As the deadline for the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act draws near, the Poker Players Alliance is doing everything it can to keep the game of poker out of the equation. In its latest move, the PPA petitioned the Treasury Department, as well as the Federal Reserve Board, to ask them to spell out UIGEA regulations. Specifically, the PPA is asking the authorities to clarify the fact that ‘unlawful internet gambling’ does not include peer-to-peer games such as poker.
The petition was sent to Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of the Treasury Department, and was supported by a cover letter signed by 22 members of Congress. Strangely, Barney Frank, considered the driving force behind the demands for changes to the current controversial online gambling law, did not add his signature to the cover letter.
The letter reads: “There is settled federal law that internet sports betting placed by individuals in the US violates the Wire Act. There also seems to be some consensus that accepting bets on house banked games of chance (such as roulette, blackjack and virtual slot machines from the US violates state law. We believe the best way to clarify the regulation is to have the regulation apply only to those two forms of gambling, about which there is some consensus, and to exempt from the scope of the regulation peer to peer and pari mutual wagering.”
The petition asked for an amendment to the paragraph that deems the term ‘wager’ or ‘bet’ as one that does not include “certain peer-to-peer games where the outcome is determined predominantly by the skill of the players, such as poker, chess, bridge, mahjong, and backgammon.”
John Pappas, the Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, noted: “The PPA is grateful for the support of the 22 members of Congress who wrote Secretary Geithner and Chairman Bernanke in support of our petition to exempt peer-to-peer gaming from the UIGEA regulations.”
“We are still strongly supporting legislative efforts to license and regulate online poker and provide the consumer protections that the UIGEA will not, and are hopeful of the passage of bills like (Barney) Frank’s HR 2267, but believe our petition is the best bet to address the short-term issues facing online poker,” he added.
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