SUWANEE, GA, June 04, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- American poker players received a new reminder that the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act [UIGEA] Deadline on June 1st was coming. A few days ago, US players who were still playing online poker on the MicroGaming network were privy to emails like the following:

"Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, as of 1 June 2010, PokerTime will no longer be able to take bets from players residing in the United States.

"If you currently have a balance in your account you will need to cash-in prior to 31 May 2010 as PokerTime will not be able to process cash-ins after this date."

Players have a variety of opinions on the complete pull-out of the US market by MicroGaming:

- With the UIGEA June 1st deadline closing in, MicroGaming no longer feels safe catering to Americans.
- MicroGaming is hoping that distancing themselves from American players prior to the deadline will bode well for them in the future, should the UIGEA be over-turned.
- MicroGaming had such a small stake in the US market anyway.

Whether any of this is hugely important at this juncture or not will be grist for debate in the coming months. The bottom line is that the UIGEA is, in earnest, a misguided attempt at regulating yet another aspect of our lives.

Where US Online Poker Stands Today

Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, a long time proponent of making Internet poker and gambling illegal, held up a few nominations to the Treasury Department in retaliation for the extension of the UIGEA from December 1st, 2009 to June 1st 2010.

It appears that all of the dealing to stall the UIGEA Final Rule implementation will stop June 1st, 2010. Poker Players Alliance [PPA] Chairman Alfonse D'Amato recently met with Senator Kyl in an attempt to negotiate an exemption for online poker, but Kyl wouldn't make the compromise. PPA Executive Director John Pappas stated, "It does not seem Sen. Kyl is willing to accept even an exemption for peer-to-peer in it. He wants to see the law finalized."

Now that the Final Rule has taken effect how will this affect US players? Noted attorney I. Nelson Rose points out, "the good news is that this is only going to cost banks a lot of money. The regulations don't actually do anything, except make work for gaming lawyers." http://www.glgroup.com/News/UIGEA-Regs-will-take-effect-June-1st-47486.html

The Future of Online Poker?

Despite the naysayers predicting that the UIGEA will be the death knell of Internet poker, the game still seems to be growing. An article published by GetPokerNews shows the huge growth [and expected growth] of the industry from 2004 to 2010. Despite the UIGEA legislation, it is apparent Americans are continuing to play online poker.

Barney Frank, Representative from Massachusetts has already introduced HR 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, which established a full licensing and regulatory framework for the industry in the United States.

Jim McDermott, Representative from Washington introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act, HR 2268. The companion legislation to Frank's bill will allow the United States Government to extract tax revenue from the Internet gambling industry. The bill's text notes, "Each licensee... shall be required to pay an Internet gambling license fee by the end of each calendar month in an amount equal to two percent of all funds deposited by customers during the preceding month."

Whether either of these bills or future ones will prove to effective in regulating and taxing online gambling [and supplanting the UIGEA] will be fodder for message boards and poker forums in the future. Many concluded that once a Democratic Congress took over in 2006 and solidified its gains in 2008, a repeal was likely. However, as long as huge issues like our economy and the housing crisis remain in the spotlight, it's unlikely an anti-poker prohibition will get overturned in the near future. Stay tuned. For now, the future of online poker in the United States is speculative at best.

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