GOP PLANNING TO BAN INTERNET GAMBLING

In an alarming headline that was revealed by the Poker Players Alliance’s Rich Muny, who is the Vice President of Public Relations. The GOP platform was entitled “Renewing American Values” and he called for banning of internet gambling. This platform was finalized this Tuesday night and the anti-internet gambling language was included.

In the text on page eleven of the document it reads that, "Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support the prohibition of gambling over the internet and call for the reversal of the Justice Department's decision distorting the formerly accepted meaning of the Wire Act that could open the door to internet betting."

Just last December, two days before Christmas the United States Department of Justice made an announcement that the Wire Act applies to online wagering on sports, which absolves internet poker. A few days ago, poker has also received a pass from the Illegal Gambling Business Act(IGBA). In this decision a Federal Judge has said that poker is just a game of skill and does not go under the description of illegal gaming according to the IGBA.

The GOP platform concluded that, “The internet must be made safe for children." It then dives into protecting minors online from "predators," "sex offenders," "child pornography," and "obscenity."

Pappas has reacted by telling PoketFives in a statement, “The one-time party of individual freedom and personal liberty has once again shown their abandonment of these core principles. Ironically, it is House Republicans who are leading the charge for an accountable and regulated market for internet poker. Those who formulate the GOP platform are clearly out of sync when it comes to their own elected officials. Ultimately, the platform is nothing more than a political statement. The real test will be if Republicans and all of Congress can put politics aside and do what they can to protect families and consumers by enacting HR 2366 this year."

In a statement a Republican Congressman by the name of Joe Barton, who calls Texas his home has said that he will be running for reelection in November. He was the one that introduced the HR 2366, Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthened the UIGEA Act this last June. There has not been a lot of consideration on the bill and it has only received around thirty sponsors. It approves online poker at the Federal Level and its best shot that it will be passed into a law is during the “lame duck” Congressional session after the general elections have ended.  One might go into consideration if poker is a game of skill or if it will be under fire in the GOP platform at its current standing. In order to answer this question Muny has posted on Twitter, "They are including poker IMO. The platform calls for a return to the pre-Dec. interpretation of the Wire Act."

Source:PoketFives