While speculation has been rife over whether the US will reopen its door to online gambling, it is believed Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader and representative for Nevada, will soon introduce a bill to legalise and regulate online poker.
According to Joseph Kelly, Professor of Business Law at State College, Buffalo, and speaker at the iGaming Super Show, most knowledgeable experts believe it will be separate from the current bill that exists in the House of Representatives. “Although, what this Senator Reid bill encompasses is still, at this stage, only pure conjecture, we are certainly witnessing a very interesting time in the regulation of online gambling in the US on a federal level,” he said.
It would seem it is not just the federal government which has picked up its pace on regulation. With only six states in the US not facing budget shortfalls in 2011, many state policy-makers are faced with exploring options that would bring regulated internet gambling to their jurisdictions in the absence of federal movement.
“Florida has just passed the first piece of legislation in the US which recognises the inevitable regulation of the online gaming market and California is only weeks away from the introduction of an intrastate online poker regulation bill,” said Melanie Brenner, president of Poker Voters of America. “With New Jersey, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and other states taking a hard look at online gaming regulation as a good way to fill the gaps in budget shortfalls, the odds are pretty high that something is going to happen on an intrastate basis first.”
