Will America re-open to Online Poker? Your thoughts..

[TightEnd]

Just reading the Online Poker press recently,speculations and rumours have been growing over whether or not the American market will finally re-open after closing its door to online gambling following UIEGA in 2006.
 
“Most knowledgeable experts believe that Harry Reid, the Senates Majority Leader, and representative for Nevada (La Vegas) will soon introduce a bill which will legalise and regulate online poker” Joseph M. Kelly, Ph.D., J.D., Professor of Business Law at State College at Buffalo stated “This will be separate from the current bill that currently exists in the house of Representative. Although what this Senator Reid bill encompasses is still at this stage only pure conjuncture, we are certainly witnessing a very interesting time in the regulation of online gambling in the US on a federal level”

 However it’s not just the federal government which seems to have picked-up its pace on regulation. With only six states in America not facing budget shortfalls in 2011, many state policy-makers are faced with exploring options that would bring regulated internet gambling to their jurisdictions in the absence of federal movement. An industry which would generate new revenues and create new jobs would be welcomed by states such as California, New Jersey, Florida and Iowa, who would be looking to back out of their budget deficit.
 
"Florida has just passed the first piece of legislation in the US which recognizes the inevitable regulation of the online gaming market and California is only weeks away from the introduction of an intrastate online poker regulation bill.” Melanie Brenner, President of Poker Voters of America confirmed “Poker Voters has been heavily involved in both states and worked closely with legislative leadership to help develop clear and fair regulation.  With New Jersey, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and other states taking a hard look at online gaming regulation as a good way to fill the gaps in budget shortfalls, the odds are pretty high that something is going to happen on an intrastate basis first."

What are your thoughts on this? How would the potential widespread return of American players affect you and your play?

 

[Woodsey]

I can't think of a single downside if it does happen...........

[doubleup]

I can't think of a single downside if it does happen...........

How about only us citizens can play on us sites?  How about a tax being deducted from deposits/withdrawals?

[Woodsey]

I can't think of a single downside if it does happen...........

How about only us citizens can play on us sites?  How about a tax being deducted from deposits/withdrawals?

Well the bad players won't be withdrawing, I don't care about the winners.........

[doubleup]

I can't think of a single downside if it does happen...........

How about only us citizens can play on us sites?  How about a tax being deducted from deposits/withdrawals?

Well the bad players won't be withdrawing, I don't care about the winners.........

wat?

presumably you aspire to be a winner?

how are you going to play if you aren't american?

[Woodsey]

I can't think of a single downside if it does happen...........

How about only us citizens can play on us sites?  How about a tax being deducted from deposits/withdrawals?

Well the bad players won't be withdrawing, I don't care about the winners.........

wat?

presumably you aspire to be a winner?

how are you going to play if you aren't american?

Sorry misunderstood the post. I was assuming that more players would just come onto stars/tilt and obv living in the UK I assume we still wouldn't pay tax.........

[vegaslover]

There's no doubt that America will 'legalise'online poker, particularly in the current climate.

Making it American only players will undoubtedly dilute the market, and plenty of the fish will play on these sites sites to keep themselves within the law.
The established players will still use stars/tilt.

The 'sensible' thing to do would be to take tax off the profits a la UK profits. Alas this is America so sensible will go out the window. They will likely tax at source, as is currently the case in casinos etc.

While at the mid-level and above the average US player is better than ot's euro counterpart, down at my low levels the players are awful, so I will welcome the players back

[doubleup]

Making it American only players will undoubtedly dilute the market, and plenty of the fish will play on these sites sites to keep themselves within the law.
The established players will still use stars/tilt.

lol stars and tilt will tell us all (non-us) to gtfo after about 3 secs thought.  Remember Stars and Party opened .it sites and excluded non-italians, they will probably do the same in France, so if the US wants to be intra, then they will go that way.

[mondatoo]

Are you saying that Pokerstars could tax UK players when they withdraw then if this comes into place ?

[vegaslover]

Are you saying that Pokerstars could tax UK players when they withdraw then if this comes into place ?

Even worse, but deduct from winnings for every tourney, US players have to pay tax live, even easier easier for them to regulate a collect from online players

[doubleup]

Are you saying that Pokerstars could tax UK players when they withdraw then if this comes into place ?

There is the possibility of some sort of levy/duty/tax on deposits and withdrawals.  Anyway it is irrelevant if the site is intra-us, as you won't be playing there.

[George2Loose]

intra US sites sound good

[Moskvich]

intra US sites sound good

Eh? For whom?

As doubleup points out, there would seem to be a substantial danger that legalisation/regulation in the US doesn't equate to an 'opening up' of the US market at all, but rather to a closing off from the rest of the world. Probably leaving us nostalgic for the good old days pre US regulation.

Does anyone have a link to any decent articles about this from a poker angle though? Everything I've seen written on the subject has been pretty half-arsed. And obviously poker is quite different from online gambling in general - doesn't much matter if roulette or sports betting sites are intra-state or worldwide, as it doesn't require a player base like poker does.

[thetank]

Initial thoughts from a position of mostly ignorance.

It's either going to be very good (more US low end users in the marketplace), or very bad (Stars and FullTilt closed to people outside US).
Not being much of a gambler, I would rather nothing happened at all.

[Moskvich]

Initial thoughts from a position of mostly ignorance.

It's either going to be very good (more US low end users in the marketplace), or very bad (Stars and FullTilt closed to people outside US).
Not being much of a gambler, I would rather nothing happened at all.

Me too, I think...

Also, anyone know what the consensus is now on the June 1st UIGEA thing - shouldn't really have much effect..?