Poker Legislation News
It was a weird day in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Tuesday as legislators voted on whether or not to legalize online gambling, including online poker, in the Commonwealth. It was generally thought that Tuesday would be a close win for the online poker community, but it strangely wasn’t. The conclusion, though, is yet to… Read more »
Failed Republican presidential candidate, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, is best known to poker fans as Sheldon Adelson’s jock-carrier and the Senator who introduced Adelson’s Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) last year. RAWA, if it even became law, would place a ban on online gambling in the United States, wiping out the current legal,… Read more »
On Wednesday, the Michigan legislature’s Regulatory Reform Committee held an informational hearing to discuss two related online poker bills: SB 889, which would legalized and regulate online gambling in the state and SB 890, which would amend Michigan’s penal code to permit for the online gambling that is legalized in SB 889. From the sounds… Read more »
Offering her opinion from a national seat on an issue that the state is trying to figure out (the civics people in the audience will realize how that sounds), California Senator Diane Feinstein recently penned a letter to the California General Assembly in opposition to their efforts to pass effective regulation of online poker. The… Read more »
We wrote briefly earlier today about the amendments added on to California AB 2863, a bill which would legalize online poker in the state and how they were preceded by a letter to the bill’s co-author, Assemblyman Adam Gray, from a group of tribes who desperately want a “bad actor” clause included in the final… Read more »
With a hearing on Adam Gray’s California Assembly Bill 2863 looming this week, it has appeared that after years of squabbling, the various stakeholders were finally getting close to an agreement that would make online poker legal in the state. That may still be true, but last week, a couple amendments were added to the… Read more »
According to a brief report by TheHill.com, major players on both sides of the online gambling battle in the United States have acquired more troops. Both Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG) and Amaya Services Ltd., a division of PokerStars parent Amaya, have hired new lobbyists. The CSIG, funded by Las Vegas Sands… Read more »
On Wednesday, New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) Director David Rebuck issued a “Director’s Advisory Bulletin” in order to address how his department will handle online poker operators who offer their games in “grey markets.” These grey markets are jurisdictions in which online gaming is not explicitly forbidden, but also in which there is… Read more »
After slumbering through the first quarter of 2016, the drive for another state to join the three United States locales that have already enacted online gaming or poker legislation grew by one with the addition of the state of Michigan. On Friday, Michigan State Senator Mike Kowall introduced his bill SB 889, or “The Lawful… Read more »
According to OnlinePokerReport.com, the California Assembly Governmental Organization (GO) Committee will be holding a hearing on online poker bill AB 2863 next Wednesday, April 20th. The bill, championed by California Assemblyman Adam Gray, aims to legalize and regulate internet poker California, the biggest prize for the online poker in the United States. Today, the PokerStars… Read more »
Do you hear it? That sucking sound is Sheldon Adelson’s hopes for a United States devoid of online poker dying an embarrassing death. The hole where his RAWA-occupied heart should be will now have to be filled with Andy Abboud’s cell phone prop. Late last week, Gambling Compliance reported that Adelson is shifting his focus… Read more »
Online poker is once again back on the table in California, as California State Representative Adam Gray introduced Assembly Bill 2863 (AB 2863) on Friday. The bill’s goal is to legalize and regulate intrastate online poker in the Golden State. This has been tried many, many times before in California over the last several years,… Read more »
In August 2015, a three-judge appellate court panel ruled against the state of New Jersey in the state’s ongoing push to legalize sports betting. It was nothing new for the Garden State, which has been trying to join an exclusive club of states where sports gambling is actually allowed for several years, but it was… Read more »
Good news for poker players out of New York Tuesday as Senate Bill S5302 passed through the Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering by a unanimous 9-0 vote. The bill aims to legalize and regulate “certain interactive poker games that are considered to be games of skill” (read: online poker). This is the first… Read more »
The year 2006 was notable in the poker world for how up and down it was. On the one hand, you had the largest World Series of Poker Main Event of all time, when Jamie Gold jawed his way to the championship and an incredible $12 million. But on the other hand, the Unlawful Internet… Read more »
The California State Assembly Governmental Organization (GO) Committee was expected to hold a hearing on three internet gambling bills last Wednesday and the hearing did go off as planned. To the disappointment of online poker supporters, though, only the daily fantasy sports (DFS) bill was discussed. That bill, AB 1437, which would legalize and regulate… Read more »
For most of 2015, California was at the forefront of the movement to regulate online gaming and/or poker in the United States. The problem was that was the furthest it ever got in the Golden State – discussion – as only one bill passed out of committee and it was little more than a placeholder… Read more »
New Jersey casinos outside of Atlantic City are unthinkable, aren’t they? Maybe not. According to an Associated Press article, state lawmakers are currently trying to put together a plan to make exactly this happen. State Senator Ray Lesniak, perhaps the biggest supporter of online poker in the entire state, and State Senator Joseph Kyrillos urged… Read more »
As we approach the final week of the year 2015, it is time to take a look back at some of the great moments of the year and some of the less popular times. Arguably the dominant story throughout the calendar year was the continued fight in the political spectrum over online poker. The fight… Read more »
The poker community was anticipating a vote on the legalization of online gambling in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last week, but it never came and looks like it will be delayed for several more days at the very least. House Bill 649, introduced by Gaming Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. John Payne (R – Dauphin)… Read more »
It looks like Thursday will be the day that we find out if a future for online poker is still alive in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today was supposed to see a vote on HB 649, a bill which would legalize and regulate online gambling, but the vote was pushed to tomorrow, as lawmakers in… Read more »
Remember when a couple Attorneys General tried to get their colleagues to sign a petition in support of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA)? If you read my other article today, you do. At first, it may have seemed a little scary, what with a whole lot of top law enforcement officials potentially getting… Read more »
Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt attempted to appease some of his critics this week by penning his own letter to leaders of the United States House and Senate Judiciary Committees, a sort of supplement to the letter sent by several state Attorneys General supporting the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA). As we have reported,… Read more »
The website Morning Consult published an op-ed piece by Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas on Monday in which he railed against the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) and the upcoming hearing on online poker scheduled for Wednesday in front of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee. The committee’s chairman is none… Read more »
The news two days ago that Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt would be signing a letter from other AG’s in support of the federal ban regarding online gaming and poker came as a stunner. Not only did it surprise the online gaming and poker communities – and the casinos that support online gaming – but… Read more »
