PokerPages Home Page PokerPages Poker School Download Poker Software
FREE Sign Up!
Username Password  
     Tournament News:   Daily     New     Last Month     This Month     Next Month     WSOP      WSOPE     WPT     EPT     APPT     LAPT
PokerPages > Poker News > Poker News

Poker News - Poker News

House Committee Passes Bill to Clarify UIGEA: H.R. 6870

by PokerPages.com
Wed, Sep 17th, 2008 @ 12:00am

Efforts to regulate online poker and online gaming in the United States took a small but significant step forward yesterday when the House Financial Services Committee passed the Rep. Barney Frank-sponsored bill, called the 'Payment Systems Protection Act' (PSPA, officially H.R. 6870), by a 30-19 vote. The bill is now eligible for a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, but will likely run out of time before Congress adjourns next week.

The online gaming advocacy group called the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI), in a quote reportedly from a press release, commented: "The bill still faces significant hurdles before it has a chance to become law, but the fact that it cleared committee represents at least a slight reversal of legislative momentum for supporters of online poker."

The goal of the bill is to clarify that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) applies in the main to sports betting, as did the earlier Federal Wire Act.

Specifically, the bill would prohibit the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve from proposing, prescribing or implementing any regulations under UIGEA apart from those relating to sports betting, until the meaning of key definitions such as 'unlawful internet gambling' had been clarified, and an economic impact study conducted on the costs associated with compliance.

A similar measure failed to make it out of committee two months ago after a 32-32 vote.

Currently, the proposed regulations to implement UIGEA forces banks and other payment services to determine what types of online activity are lawful and what are not.

At a congressional hearing on April 2, 2008, even representatives of the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System acknowledged the challenges that financial institutions will face while trying to comply with UIGEA, and how they were unable to distinguish between lawful and illegal online gambling activities.

"Under this bill, at least the banks will know what is and isn't illegal," Rep. Frank said at the markup hearing. "We're asking the Treasury Department to give them a list."

It would also be good news for online poker players in the USA, as it would openly clarify that online poker is legal, unless specifically forbidden by state law (as, for example, it is in the state of Washington).

PPA COMMENTS

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) reportedly sunk considerable time and focus into promoting the bill. Passage of the bill by the House Financial Services Committee drew immediate praise from the PPA:

"The PPA is pleased that the House Financial Services Committee today recognized the need to provide necessary clarification to what constitutes 'unlawful Internet gambling' under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by passing H.R. 6870," said PPA chairman and former Senator Alfonse D'Amato.

"This bipartisan compromise bill will rightfully advance the UIGEA to become immediately effective for such internet gambling that is clearly unlawful, namely sports betting. The legislation also appropriately requires a formal rulemaking, overseen by an administrative law judge, to provide the clarification requested by the Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve, among others, as to the definition of 'unlawful Internet gambling'."

"Even those who oppose internet gambling should applaud the passage of this legislation as it provides the most realistic opportunity to block truly unlawful internet gambling transactions," he added.

Read Related Articles:

  • New Frank Bill H.R. 6870 to Curb UIGEA Gets Marked Up Today in Committee
  • Frank Introduces New Bill Addressing U.S.Online Poker Online Gaming Issues
  • Poker Players Alliance Comments on Failure to Pass Bill to Block UIGEA
  •  

     
     

    More Poker News Articles

    World Series of Poker Event 54: Tony Veckey Wins
    12am Thu Jul 2nd, 2009

    Event 54 sold out in a hurry as 2,818 people gobbled up all of the seats for the last low buy-in No Limit Hold''m tournament of the World Series of Poker. This was a new event added to satisfy the enormous public demand for this level of event. $1,500 from each of the entrants produced a prize pool of $3,846,570, with payouts down to 297.

    World Series of Poker Event 52: German Jorg Peisert Wins
    12am Wed Jul 1st, 2009

    Jorg Peisert from Dusseldorf, Germany won the inaugural Triple Chance No Limit Hold'em event at this year's World Series of Poker. Peisert outlasted 853 other players who put up $3000 to play in this No Limit Hold'em event. The total prize pool was $2,357,040 and 81 players took home a cut. 81st place took home $5,892, but the lion's share, $506,800, went to Peisert. On the final day, Peisert started in 6th chip position and worked his way up to a chip juggernaut, eliminating players and collecting chips along the way. Notable players who cashed in this tournament include, Eric 'Rizen' Lynch (12th), An 'The Boss' Tran, Mike 'The Mad Genius of Poker' Caro (23rd), and Antonio 'The Magician' Esfandiari (24th).

    World Series of Poker Event 53: New Orleans Resident David Halpern Wins
    12am Wed Jul 1st, 2009

    David Halpern from New Orleans, LA won the $1500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or Better Event at the 2009 World Series of Poker. Halpern outlasted 467 other players to win $159,048 for winning the tournament. Halpern has already cashed once this year (Pot Limit Omaha), but this is his first WSOP bracelet. The $657,455 prize pool was spread out amongst 48 players who cashed. Halpern battled William Kohler for over three hour heads-up. Battled is a strong word, as both players seemed enamored of each other and even went to dinner together during the break. They traded the chip lead back and forth until Kohler seized it for good. Other notable players who cashed includes Chad Brown (4th), Matt Savage (5th), Andy Bloch (23rd), and Norman Chad (32rd).

    World Series of Poker event 49: David Bach Wins $50K HORSE Event
    12am Wed Jul 1st, 2009

    The 2009 $50,000 HORSE event attracted 95 of the world's best poker players. The number of entrants decreased from the previous year which attracted 148 entrants. As play began, player's speculated as to the reason why the numbers decreased so dramatically. Was it the economy? Was it Scotty Nguyen's drunken tirade last year? Many believed that it was ESPN's unfortunate decision to not televise this year's final table. Even though the field decreased, the players still had a full five days of play. 87 players would be eliminated on the way to a star studded final table. After 20 hours of play, David Bach was proclaimed the winner of the 2009 $50,000 HORSE event. He took home the bracelet, the Chip Reese Memorial trophy, and the $1,276,806 first place prize.

    World Series of Poker Event 55: Abe Mosseri Wins First WSOP Bracelet
    12am Wed Jul 1st, 2009

    Abraham Mosseri from New York City won the $2,500 Deuce to Seven Lowball (Limit) event at the 2009 World Series of Poker. Mosseri outlasted 257 other players to win $165,513 and the accompanying gold bracelet. This is Mosseri's first WSOP bracelet and third cash. This was his 2nd final table of this year's Series. Mosseri and others amassed a prize pool of $593,400. Only 24 players got a piece of it though. Mosseri ended Day 1 in 13th place with 39,100 in chips. By the end of Day 2, Mosseri was the chip leader with 447,000. Mosseri maintained his chip lead through most of the day. It would come down to him and Masayoshi Tanaka, who started the day with second most chips. Tanaka had the lead as heads up began, but it was meant to be for Mosseri who played aggressively and caught cards at the right time to eventually eliminate Tanaka. Notables at today's final table included three time bracelet winner John Juanda (4th), Blair Rodman (5th) and Nam Le (9th). Daniel Negreanu cashed in 16th and Hasan Habib finished in 18th.

    World Series of Poker Event 51: Carsten Joh Wins Sold Out NLHE Event
    12am Tue Jun 30th, 2009

    Carsten Joh defeated a sellout crowd to win his first bracelet in the penultimate $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event of 2009. Joh beat Andrew Chen heads up to bring home Germany's first bracelet of the Series. The event began with a largely amateur crowd, and the big names that made it to Day 2 quickly found themselves on the sidelines. Men Nguyen, Tony Cousineau, and Matt Brady outlasted most of the field but failed to make it to Day 3.

    World Series of Poker Event 50: Greg 'FBT' Mueller Wins 2nd '09 Bracelet
    12am Mon Jun 29th, 2009

    The $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout should put to rest any questions about the skill required to play Limit. By the time the event was down to two players, it was a heads up match between the owners of the last two Limit bracelets awarded at the WSOP. Greg 'FBT' Mueller defeated Marc Naalden to win his second bracelet of the year, making him the fourth person to claim more than one in 2009. Naalden now has 1st and 2nd place finishes in Limit tournaments this year. He also cashed in a Mixed Hold'em event.

    World Series of Poker Event 48: Brandon 'any2cantu' Cantu Wins
    12am Sun Jun 28th, 2009

    After finishing runner-up at a final table a week ago, Brandon Cantu got a second chance to win a second bracelet in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Split event. This time, Cantu closed the deal in a tough heads up match with Lee Watkinson and picked up the WSOP gold. Brandon 'any2cantu', known for his creative and sometimes loose style of play, was as shocked as everyone else when he turned over Aces more than ten times on Day 2. "This is the hottest streak I've ever been on in my life," he told Phil Hellmuth, who was eliminated in 14th place. By the time the field was narrowed to 25 players, Brandon had nearly 25% of the chips in play.

    World Series of Poker Event 47: Bahador Ahmadi Wins
    12am Sat Jun 27th, 2009

    Bahador Ahmadi is having an amazing Series. After finishing 4th in his first WSOP cash at the beginning of June, he is now the owner of a $2,500 Mixed Hold'em World Series bracelet. He had to outlast a field of 527 and an extremely difficult final table in order to claim the title.

    World Series of Poker Event 45: John Kabbaj Wins
    12am Fri Jun 26th, 2009

    After finishing as runner-up five years ago and 8th in this event last year, John Kabbaj has finally earned his first bracelet in Pot Limit Hold'em, the game he considers his specialty. On Day 3 of the PLH Championship, 14 hopefuls returned to play to a winner. Vanessa Rousso, who finished 15th, just missed the cut. Once they played down to the impressive final nine, it was clear it would be a long and difficult fight for the bracelet. Short-stacked Daryll Fish was eliminated in 9th place, earning his 7th cash of the 2009 Series. Isaac Haxton, who earned over $1 million for his 2nd place finish in the $40,000 40th Anniversary WSOP event, busted in 8th place. Eugene Todd left his 3rd WSOP final table in 7th place, followed by Jason Lester in 6th. Lester's elimination gave him is 9th cash of the Series, the most of any player so far this year. Mexican PokerStars Pro J.C. Alvarado went out in 5th.

    Download Poker Software
    PokerPages
    Newsletter
    Online Poker »
    Poker News »
    Blog Coverage


    Top News
    Top Tournaments