Barton Online Gaming Bill would create poker exemption

A new online gaming bill has been introduced in the US House of Representatives by Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) which is eerily similar to the bill he introduced last year –which went nowhere. For the most part the poker insiders that follow the legislative efforts around the country consider these federal efforts futile, but also acknowledge that anything is better than nothing.

Like last year’s bill, the “Internet Poker Freedom Act” (you just got to love Congress and their way with words) is seeking to carve out online poker from online gambling, creating an opportunity to license and regulate online poker rooms while at the same time strengthening restrictions on other forms of online gambling, most notably UIGEA.

Here are some of the other parts of the IFPA worth mentioning:

• The bill contains a “Bad Actors” clause, shutting out any poker sites that have operated in the US since the passage of UIGEA for five years
• States that do not wish to participate can opt-out of the IFPA
• States that have passed Internet gaming laws prior to IFPA will not fall under IFPA, nor will Internet lotteries
• The bill also covers the usual Underage and Problem Gambling, US servers, and other requirements
• In order to receive a license under IFPA operators must adhere to a number of regulations and meet the approval of the to-be-created “Office of Internet Poker Oversight”

You can read the full 110-page bill here, or if you want to avoid having your head explode I suggest the following Cliffs/Highlights proffered by two of the best in the business when it comes to poker legislation:

• Barton Introduces the Internet Poker Freedom Act by Chris Grove
• Poker Freedom Act Details by John Mehaffy

Representative Barton has been at the forefront of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) lobbying efforts in Congress since Republicans came into power in 2010 and then PPA darling Barney Frank (D-MA) lost his committee chair, and ability to set the agenda for, the House Financial Services Committee. Frank had been doing most of the leg work for online poker efforts at the federal level, but with the ultra-conservative Spenser Bacchus (R-AL) now heading the Financial Services Committee an online poker bill would never see the light of day.

Representative Barton sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee which would also play a role in online poker oversight (the Energy and Commerce Committee deals with telecom and inter-state commerce), and therefore allows him to introduce a bill of this sort.