Online poker in the United States has been fighting the fight for almost a decade now. Politicians are beginning to come around on the game, but having just a single opponent is a major obstacle for any chance of a fully regulated market.
One of online pokers biggest enemies thus far has been Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino mogul who spent millions on trying to ban online gambling in the United States. In 2014, Senator Lindsey Graham made it known that he was joining the fight to ban any type of online gambling.
His voice spat blasphemy in the poker world as he spoke of his plans to re-write the 1961 Wire Act. Most laws prohibiting online gambling has used this Wire Act as their main stance since it does state that any gambling between state borders was considered illegal.
Of course, back then no internet was around, so the ability to pin a law on a technology that was not around when this bill was created has many heads shaking in the poker world. However, it has stood until this day. In 2011, the DoJ did make adjustments to this bill to make it “modern.”
Back to Senator Graham!
Grahams bill never came to fruition, and little was heard from the South Carolina Senator until now. In a sneaky move, he added a paragraph to the end of a new bill introduced in Congress that has nothing to do with online gambling.
The proposed bill is a $56.3-billion-dollar budget proposal meant for Homeland Security. This does the DoJ and other outfits such as the F.B.I and C.I.A.
Here is the final paragraph of the bill put in at the request of Senator Graham according to spokesman for the Senate Appropriations Committee – Chris Gallegos.
"“Internet Gambling — Since 1961, the Wire Act has prohibited nearly all forms of gambling over interstate wires, including the Internet. However, beginning in 2011, certain states began to permit Internet gambling. The Committee notes that the Wire Act did not change in 2011. The Committee also notes that the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that 'criminal laws are for courts, not for the Government, to construe.'”
We can clearly see this has nothing to do with a budget. Many suspect, including John Pappas of the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) that this is intended to be used as a “Back Door” to ban online gambling in the future.
As with all bills, they are read over, and re-worked before approval, or denial – so this paragraph may get erased completely. But, the fact that it was allowed in the first place shows the incompetence of our politicians.
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