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Lawmakers Eager to Legalize Online Poker but Progress Still Not Visible

Posted on April 26th, 2011

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For every anti-online poker lobbyist who lectures about the ills of online gambling, there are those like Andra Verstraete who find online poker a quick relief from an underperforming economy. On the web, Verstraete is Audigirl, and she has been playing online for more than five years. “I play Texas hold ‘em and it’s really a game of skill. It’s deeply psychological and it doesn’t matter what you’re holding in your hand,” she said. “It’s about outsmarting your opponent – that’s what I like about it because I’m really competitive.” Gamers and lawmakers alike understand that everyone is on a rush to have the game legalized so the state can regulate and tax it accordingly. In California alone, the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland hope to feature as a key player in the promising and lucrative online poker sector and many hope just as much for a stake in the pie.

It’s not a coincidence that the U.S. federal authorities made arrests last week; a show of might in the long questionable but hard to regulate industry is probably what the market needed to tip the scales in favor of the government and its plan for regulation. The FBI just last week indicted 11 people who are accused of circumventing the existing checks in the system, operating the three largest online poker websites in the continental United States. The federal government did not mince words in accusing those 11 of “manipulating banks to process billions of dollars in illegal revenue.” Adds Ryan Hightower, the spokesman for the California Online Poker Association (COPA), “This really underscores the need for state legislation and player protection.” To put the case in perspective, the charge against Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Absolute Poker are in the ballpark of $3 billion and could be much higher if the government chose to go back farther to when these unregulated companies started operating without a gaming license.

The move was received with mixed emotions by players who did not expect such a sweeping action from the federal government which has remained, for the most part, tolerant of online gambling despite its status. Still, for those who doubt the sincerity of the government’s move, they won’t have to look farther than the domain-name use agreements entered into by the defendants PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker with the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York who is handling the case in behalf of the U.S. government. Said officials, the agreement will only serve to “facilitate the return of money so that players can register their refund requests directly with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.”

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharra also clarified that “No individual player accounts were ever frozen or restrained, and each implicated poker company has at all times been free to reimburse any player’s deposited funds.” COPA took this turn of events as the signal for the need both at the state and federal levels to impose operating rules for online gaming. Hightower stressed the necessity of creating a regulated environment where players can play in security. “There is an urgency,” said Hightower. “Right now, as these indictments show, there’s not a whole lot of regulation of these sites. It provides an opportunity for fraud and ID theft.” In California, the support for online poker in a regulated framework is well documented, although the state has yet to move on two Senate Bills that seek to legalize online poker within the state. Proponents likewise argue the economic advantages of such a move pointing to job creation and taxation revenues as definite necessities in a weak economy.

COPA, in a personally commissioned study, says that the government can profit up to $1 billion in tax revenues over a 10 year period will adding up to 1,100 in new jobs for the state. Given the $26 billion budget deficit that the state legislature is facing, it’s looking more likely that California will move to become the first U.S. state to legalize online poker although until it actually happens, it continues to be a dream for the many. The same can be said in Congress where Sen. Harry Reid has floated a bill to legalize online poker at the federal level. Enthusiasts and supporters look on eagerly, hoping perhaps that it becomes sooner rather than later. Until the legislative muddle clears however, there is still no assurance. Everyone lies in wait.