On Sunday, CBS News program “60 Minutes” aired a feature story outlining the online poker scandals that occurred on Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Keeping a watchful eye on the show was Republican Congressman Spencer Bachus, who hails from Alabama and is a staunch opponent of internet gambling. A ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, of which poker-friendly Congressman Barney Frank is the Chairman, Bachus recently shared his thoughts on the 60 Minutes story.
Several times throughout the program, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft stated that online poker was illegal in the United States. Producers of the show were told that was fact by the Department of Justice. However, noted gambling and the law expert I. Nelson Rose told Poker News Daily that the legality of online poker ultimately depends on a number of factors: “You can’t say for sure that online poker is illegal. There are too many variables.” 60 Minutes called Rose to talk about the legality of online poker. However, the producers of the show did not incorporate his views into the final edit.
Bachus, who has openly argued against bills that seek to clarify the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), commented in a press release available on the Congressman’s website, “Off-shore Internet gambling sites operating in the United States are all illegal and therefore, by definition, they are run by criminals. When you deal with criminals, you should expect to be cheated and taken advantage of.” Bachus voted against both HR 5767 and HR 6870 in Committee. The latter, which was the second version of the Payments System Protection Act, sought to clarify what was legal and what was illegal under the UIGEA. Under the law, banks and other financial institutions are charged with interpreting what is legal and then enforcing it.
The UIGEA regulations will go into effect on January 19th, 2009, one day before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. Compliance by financial institutions is mandated by December 1st, 2009, a little less than one year from now. The regulations were part of the Bush Administration’s midnight rule-making and invoked memories of how the UIGEA was pushed through Congress originally by outgoing Majority Leader Bill Frist back in 2006. Bachus commented, “Hopefully, the publication of this information will warn people to avoid these unsafe gambling sites, but it is welcome news that the regulations to enforce the provisions of the law we adopted two years ago to stop these criminal activities are finally being put into effect.”
Bachus told the Birmingham News in a story that appeared earlier this week, “No longer will the offshore gambling interests benefit from turning any computer into a casino that is available every minute of the day.” His concern remains focused his beliefs that online poker rooms and other internet gambling sites are against the law.
The legality of internet gambling in the United States remains up in the air. John Pappas, the President of the Poker Players Alliance, which is the major lobbying voice for the online poker industry, explained to Poker News Daily what CBS producers may have meant by their comments: “What the Department of Justice is saying is that it’s illegal for the companies to offer the services, but not illegal for the players to play. The Department of Justice has said that offering internet gambling is unlawful, even horse racing.”
Sites that allow online wagering on horse racing received an exemption from the UIGEA, although Frank called into question their legality in a recent hearing, saying, “It depends on which department you asked.”
A panel discussion which was filmed during the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) that included World Poker Tour Host Mike Sexton, Tournament Directors Association Founder Linda Johnson, and 2004 WSOP Main Event winner and lawyer Greg Raymer was eliminated from the final cut of 60 Minutes.
No regulation by US government means massive cheating by players and poker sites. 60 minutes opened my eyes and I have stopped all internet poker playing. I now know just how easy it is to cheat and I leave online poker playing to the stupid fools who just can’t figure this out.
It ia amasing to me that no one in this debate about internet poker site safety has not talked about listed versus privately held operators. There is very limited oversight of the privately held companies, whereas the networks/operators that are listed on the various stock exchanges have a greater responsibility, including a legal fiduciary duty, to monitor security on their sites.
Right? Right….