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US – CardsChat.com sees land of online opportunity

From the early days of the online poker boom, through to the devastating Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), and on to the events of Black Friday, US online poker players have been waiting for the realisation of their dream of seeing online poker being properly regulated and legalised in the country.

Den goda nyheten är att det finns tydliga tecken på att pokerspelare i USA bör – när de väl får tillbaka sina bankrullar efter Black Friday DoJ-razziorna från Full Tilt, PokerStars et al – kunna njuta av samma spel som pokerspelare över hela världen : samma cash games, turneringar och 2-7 Limit Triple Draw Blood Wild River (OK, kanske inte den sista, men så småningom kan du satsa din bottendollar någon, någonstans kommer att erbjuda det).

“We are already seeing individual states legislate for online poker,” Nicholas Kisberg, founder and CEO of CardsChat.com says. “While there will certainly be states that will never legislate in favour of any form of online gambling, we expect US poker players to have some great new choices in the next few years. This is an industry that grows rapidly. Once acceptance comes in some of these fledgling sites could grow to be truly huge.”
In 2011 the Wire Act – an antiquated law regarding bets on the phone – was amended to specifikt ban betting on sporting events, but inte online poker. The US Justice Department issued a ruling making online gambling legal, so long as it is permitted on the state level; that was a green light to some states that have been busy forging ahead with intra-state online gambling or poker. Some others, meanwhile, are playing a wait-and-see game and others flat-out banning it altogether.
Medan stater som Oregon och Illinois sitter på stängslet och väntar på ett förtydligande från DoJ om de nya konsekvenserna av Wire Act, går Nevada framåt med sina egna onlinepokerplaner.

Nevadas nya lagstiftning testades 2013 i statens första lagliga onlinerum, Ultimate Poker, med besökare till 2013 World Series of Poker som gav den sin första testkörning. WSOP själva skulle mycket väl kunna ha en fullt fungerande onlinepokersida för amerikanska spelare som är igång till 2014-serien.

Delaware and New Jersey are finalizing their own intra-state plans, with New Jersey’s system slated to launch in late November 2013. Meanwhile, Maryland and West Virginia look like moving in the right direction with their own bills. West Virginia has long been rumoured as a potential online poker partner for Delaware, and is certainly one to add to the list of ‘maybes’.

The problem with most States is that, in this toughest of recessions, is a lack of finances. They’re not willing to risk money till tjäna pengar. However, with West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey not in the same predicament as others financially, online poker legislation could prove to be a win-win for them.

“Generating revenues from online gambling could be a great lifeline for some of the US states that are in financial difficulty. US states are in a position to make themselves attractive to this industry. They should be looking at other nations around the world and seeing the financial benefits they have reaped, and copying those models,” Mr. Kisberg said. 
The question is probably när California will regulate online poker, rather than om.  The state is considered to be the most promising market for online poker, and the amount of money at stake almost ensures that regulation will take place at some point.

So what’s stopping them? Simply put, there are several competing players involved who all want to share equally in the risk and reward. 2014 has been mooted as the year when online poker “maybe” appears in California, but that maybe could well turn into a “not at all”.
På andra sidan myntet finns dock några stater, som Washington, som har gjort onlinepoker till ett klass C-brott. Montana, Nebraska och Indiana är bland delstaterna med ålderdomliga lagar kring hasardspel i allmänhet, där spelandet av onlinespel är förbjudet.
Till sist, låt oss ta en titt på Texas, Texas Hold'ems andliga hem och de legendariska road gamblers som gjorde de första resorna till Las Vegas som Benny Binion och Doyle Brunson. Medan poker en gång styrde staten, har lagstiftare hittills gjort det klart att spelet inte längre är välkommet. Men det kan ändras ännu.

Poker fanatic, and Texas Representative, Joe Barton has reintroduced his online poker legislation to the House of Representatives, joining another bill for consideration by the body. HR 2666, the “Internet Poker Freedom Act of 2013,” is Barton’s second attempt at passing legislation for industry regulation, and with HR 2666 joining New York Congressman Peter King’s bill, HR 2282, the “Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act of 2013,” there are two tracks that online poker regulation can take. Peter King’s bill is fairly far-reaching, intending to include ALL online gaming – not just poker. It would
En annan demokrat, Harry Reid (Nevada), har varit upptagen med att formulera ett federalt lagförslag som legaliserar sin egen onlinepoker, och hans plan skulle se att andra former av onlinespel ställdes på sidan. Reid's Bill kunde se Nevada och New Jersey i spetsen av kön i kapplöpningen om att erbjuda reglerad onlinepoker, vilket möjliggör partnerskap mellan respektive staters massiva landbaserade kasinojättar.

Det föreslagna kasinovänliga federala lagförslaget skulle mycket väl kunna åkalla Kaliforniens ilska (Reids rädsla är att kaliforniska spelare som besöker Vegas kommer att stanna hemma om Kalifornien erbjuder sin egen online pokerlösning) och kommer säkerligen att få motstånd från andra stater som föredrar en mer grundläggande intra- statligt system. 
Det finns ett allmänt hopp om att allt eftersom fler stater antar lagstiftning inom staten och etablerar en modell som andra kan följa, kommer stater att slå sig samman för att öka prispotten, antalet spelare och de totala intäkterna. Så småningom kan detta träffa en kritisk massa och öppna portarna igen. Och globala spelmärken – särskilt de som tvingats ut ur USA efter UIGEA – kommer noggrant att övervaka situationen efter tecken på att tjäna pengar på en lukrativ, föryngrad marknad.

“All of us in the industry are closely watching what is happening in the US to see how things will pan out. Certainly it is a hot topic on our forums, and one that is hotly discussed. After all, many American poker players want to know if “the land of the free” is going to give its people more freedom to play online poker,” Mr. Kisberg said. “The regulation of online poker is surely inevitable in the USA. It might take a few more states to go it alone to start off with – Texas and New Jersey seem likely to be next – before anything countrywide appears. By the time anything federal happens, however, we may be grinding Sit ‘n’ Gos high above the Earth in our space capsules. Watch this space.”