SANTA BARBARA, CA, February 01, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Online poker is a global matter, the legalities of which have changed enormously over the last decade in many regions of the world. Throughout much of Europe, online poker is generally accepted, though the laws differentiate from one territory to the next. In other countries, like the United States, the prospect for legal real money poker in the future remains hopeful at best.

RealMoneyPoker.org has recently unveiled an introspective document that envelopes the online poker industry as a whole in regards to its current legitimacies throughout the world. The article defines current laws and how they have evolved over time, putting a great deal of emphasis on the political climate in the United States and how recent events, as well as upcoming elections, could affect the country's current status of online poker regulations.

The article begins with a brief explanation of the US Wire Act of 1961 and how its recent reversal by the government has impacted the Department of Justice's stance against online gambling. According to RealMoneyPoker, the reversal essentially made it clear that it applied only to remote sports wagers, opening the doors for individual states to "license intrastate Internet wagering on any gambling product, with the sole exception of sports betting."

The document then goes on to explain the Barton Bill, a proposal by Rep. Joe Barton designed to strengthen the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). By amending the UIGEA, Barton seeks to clarify who would be responsible--in this case the Secretary of Treasury--for upholding the regulations pertaining to illicit online gambling fund transfers.

European regulations are defined from state to state, portraying the position of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Thus far, the UK seems to have the most successful blueprint for online poker regulation, but not every state in the EU agrees with the UK's infrastructure. Greece and Germany have yet to outline a plan for legal internet poker that the European Commission has not rejected, while states like Spain and Denmark are working diligently to amend their individual gambling regulations.

Perhaps the most thought-provoking segment of all is that which deals with 2012 elections in the US and the potential for the political climate to impress upon Internet poker regulations. The text predicts the future of the Barton Bill and online poker in America based upon the upcoming candidates for the presidential elections- incumbent Barrack Obama, Congressman Ron Paul, Senator Rick Santorum, former Speak of the House Newt Gingrich and Governor Mitt Romney.

Other items of interest identified in the publication, especially for US online poker players, include a chapter on intra-state versus federal regulation of online poker and what's happening in Nevada. The current stance opens the way for intra-state regulation, and it comes as no surprise that Nevada casino operators are already prepping for the licensing phase of establishing an Internet poker forum within the state. Regulation adaptation and licensing has commenced, but the proverbial coin could remain in the air for quite some time.

What prompted Real Money Poker to script the virtual encyclopedia of global online poker regulations was the recent release of the 'Global Gaming Outlook' by PriceWaterhouse, an immense manuscript which aimed to predict the growth rate of online gambling worldwide through 2015. This new document peels back the layers and pieces everything together to reveal a concise, comprehensible study that the general public can surely appreciate.

For more information: http://www.realmoneypoker.org

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