Poker Legislation News
Earlier this month, members of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) and pros like Andy Bloch, Linda Johnson, and Jan Fisher met with nearly 50 Washington State legislators. The objective: convince lawmakers to overturn a 2006 statute that makes playing online poker a Class C felony. Also in the house in the northwest state was PPA… Read more »
On Thursday morning, the Nevada Assembly Committee on Judiciary met to review a proposal regarding the legalization and regulation of intrastate online poker. The committee hearing featured discussion of AB 258, the legislation proposed by Committee on Judiciary Chairman William Horne. Horne’s legislation would effectively legalize internet poker in Nevada, although there was some discussion… Read more »
The owner of the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Michael Gaughan, has come out in favor of pending legislation in the Nevada Assembly that would open the first regulated and licensed online poker market in the United States. By making this pronouncement, Gaughan became the first major casino owner to support the… Read more »
The Florida Senate Regulated Industries Committee, composed of seven Republicans and five Democrats, met yesterday to debate two issues with intrinsic ties to poker, both live and online. According to an article in the St. Augustine Record, the two issues could ignite debate about the role of gaming inside Florida’s borders. The first subject raised… Read more »
In a day that featured the tip-off of the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, lawmakers on Capitol Hill stole the show. Dominating wins by Pittsburgh and San Diego State and disheartening losses by Louisville and Vanderbilt were overshadowed by Congressmen John Campbell (R-CA) and Barney Frank (D-MA) introducing the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and… Read more »
On Thursday, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the poker industry’s main lobbying voice for players, will spend seven hours lobbying members of Washington State’s legislature in Olympia. The goal is to convince officials to overturn a law that makes playing online poker in Washington State a Class C felony. Text from a press release sent… Read more »
Nevada Assembly Majority Whip William Horne introduced AB258 on Thursday calling for legalized intrastate online poker. The news comes one week after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have created the first intrastate internet gambling regime in the U.S. Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas told the Wall Street… Read more »
Last week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropped a bombshell on our industry by vetoing a bill proposed by State Senator Raymond Lesniak that would have created the first intrastate internet gambling market in the U.S. Now, the online poker industry has had a chance to digest the veto of the bill, which sailed through… Read more »
On Thursday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have created the first intrastate internet gambling market in the U.S. That decision has opened the door for other states like Iowa to become the first to legalize gambling on the internet within their borders. On Wednesday, the Iowa State Government Committee voted… Read more »
In breaking news from New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie has vetoed a bill passed overwhelmingly by both chambers of the state’s legislature that would have created the first intrastate internet gambling market in the U.S. According to the Wall Street Journal, Christie’s decision was in part based on doubts about whether the bill could withstand… Read more »
Online poker players in New Jersey are anxiously laying in wait as Governor Chris Christie examines the merits of an intrastate internet gambling bill that sailed through the state’s legislature five weeks ago. The fate of the industry now rests in Christie’s hands. According to the New York Post, Christie signing the measure into law… Read more »
We’re only two months into the 112th Congress and already talk of pro-internet gambling legislation being introduced has begun. This time, it’s from Congressman John Campbell (R-CA), who, according to Gambling Compliance, has teamed with Barney Frank (D-MA) to call for the licensing and regulation of internet gambling in the United States. In an e-mail… Read more »
Online poker players in the United States rejoice! Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), one of the pilots of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), is retiring from Capitol Hill in 2012. According to the Associated Press, Kyl made the announcement on Thursday and plans to vacate his office after three terms spanning 18 years.… Read more »
Last week, the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee passed S 254, a bill that would change the state’s laws regarding private home poker games. The current law, which was enacted in 1802, made any game involving cards or dice – such as poker, Yahtzee, or even Monopoly – a game of chance and illegal under… Read more »
Las Vegas. Atlantic City. Tunica. Biloxi. Florida? If some Florida state legislators get their wish, Florida may become known for more than just Disney and fun in the sun. Last week, Republican State Senator Dennis Jones told the Miami Herald newspaper that he plans to introduce legislation that would allow for up to five “destination”… Read more »
The United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media, and Sport, concerned about the welfare of vulnerable segments of the country’s population, is taking aim at foreign internet gambling companies. Jeremy Hunt wants to make sweeping changes to the U.K.’s gambling laws to tighten up regulations and greatly restrict who can compete for the… Read more »
Monday marked a historic day for the internet gambling industry in the United States. A bill introduced by State Senator Raymond Lesniak cleared the New Jersey Assembly by a comfortable 63-11 margin, with three lawmakers abstaining. Recently, it was approved in the New Jersey Senate by a 34-2 vote, or a 17:1 edge. Now, it… Read more »
As reported by Forbes Magazine, Federal prosecutors have seized nearly $8 million from financial institutions in Washington State that were holding money for processors of major online poker sites like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB.com, and Absolute Poker. The move reportedly came in the past two weeks and is the latest in the Department of… Read more »
According to Politco, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is keeping his 2012 reelection plans close to the vest, creating uncertainty in the future hierarchy of his party’s leadership. Kyl is the Senate Minority Whip, the second ranking position in the Republican Party. Poker players know Kyl as Capitol Hill’s current public enemy number one to online… Read more »
Last Friday, Judge Thomas Wingate issued an Order of Abeyance in the Kentucky internet gambling case, effectively freezing the status quo for 30 days. Motions filed by the State and the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) “shall be held in abeyance until such time as this Court rules on the legal standing question… Read more »
On Friday, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas appeared on Bloomberg Television to discuss the bill legalizing and regulating online poker introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). On the likelihood of a bill passing before the current Congressional session expires, Pappas candidly told Bloomberg viewers, “It would really have to… Read more »
On Thursday morning, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas told Poker News Daily that the bill introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) legalizing and regulating online poker is all but dead. A move to add the bill’s language to the tax relief act currently being debated in Congress failed to… Read more »
On Friday, attorneys for the Commonwealth of Kentucky responded to the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA). The organization had filed a motion to intervene on behalf of 141 internet gambling domain names that could be forfeited if legal action taken by the State is successful. Court documents filed by iMEGA read in part,… Read more »
According to an article published by Bloomberg sourcing the Washington Post newspaper, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) may add a measure legalizing online poker to “a spending package or other must-pass legislation before Congress adjourns for the year.” Online poker was not part of a draft of the tax relief bill released last… Read more »
According to a Politico article released on Thursday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) still plans to pursue legislation legalizing and regulating online poker, but likely won’t do so as part of the tax relief bill. The Politico piece noted that language legalizing online poker was absent from a version of the tax bill… Read more »
