Semi-live legislation update
by Dan Michalski, Sep 29, 2006 | 10:48 pm
I’m getting an education in the back-and-forth of both houses of Congress right now. The anti-gaming provision has passed, not passed, been debated, is being discussed … but apparently the fat lady has yet to sing.
As we speak, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Ca.) is reprimanding her Congressional colleagues for insertion of internet gambling into a bill as important as port security.
Meanwhile, April in Austin is doing a great job live-blogging the debates here.
jeh says:
September 29th, 2006 at 11:45pm
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this piece of crap bill does not make playing poker online punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Upon first reading (and I didn’t print it out, just read the .pdf online, which makes the reading slightly less memorable), the law makes it illegal for financial institutions to accept prohibited payments, i.e. accept wire transfers from poker websites. Will they still be able to accept payments from Neteller? That’s a question that will be answered when the AG’s get together to decide which institutions are persona non grata. I see this legislation running into major problems in the WTO arena, not to mention the difficulty of enforcement. What if I open an account at HSBC Geneva, then I transfer funds from Neteller into that account. Then I use my ATM card to withdraw cash locally from my new Swiss bank account. Did HSBC just violate the law? Did they violate the law when they accepted the EFT from Neteller, an Antilles institution (or wherever) sending money to Geneva electronically?
In other words, what they did was make it more difficult to fund and to cash out. Are these real problems? Of course. Insurmountable? I doubt it. Are they going to shut down Western Union and the other hundred services that flow cash from the US to Central America? Doubtful.
Still, what a bunch of p*$$i3s. It’s like passing a pay raise in the middle of the night. You do it to pass something you don’t want seen in the cold light of day. I’ve been a Republican since Reagan and this is the most lilly-livered sh!t I can remember in a long while from the GOP. Does Bill Frist really think that this is going to help his presidential hopes? What a moron.
B-Dog says:
September 30th, 2006 at 10:17am
I hate to see this happen – but the reality is that most players will not risk going to jail or setting up Swiss bank accounts to play. So it will just be the high-rollers in the U.S. – and they will be playing largely against each other = less money on the table, fewer games and tables, and many of the poker webs will shut down. The pro’s won’t be able to make a living skimming off of the learners / part-timers any more.
I don’t see the courts intervening on this one -that is a long, long shot. And as far as NAFTA or GAT, forget about it – no country is going to bring this to the table – and without a country backing it there is no case.
This is it folks, the games are over. Expect to see the plugs being pulled very soon. Play is at your own risk now. Is it worth it? If you think it is – you may have an addiction – best see a doctor or therapist. Try the number 1-800-bets-off.
Neko says:
October 1st, 2006 at 8:49pm
You can thank thejim from westonpoker.com for this. Legislation was passed. Lots of info at the pocketfives.com and pokerplayersalliance.org sites about impact and potential future resolutions.
Tell your poker playing friends to write their representatives in protest. Without a unified support we cannot hope to overturn this verdict!
Regards,
Nekosohana