Three separate items connected with poker legislation have been in the forefront of news in the past few days.

And obviously the UIGEA is taking the center stage. It is common knowledge that the UIGEA is facing stiff opposition.

Not only has it been challenged in court but also Senator Frank has introduced a bill last month to stay the implementation of the UIGEA as it relates to the poker industry. Now the proponents of the UIGEA have hit back.

The Republican Senator Kyl from Arizona, one of supporters of the UIGEA, has stepped up action in order to hasten the implementation of the UIGEA. Kyl has gone on record stating that because of the slow progress of the UIGEA poker players should not get misled into believing that it is dead and buried. He has renewed his promise to fight tooth and nail to prevent the blockage or even the modification of the UIGEA. He was quoted as saying, “The people who are violating the law need to know that they're not going to be able to get away with it…”. So the ante has been upped in the head on match between senators Kyl and Frank.

Meanwhile in neighboring Canada, Joe Norton, the former head of Kahnawake Gaming Commission has revealed that way back in the late 1990s he had offered the Canadian government and the Quebec government a stake in the then fledgling venture. Many meetings were held to discuss the issue and matters progressed to the extent a draft agreement was drawn up between Kahnawake and Quebec.

The then Native Affairs Minister, Guy Chevrette, was personally in favor of going ahead. Ultimately he had to back down at the behest of his colleagues. Thus Quebec lost the opportunity to become a partner in the largest online gaming hosting facility in the world. Now there are groups in Canada that are lobbying for a UIGEA like legislation. One such group is the horseracing industry, which has probably experienced an outflow to the online gaming industry. This has led to Attorney Morden Lazarus and Joe Norton to seeking formal acknowledgement under the Canadian constitution that gambling is a legitimate aboriginal activity.

In New Hampshire charity poker events are coming under the hammer. A 2007 state law allows selected facilities to offer low-limit poker, with a maximum bet of $2, provided 355 of the net earnings are given to charity. Now Senator Robert Odell has proposed a 10% tax on the earnings of such poker events, which would reduce the amount going to charity.

The Governor of New Hampshire is supporting this bill. He says that the annual take from this tax would be about $5 million and this would help bridge the increasing budget shortfalls. Besides other forms of gambling, like bingo, are being taxed so there is no reason why poker should be allowed to go free. The “poker tax” bill, as it has come to be known, has passed through a Senate sub-committee and will be now debated on the Senate floor. The charities are expected to oppose the bill because they have begun to depend on charity poker as a source of funds.

The fight over this greedy political industry seems to never stop since the day of gambling's inception.