The U. Ok. introduced sweeping changes to its internet poker laws with the passage of the Poker Act of 2005. The stated purposes of the act were very noble: to prevent poker from being a source of crime and disorder; to ensure poker would be conducted in a fair and open manner; and to protect children from being situs slot harmed by enforcing the legal poker age of 17 years. In practice, of course, the act led to a tremendous increase in on site operators moving to the country and a communicating increase in tax revenues as a result.
In the U. S., the situation is much different. Poker is legal under Federal law but prohibited in many states, with some local exceptions. Legal poker states include Nevada and New jersey, although many states have passed laws that legalize poker in certain municipalities as well as on Native American lands. Internet poker laws, on the other hand, have effectively prohibited operators from doing business within the states.
In 2006 Congress approved an act that dramatically affected the internet poker laws and effectively proclaimed the industry illegal. That act threw the industry into problems, and drove virtually all of the U. S. based operations out of the country. Sites handled out of the U. Ok. and the Bahamas now achieve a majority of this profitable business. But numerous faults in the 2006 legislation and the feeling that Congress has more important things to worry about have now pushed the country to the brink of legalizing the industry.
If the U. S. is to proceed with the legalization of poker over the internet, congress must first do away with its awkward attempt at making it illegal under the 2006 Unlawful Internet Poker Enforcement Act (more easily referred to as UIGEA). The aim of that act was fairly simple: make it illegal for banks, credit card companies, and other payment processors to transfer funds from gamblers to online casinos and from those online casinos back to the gamblers.
You must understand, however, that the preference of lawmakers has always been to prohibit online poker. But concerns about the constitutionality of such a prohibition as well as the mind boggling problems associated with enforcing the ban have consistently slaughtered any possible actions along those lines. So Congress chose instead to try to attack the problem by preventing the flow of capital between the gamblers and the casinos under the UIGEA.
Now, thanks in no small part to the national financial meltdown, Congress is poised to reverse its approach to internet poker laws and scrub the problem-plagued UIGEA. Under a couple of proposed House bills including one sponsored by Barney Franks and Ron Paul, Congress now appears poised to legalize and regulate the industry.
Whenever Congress actually considers such a sensible approach you can assume that there are potential tax revenues to be gained. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that one of the major benefits of legalized poker is additional revenue for the government. Recent studies have indicated that the tax revenues the government stands to obtain from a legalized online poker industry could reach more than $50 billion over the next 10 years.
Hopefully, based on current idea in Congress regarding internet poker laws, U. S. based online poker fans will soon be able to enjoy their sport legally through U. S. based operations which is to be under the scrutiny, and tiring power, of the federal government.