could stop this funding. However, all sites offering poker to American players are still arguing they are doing nothing wrong and are currently challenging the laws in the USA so it is likely they will continue to help fund the PPA. Even if they pulled funding completely it is highly likely that some of the bigger European sites, sites that have complied fully with the UIGEA terms and conditions, would step up and aid funding just to keep the big two out of America.

It is a very interesting development for online poker and one that everyone here at Betfair Poker will continue to monitor closely.