On Wednesday July 21^st a Congressional hearing debated the merits of HR 2267 which all online poker players know is Barney Frank’s Bill: The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act. After the meeting it was decided that the bill would be marked up on July 27^th in the next stage forward towards implementation.

In the hearing a number of strong analogies were made with Annie Duke claiming the opposition to online poker had the mindset of a tyrannical China or Iran whilst opposition claimed allowing current poker sites to operate under a regulated system would be like allowing drug cartels from Columbia or Mexico to control the drugs industry in America if narcotics were ever legalised.

Whilst these back and forth arguments and ridiculous hyperbole sounded similar to fourth graders having an heated argument some progress was made and it appears the bill will be marked-up on July 27^th with its current support of 69 co-sponsors.

Once again there were no members from the United States Treasury or the Federal Reserve at the Financial Services Committee hearing. This is despite the fact that regulation and taxation of the online poker industry would contribute as much as $72bn in revenues over ten years and create an estimate 32,000 jobs over five years.

The Bill will now face its mark-up on Tuesday July 27^th along with five other bills. None of these will have quite the same impact on online poker players so our concentration is solely on the mar-up of HR 2267.

Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesperson Michael Waxman stated:

“Chairman Frank is clearly moving to get his bill advanced before Congress leaves town for their summer recess. Most importantly, the markup shows a commitment by Chairman Frank to move forward and his colleagues to address this issue.”

The future is not yet clear for online poker but we will keep you updated with all the news.