USA Poker Legislation Unlikely in 2012

While hopes are still high for the eventual regulation of online poker in the United States, it appears unlikely that there will be any real movement on the federal level until at least 2013.

The setback for players and legislators in favor of a regulation and licensing framework for USA online poker comes after the passage of a payroll tax cut extension. The bill itself had nothing to do with online poker, but some hoped that the bill would be amended to include an online poker provision. This tactic was attempted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) late last year before ultimately being rejected, and was also the method by which the UIGEA laws were first passed in 2006.

However, a spokesperson for Reid said that the issue was dropped early in the negotiation process. This was reportedly due to a number of factors; obviously, online poker was in no way critical to the payroll tax cut, and there was enough opposition to the idea of regulating online poker to make attaching the idea to the bill far more trouble than it was worth from a legislative prospective.

The payroll tax cut extension was passed by Congress on Friday.

Some analysts believe that the failure to attach online poker to this bill means that there will be no federal-level online poker regulation this year. While there are other bills that an online poker rider might actually fit in well with, it is unclear if such a measure would have enough support to pass as part of any bill in the current Congress.

While online poker might be a long shot at the Federal level in the near future, players can still hold out hope for regulations at the state level. Nevada has already drafted regulations for online poker, though a date at which operators might begin receiving licenses is as of yet unknown. Several other states are expect to – or already have – explore the issue this year, with Iowa, California, and New York being just a few of the states that have reportedly been considering online gambling options.