A number of recent developments in the US are making it seem more and more likely that online poker will soon be legalized and regulated in the United States. These developments, moreover, come as a surprise after, just over a month ago, the industry got excited when the GOP drew up its platform without any mention of online gambling, and then disappointed by subsequently re-inserting prohibitionist language.

But now, two things have swung the tide: (1) the Payment Service Protection Act (PSPA), and (2) legislation introduced this week that will reclassify poker as a skill game.

The PSPA

In September, Barney Frank Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Peter King (R- NY) succeeded in passing PSPA 6870, a revised version of HR 5767. What does this mean for poker players? Well, as Online Casino Reports explains:

At its core, the PSPA calls for greater clarity on which online gambling activities should be outlawed. [...] The PSPA is a call to regulate the online gambling industry in the USA. This means that there will be checks and balances on what online gambling will be permissible; how it will operate and to whom it will be accountable.
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The PSPA requires that [...] any regulations beyond sports betting will be stopped, until an administrative law judge determines exactly what is legal and illegal Internet gambling. This means that online poker for example, will have its day in court.

There’s a bit more too it than that, and Online Casino Reports gives a great overview of the PSPA, but the point is that online poker will be reconsidered as a legitimate area of ecommerce.

New Poker Legislation

Since the PSPA made it’s way through the House Financial Services Committee, however, the plot has thickened (in an exciting way) for online poker enthusiasts. Specifically, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has introduced legislation that could speed up the regulation of online poker. As the GPWA reports, this legislation:

[...] would legally define poker as a skill game and create a regulatory environment for the game to be offered over the Internet in the United States. The bill is the first piece of legislation concerning online gambling that has been introduced to the Senate since the passage of the UIGEA.
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Menendez’s “Internet Skill Game Licensing and Control Act” calls on the U.S. Treasury Department to set up a licensing framework for games that use “simulated cards, dice, or tiles in which success is predominantly determined by the skill of the players.”

So by the time that opponents of online poker get a chance to argue their plight before an administrative law judge (under teh PSPA), online poker may already be fully regulated and institutionalized. And if there’s anything for certain about an already regulated and institutionalized activity, it’s that if it generates profits (and taxes), that activity is usually here to stay.

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