Legal Online Poker
After months of news about the efforts for legalizing online poker there has been quite a break in information. Headlines from the congressional hearings were everywhere a few months ago but lately not much has been said about it. Leaders of the poker world, or at least a few of the more notable talking heads like Annie Duke made front page news during the discussions on Capitol Hill, but nothing cement came out of it at the time.
We believe that favorable legislation is in the works but could possibly take awhile longer before more is made of it and the discussions revamp upwards.
A legal perspective on the issue of online poker rests on how the courts determine "predominance." What predominance means is that any game or enterprise is referred to legally as gambling when chance and luck predominate over skill. Colorado, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania court systems have decided the skill elements of poker override the chance factors. These were landmark cases and the conclusion of these cases were that <strong>these states found that, in legal terms, poker is not gambling</strong>. The fact judges and juries in these states recognize that poker is a skill game and that poker is not in the same class as gambling games like craps and sports betting. Hopefully this bodes well for the future of online poker in the United States.
Obama dragging his feet on legalizing online poker. I know he has a lot on his plate, but I hope he can find some time in 2010 to push through the legislation which seems to be popular in Congress and within the American people.
This is the biggest court decision for online poker as the whole poker world sets their eyes on the Kentucky courts. A favorable ruling for the common sense plan of regulation and taxation would open the path for progress as support for the bills in Congress will increase. Lobby groups upbeat after Kentucky egaming court battle:
"THE GAMING INDUSTRY lobby groups fighting the Kentucky online gambling website block have slammed Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear’s arguments in court.
The Kentucky Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments from the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) and the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming sociation (iMEGA) in the US state the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s legal challenge to the Kentucky Court of Appeal’s decision in January to block its seizure of 141 domain names.
iMEGA’s attorney, Jon Fleischaker, attacked Governor Beshear’s efforts to block state residents’ use of internet gambling web sites as “intellectually dishonest” and said that “they made up a process that is totally lacking in due process.”
In a statement issued after the hearing, the chief executive of poker advocacy group the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), John Pappas, said the PPA had been “very pleased” with the arguments presented.
Pappas said: “I strongly believe we will prevail. If the Commonwealth [of Kentucky] is truly interested in protecting consumers, it should put its energy in licensing and regulating online poker – which would also bring in millions in revenue – versus attempting to banish online poker through such a bold, broad and unlawful seizure.” Kentucky governor Steve Beshear is challenging the Kentucky Court of Appeal’s decision in January to block the seizure, after it rejected his claim that Kentucky players and the gambling sites had violated state law and held that the judge who issued the original seizure order in September 2008 had misapplied the state’s gambling devices law. Pappas said the PPA hoped to work with Kentucky lawmakers “on the common sense solution of licensing and regulation” following a positive ruling from the Kentucky Supreme Court."
Daniel Negreanu might be the best spoken PPA spokesperson. Oh and Daniel Negreanu is also one the best to listen to as he runs over poker tournaments when he is on a roll.
Barney Frank UIGEA Repeal Video. This means everything to online poker. Doyle Brunson Speaks About the UIGEA
The World Poker Association is making progress towards reversing the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and making it so online poker is regulated. Regulating online poker would let it thrive in the United States and provide players with the security they desire.
To follow the WPA in their efforts to lobby congress you can join the WPA Facebook group and become a WPA Myspace friend.
“Captain” Tom Franklin is the head of the WPA Board of Directors and he leads an organization which has goals to unite poker players. The WPA has even helped poker players get health insurance. Health insurance is a need amongst professional poker players since they often can not get health insurance anywhere else. Any member of the WPA can get the WPA sponsored health insurance for a few hundred dollars each month.
Another goal of the WPA is creating a uniform poker rules system. With so many rule variations for tournaments, it becomes confusing for players to know all of the different rules for each tournament they enter. Interpreting rules consistently is a challenge for poker room managers but with a standard poker rules system than making consistently fair rulings becomes much easier.
If you have not done so already, join the WPA. The more members the more powerful the organization becomes which allows them to have more influence in Washington DC.
A few poker organizations exist to lobby the United States Government into legalizing online poker. Several years ago playing online poker was legal and easily accessible to any player. Today, online poker legality is less clear and the accessibility has also decreased. Though playing online poker is legal for most Americans, several states outlaw their residents from playing online poker. Many online poker rooms have stopped serving American customers after the US Government passed the controversial UIGEA, a law making it illegal for financial institutions from transferring funds to online poker rooms and from accepting funds from online poker rooms. The ambiguous law made it unclear whether poker rooms could operate inside the United States. As a result, several left the United States to focus their business on Europe and the rest of the world. Most notable of these was Party Poker, which at one time was the biggest online poker room in the world but after leaving the US market dropped to number 5 in the world. Party Poker was publicly owned and the complications with being on the stock market and adhering to the laws forced them to leave the US. Private online poker rooms with international headquarters felt the UIGEA did not apply to them and continued to offer online poker to players from the United States.
After the UIGEA was passed, lobbying efforts on behalf of players from the United States increased dramatically. Two of these legal poker organizations are at the forefront of reversing the UIGEA and creating a regulation system that is fair.
- World Poker Association
- Poker Players Alliance
Bob Marley said it best when he said "Get Up Stand Up Stand Up for Your Right" and "Don't Give Up the Fight". Although he was probably not talking about the right to play online poker legally Bob Marley was thinking about our freedoms. Freedom is a right from birth. Freedom to choose how we live our life and not to have others tell us how to spend our free time and our own money. Playing a skill game like poker online is something that needs minimal government interference except for taxation, regulation and to support fair play.
Stand Up for Your Right to Play Online Poker Legally
Legal poker in the United States is a topic which is at the forefront of the government. Congress has a chance to make poker legal and appease the tens of millions of poker players in the United States. Legalize Me hopes to inform the public about the movements of the great ambassadors for poker as they try to convince the powers that be - our growing number of Congressional leaders - who have seen the light.
The light.
Poker has been played for hundreds of years and is a part of American history.
Poker is a game of skill. How else can it be that I win every tournament I enter.
The UIGEA - law that made it illegal for financial institutions from dealing with online gaming sites - was never fairly discussed and was sneakily attached to a for sure gonna pass port security bill. The two Senators waited till the last possible moment to add it to the bill knowing full well congress was about to go on their two week winter break and would not even look closely at the UIGEA issue because of the larger port security.
Regulate Poker. Tax the legal online poker rooms. Allow Untied States companies to make money too.