Frank Gets Some Support
Rep Barney Frank, who has been trying to get poker legalized in the US since the inception of the UIGEA in 2006, has garnered a little support in past few weeks from a fellow northern Senator. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has introduced a bill called the Internet Skill Game Licensing and Control Act, that would legalize online casino games of skill in the US. While other games are included, the main focus is online Texas Hold ‘Em online poker, which is by far the most popular game played online where wagers are involved. So despite the house of Representatives pushing back Frank’s bill to September, the Senate may hear Menendez’s sooner. S 3616 is it’s official title and Menendez had this to say about it: [The bill makes clear the distinction between games of chance and games of skill] “that [use] simulated cards, dice, or tiles in which the success is predominantly determined by the skill of the players, including poker, bridge, and mah-jong.” In the event that Menendez’s bill gets passed, it would make it “unlawful for a person to operate an internet skill game facility in interstate or foreign commerce without a license.” Simply put, Menendez is aiming to get skill games regulated just as frank is, to protect the players, and to help out those who wish to play but are afraid of the nearly null and defunct UIGEA. Such a bill would make establishing an online cardroom similar to establishing one that you would find in a landbased brick and mortar casino, and would greatly boost the poker economy as well as the world economy if the US were again allowed to participate in the online gaming industry legally and regulated.
