A Stay of Execution for the UIGEA
November 25, 2009
Talk about a last minute pardon.
In somewhat-good-but-not-really great news for online poker players, it appears that UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) compliance has been delayed until June 1st, 2010. Once that date arrives, there is an option for additional extensions.
It will also give Congress time to consider bills that do legalize some kind of online gambling, such as Barney Frank’s HR 2267. The Frank Bill would create an automatic exception for online Poker (and only Poker) to the UIGEA, and it would seek to establish a framework within which other online games could be made legal.
Note that today’s revelation does not mean that the UIGEA has been repealed, it simply means that financial institutions are not required to be in compliance until June. Since many institutions are already compliant or semi-compliant, however, it may not have a huge impact on the status-quo.
It can already be a daunting task for new U.S. players to join the online poker and gambling ranks (I love our freedoms, but Al Qaeda hates them), and that is unlikely to change with this news in and of itself. It does, however, indicate that something is in the works … perhaps something major, and at this point, I would assume that it is at least the precursor to a complete repeal of the act.
Goldman Sachs has already issued a notice to investors that online gambling would be legal in the U.S. … it was not a matter of “if”, only “when”. This development seems to support the Sachs position.
Given that the 2010 elections are nearly at hand, this could also be a play by one of the parties to cater to the needs and come to the rescue of the recreational gambler.
Of course, what remains to be seen is what will happen to port security if this bill is overturned. If people are allowed to gamble online at some point in the future, I fear for the lives of all Americans. Cargo will begin flowing into and out of the country un-inspected, and a severe plague of anal warts will be unleashed by Osama Bin Laden himself in a well-disguised bag of taco shells, and will spread from West to East until the entire nation is enveloped in a crescendo of rectal discomfort.
These are the things that keep me up at night.
I refuse to believe that our legislature would take something as important as the nation’s security so cavalierly as to screw around with online gaming in the same bill, and therefore I must believe that there are actual terrorist threats posed by said gaming. Otherwise, the UIGEA would never have been enacted in the first place.
I am, if nothing else, a patriot … and I have the utmost faith and confidence in my government to do the right thing for all Americans.
The story was broken by Pocket Fives who reveal:
“No official comment from U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (pictured at left) or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had been issued at press time. Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association Chairman Joe Brennan told PocketFives.com, “I’m surprised because normally it’s unusual for the Treasury to do this. Regardless of whether it was the Poker Player Alliance’s (PPA) pressure, the banking industry’s pressure, or Congressman Barney Frank’s pressure, it’s encouraging to see. It’s the first time you could say that things have stopped going against the industry here in Washington, DC.
The PPA, the poker industry’s main lobbying force, was among several groups that authored letters to Bernanke and Geithner urging that the mandatory compliance date for the UIGEA regulations be pushed back until December 1st, 2010. Others who chimed in included the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, and members of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation, which feared that overblocking of legal internet gambling transactions could stunt online wagering on horse racing. In New Hampshire and North Dakota, overblocking led to denial of legal online lottery purchases.”
Hopefully, it is a harbinger of positive online developments to come.
Online Gambling - Wishful Thinking
Online Gambling - Wishful Thinking
P.S. I would like to thank reader Tully for the heads-up on this development.
Written by tully on November 25, 2009 at 8:05 pm
While I’m not brim full of optimism, my hope is the longer enforcement is delayed, the more likely it is that UIGEA will be repealed.
The strange thing with UIGEA was that two days before, the proposed poker bill was dead in the water—word was out there would be no on line gambling legislation passed that year. Online poker players, sports betters, and gamblers were celebrating.
48 hours later, we were crying, as Frist had successfully back doored UIGEA into the Port Security Bill. A man who had taken nearly $50,000 in campaign contributions from, uh, well, a large US land based casino corporation, was suddenly opposed to online gambling because it was a threat to national security and the morals of society? But lotteries and horse betting are both OK?
Yeah, right. Factor in his cat experiments while in med school (sickening) and this guy earned a permanent place on my sh#t list.