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July 30, 2010 at 6:15 am | Poker News | | Written by: spenda
There was plenty of big news coming from the world of online poker this week including a bit of information from the US legislature which appears to be the first real movement on the regulation of online poker in the United States. Yesterday, July 28th, 2010, saw the first step in this process. A special House Finance Committee took the “HR 2267″ bill under consideration and it was passed by a 41for:22against margin. The main players in the discussion were Barney Frank (along with the Poker Players Alliance) and his opponent Spencer Bacchus. Bacchus contends the passing of any legislation legalizing and regulating online poker will bring casino gambling to American’s homes. Frank, along with the PPA, did enough to prove otherwise.
The bill which began the day was amended numerous times before the final vote took place. Both sides made necessary concessions and added in stipulations, the most important of which impacts sites like PokerStars and FullTilt. The wording is tough to decipher but this new law would punish sites which knowingly ignored the UIGEA and allowed Americans to play on their sites the past few years. The most notable of these sites besides PokerStars and FullTilt include much of the Cake and CEREUS Network. It is unknown at this time what will happen to these sites but it would be a shame for those who stood up to an infringement on American freedoms to be punished. The bill still has a lot of work to do before it is finalized including votes in both the House of Republicans and, should it pass, the Senate. There were many other provisions tacked onto the bill including the prohibition of sports betting (except horse racing) on these sites. One of the more interesting amendments forces these sites to be licensed by companies located inside the United States. This is a far cry from how business is currently conducted and should do a lot for the fairness and integrity of the games.
While this vote certainly got the ball rolling it seems it could be months or even years until some concrete laws are in place and sites like Stars and FTP have to answer for operating against the UIGEA the past few years. Of course, with the enormity of these sites and the world’s best players behind them, there is still hope for those who stood up for the injustice against American poker players.
Speaking of FullTilt, after a month of downtime between since the WSOP completed the world’s second largest poker site is running another installment of their very popular FullTilt Online Poker Series. The 17th version of the two week long series is slated to start August 4th and end with the Main Event on the 15th. There will be at least 34 events hosted by various FullTilt sponsored professionals such as Howard Lederer, Allen Cunningham, Tom Dwan, and Phil Ivey. With many different structures, games, and buy-in levels there is sure to be something for everyone. Keep an eye out of satellites which are running around the clock and can be found in the FullTilt Lobby under the “tourney” tab. In the past FTOPS has been a huge success and has led to even more traffic at FullTilt. If you are not a member at FullTilt but would like to check out the schedule and satellites make sure to use the Bonus Code MAXBONUS600 when creating your account to guarantee a 100% up to $600 initial deposit bonus as well as entry into the FTR500, a monthly $5 tournament with $500 added to the prize pool. Make sure to check back here for weekly updates on the biggest and best tournaments from FTOPS XVII.
The world’s largest poker site, PokerStars.net, is halfway through their “All-Star” week which gives players a chance to compete for real money against Team PokerStars members such as Chris Moneymaker, Hevad Khan, Barry Greenstein, and Joe Hachem. Players must go through a qualifying process to find their way to a $1,000 winner-take-all heads-up match with a PokerStars professional. At the end of all-star week the winning team will receive $25,000 to divide amongst their members. To check out this promotion and many more use the PokerStars links on this page and enter the Bonus Code STARS600 when signing up. As always, PokerStars offers the most popular cash games, SNGs, and multi-table tournaments on the internet.
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