Online gaming just took a beat.

[Tinsel Town]

Sensible poster on pocketfives just said this


Bill has to pass House.

Bill has to pass Senate (our next battleground for campaigning/pressuring lawmakers)

President has to sign bill.

Enforcement has to catch up.

Plenty of time for playing poker, but not a lot of time for playing around. This affects my sportsbetting too.
 

[Wardonkey]

I read this article at Cardplayer a while ago.

It explains quite clearly the problems the prohibitionists face.

http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/15416

[mikkyT]

To sum up the words of the wise and the words of the technically gifted on this issue:

Online poker will never be (successfully) banned in the USA.

[Gryff]

While I was a little precipitous the result is in, the bill has passed the house.

Just the senate and the president to go.

I agree its much like prohibition there is no practical method of enforcement.

[mikkyT]

The bill can pass the house, its completely meaningless!!!!

[dik9]

I don't think its there to prohibit gambling on the net, debit cards will be fine. Think they are gearing up to earn a few extra billion bucks

According to a study commissioned by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the US government could potentially make $3.5 billion per year in taxes from Internet poker. Income taxes on winnings would amount to nearly $2.5 billion of that total per annum while a 1 per cent user fee on online poker transactions would generate another $1 billion in revenue for the American government.

"The majority of the revenue that's generated would be from reporting of poker winnings," said Michael Bolcerek, president of the group.

The report comes as the US House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a bill which would clarify the laws on Internet gambling and potentially ban the use of credit cards, checks or fund transfers for settling wagers online.

"The reason why poker hasn't exploded as rapidly as it probably could have is because there is this overhanging legal question," Bolcerek went on to comment. "Once you remove that barrier, that's going to more than compensate for any potential negative effect of people not playing the game because they are being taxed."

The PPA, which is lobbying for the regulation of online gambling, estimates that poker generated $60 billion worldwide in 2005 alone.