Poker sites re-opening in US

Keep those cards and letters flowing to your legislators. They respond to those more than you think.

Also if they just want the revinue they can use them as an excuse.

Really? I read that the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals was about to take a dump on the whole UIGEA repeal attempt. Hmmm. Guess we'll wait it out until things become clearer.

Where did you find this?

I have the PPA as a "friend" on facebook, and this was a link provided on their wall.

Here's the link:
http://www.new-poker-news.com/uncate...zation-update/

GtW

Legal U.S. Poker Update: Florida, California, Washington

The Governor of Florida, Charles Grist, just sign into law a mandate that online poker and its possible impact on intrastate commerce be studied in-depth, with the requirement that a report be issued as early as December 2009 detailing how the state can keep its residents protected from risky off-shore gambling operations, most particularly its under-age residents, as well as analyzing what risk, if any, online poker poses to Florida’s brick-and-mortar poker establishments.

The bill was, in part, drafted by the same organizations responsible for the online poker legislation being considered in California right now. A representative of those organizations (APV or American Poker Ventures and PVA or Poker Voters of America) it looks like the California Online Poker Law Enforcement Compliance and Consumer Protection Act won’t have any difficulty being passed. At last count, it looks like California can expect to earn some $250 million per year from the online poker industry if the state does end up deciding to license, regulate, and tax it.

Barney Frank’s two federal bills attempting to legalize poker and online poker in the U.S. again are picking up steam. Five more cosponsors have joined the 13 or so already on board, including a Republican, representative Don Young of Alaska. This is a big boon to the movement. Even Frank’s leading Republican opponent on the subject confesses that those bills have a much better chance of passing under the current Democratic majority in Congress than it did when first it passed before the Republican Congressional majority that existed previously.


Kentucky, California Both Seek Online Poker Wins, But in Divergent Ways

Online poker players across America breathed an enormous sigh of relief last week as one state government’s attempts to enforce an oppressive ban on internet gambling (including online poker) was handed a brutal and long-awaited legal defeat.

Kentucky is the state, Governor Steve Beshear the opponent of online poker players everywhere who was taken down a notch when the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that he was prohibiting from seizing the 141 domain names for internet gambling sites he had so fervently attempted to shut down for doing business in his state.

In a misguided attempt to keep all income earned from gambling conducted within his state’s borders, Beshear enlisted the support of the Franklin County Circuit Court last September in ordering that these 141 domain names be seized–in essence forcing numerous top poker sites (like Full Tilt Poker) to close their cyber-doors and squelch operations in every other state in the union as well–under the argument that they “used to promote illegal gambling within the state” and as such, under the equally-oppressive UIGEA, were subject to forfeiture.

But thanks to valiant efforts on the part of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and even the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kentucky, that ruling was overturned as Beshear’s accusation was, in fact, erroneous.

In other news, meanwhile, the state government of California is actually looking to get into the online poker market. Recognizing a desperate need to bring more money into the financially ailing state coffers, and acknowledging the economic promise inherent in online poker, California representatives will be holding a poker summit in mid-May to explore the possibility of–essentially–creating their own poker software (and perhaps even starting their own poker site?).

And as good fortune for both California and online poker players everywhere would have it, one of the forerunners of this apparently more fair and reasonable effort to compete with top poker sites rather than oppress them is none other than Joe Brennan, Jr., the Interactive Entertainment and Media Association founder whose trade organization headed up the very effort to stop the Kentucky Governor from seizing those 141 poker domains.

No answers yet? Anybody know of poker sites re-opening to the US market?

I hope.... I want PartyPoker to come back to the U.S. market! Which they have stated they are ready to go if we can get our ducks in a row.

omg this is awesome news!@!!!!

Yea this is great.. I felt out of the poker loop when you try and go play in a poker room and the dont accept your kind.... GO OBAMA GO!!!!!!

Tax Reveneu?

I'd rather it stay how it is and stick to good ol Tilt and Stars with untaxed withdrawls than the govt take their stake.

With the way the economy is going, it comes to no surprise that the US government is considering other means to make money, and why not through online gaming.
Sure, player withdrawals may be taxed by the US government but at least it may help the economy pick up a bit.

This is BS but better than the current way obviously.

Why should you people pay tax on gambling money.

The poker site companies should pay tax but not the players.

I won't go all Econ into this, but taxing the poker sites will generally have a similar effect as taxing the players as it would just correlate to higher rake meaning the net result would be about the same as there is no way the sites just eat the tax.

Legalization would most likely hike up the rake, but at the same time, this will be counterbalanced by more competition (with more sites re-entering the US) and softer competition. Also, knowing that you can withdraw and that your money is safe is highly +EV.

all sounds like great news

I'm a US Player and not a fan of a higher rake. but having a wide array of sites to choose from would bring a smile to my face.