I read a recent blog posting asking whether legal online gambling in the U.S. was a state or a federal affair. My answer is that it seems to be both. On a federal level Massachusetss Representative and Chair of the House Finances Committee Barney Frank tries to get a bill through Congress effectively knocking down the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) and making online poker legal for U.S. players again.
But as we all eagerly await his (imminent?) success, the states aren’t waiting at all. Lawyer and Washington State Director of the Poker Players Alliance sadly failed in his effort to get a Washington court to repeal a state ban on internet gambling as it was a violation of certain constitutional rights. But the court upheld the ban, and the fight in Washington goes on.
Meanwhile, Californians (including Governor Arnold) tries to make CA the first state to legalize online poker and online gambling, and allow the state to collect a revenue from it by regulating it.
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Thu, Apr 2, 2009
Poker Laws