PPA Praises Chairman Barney Frank for Introducing Legislation to
Establish U.S. Licensing, Regulation of Internet Poker

WASHINGTON, DC. (May 6, 2009) –The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, today praised House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) for introducing the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act and called for its speedy consideration. The legislation establishes the needed licensing and regulatory framework for the United States to exercise appropriate control and oversight over Internet poker and other forms of Internet gaming.

“Online poker is a legal, thriving industry and poker players deserve the consumer protections and the freedom to play that are provided for in this legislation,” PPA Chairman and former Senator Alfonse D’Amato said. “We are grateful for Chairman Frank’s leadership and will be activating our grassroots army made up of over one million members to help him drive legislation.”

Chairman Frank’s legislation addresses the need for licensing and regulation of online poker, ensuring the original objectives of the proponents of the overly vague Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) are met. By using the most modern technologies and regulatory authority, this bill goes further than UIGEA to keep children and problem gamblers off these sites, at the same time allowing for strong consumer protections for adult consumers who enjoy this recreational activity. Additionally, licensing and regulation presents an avenue for companies to return to the U.S., providing the economy with much needed jobs and tax revenue.

Key provisions of the bill include:

• Thorough vetting of potential licensees;
• Mandatory implementation of technologies to protect against underage gambling and to monitor and detect individuals with excessive gaming habits;
• High standards to thwart fraud and abuse of customers;
• Regulation to prevent money laundering; and,
• Processes to prevent tax avoidance.


Proud to play,

Drew

I guess if the PPA supports it presumably includes the sites we currently play at, correct?

What's the word on the provisions for individual states?

For any congress person to vote against "state's rights" would be political suicide. So that will be something we are going to have to choke down is my bet.

Drew, how soon till PPA links up a bill copy to read?

obg

Question....what does "detect individuals with excessive gaming habits" mean?
Is this based on losses or time spent playing? Both could be really bad for pro players grinding 100+ hours a month or for grinders going through bad downswings.

just curious

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press...nk_008_xml.pdf

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press.../gambling2.pdf (Delaying the UIGEA to 12/1/10).

so the PPA is supporting a bill that has state opt outs?

If this passed, and state opt outs were enforceable, then I think it is reasonable to assume a large number of poker players would be incapable of playing online. Nice to see you guys are fighting for 'our' rights.

Agreed.

Very disappointing.

nice to see Frank asked for the UIEGA regs to be pushed back til Dec 2010

Yeah, I don't really know that I can support this bill.

Can someone explain why this "state-opt out" is bad? I dont follow these threads much and im a little confused.

uh just think about it. You want 1/2 of America not able to play online?

It would give the state you live in the option of not allowing any of its citizens to gamble online.

We're going to keep having the same battles like we've had in Kentucky and now Minnesota. This bill will do nothing accept add a new tax on the game in States that allow it.

Not really, but its better than nothing. Wouldnt the opted out states just continue to play like they are now? I assume Illinois is one of those states?

The sites that aren't following the rules of this bill aren't going to be able to maintain their license. They could go underground like they are now (so to speak), but then nothing has really changed.

This bill changes nothing and I don't see any reason for anyone to support it.

Does the bill explicitly (I haven't read it all yet) make offering unlicensed poker illegal? Because that would certainly be a change

Oh and hello, PPA, where are you? So was this all just a big surprise? No one there had a clue about the state opt outs until today?

let's be calm here, this is possibly a step in the right direction.

I read the bill and have a couple of thoughts. The state opt out provision was assumed IMO. This basically means that we will either have to live in a state that has it or possess an address (or say a P.O. Box) in a state that does.

I am assuming that all the talk about Indian Territory is related to Kahnawake? Assuming of course that they can prove that they are a legitimate body?

There were some hurdles thrown in there that might be tough for some current sites to jump but to be honest I don't see everyone going through these hoops.

Logically it would seem that it is going to be more difficult after this legislation would pass but certainly not impossible, so expect the sites that we currently play at to have a big decision ahead of them.

If I was a betting man I see FTP going for regulation and PokerStars not. That is just a guess on my part.

I see what you mean. Hopefully this is at least a step in the right direction, but I hope the PPA didnt just screw us with this. why the hell would they include that option in this bill?

Thats like saying "We demand our constitutional rights!!... unless thats not ok with you Kentucky."

state opt outs are not a step in the right direction, not even close.

They were in Frank's bill last year and many were hoping that they wouldn't be in this one.

I'm dumbfounded as to why the PPA is supporting this bill as online poker is just going to keep being attacked in the U.S. on a state-by-state basis. I hope they can explain themselves.

would there be monetary incentive for states to allow gambling?