As most of you are already aware, the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), did not ban online poker, but it did outlaw the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites. The actions led a lot of online gaming sites to exit the United States, and many do not allow business with US players. This action came at the height of poker popularity, and gave poker back the stigma, which ambassadors like Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreaneau, Mike Sexton, Barry Greenstein, and many more have worked tirelessly to remove.
Let’s be honest, poker will always exist in some shape or form, with or without the UIGEA. What the last administration did is effectively sweep online gaming under the rug. Now I don’t want to get into the whole game of chance vs. game of skill debate. Quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. Adults should be allowed to participate in adult activities.
It appears that at least a couple of Congressmen in the current administration are working to undo the errors of the last. Congressmen Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Barney Frank (D-MA) have both been vocal lately about wanting to overturn the midnight rule which led to the finalization of the UIGEA. While neither congressman is a proponent of online poker, so to speak, they are both big allies of online poker for different reasons:
Nadler has been pushing Midnight Rule Act (HR 34), which would allow the incoming administration the opportunity to overturn any laws signed by the previous president within the last 90 days of the previous president’s administration, at any point during the first 90 days of the new administration. The act is not specifically designed to overturn the UIGEA, but as with any changing of the guard, there are dozens of Midnight Rules which were pushed through at the end of the Bush administration, since popularity is not a concern after you have lost an election.
Nadler’s support for HR 34 if it passes, opens the door for Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who has been very vocal about overturning the UIGEA. Frank is not only a big advocate for overturning the bill, because he thinks that it impinges on the freedoms of Americans, also likely because PricewaterhouseCoopers has done a study of the chairman’s proposal, and it appears that legalizing and taxing online gaming revenue could lead to huge windfall in revenue for the government.
Maybe some of the funds could be used to fund these economic stimulus packages, instead of having the Fed print more money?