No More Delays For UIGEA

RELATED ARTICLES

• Republicans Want UIGEA Implementat…
• UIGEA Officially Delayed Six Months

For better or for worse, the online poker community will apparently have to deal with the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act on June 1st, 2010.

That’s the word from Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), who confirmed in a telephone interview with PokerNews that compliance with the “final rule” of the UIGEA would become mandatory starting in June. The original compliance deadline had been December 1st, 2009; that deadline was pushed back after successful lobbying by pro-poker advocates and like-minded groups.

Apparently, the refusal of the Treasury Department (the agency responsible for enforcing the UIGEA) to allow another extension was a result of political hardball played by online gambling opponent Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who held up Treasury appointments made by President Obama until Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner agreed to rule out further delay of UIGEA implementation.

With compliance set to become mandatory in a few months, what can poker players expect? It’s important to realize that there are two possible worlds – one in which June 1st comes without any legislative action designed to blunt the UIGEA, and one where such legislative action takes place before June 1st.

In the first world, poker players can certainly anticipate some shakeup in the industry, but perhaps not as cataclysmic a change as some are predicting. Why? Primarily because banks were already moving toward compliance before the extension, and have likely already put into place most, if not all, measures that they intend to deploy. Poker rooms have also (one assumes), been operating under a mindset that UIGEA compliance on the part of financial institutions was a matter of when, not if, and have also already adjusted accordingly.

For a more more detailed FAQ on the specific impacts mandatory compliance is likely to have on the online poker industry, read the article we wrote back in December when the initial deadline was approaching here.

What about the second world? While a delay of compliance now appears to be off the table, there’s still some legislative hope for undoing the UIGEA altogether. That’s the goal of Barney Frank’s legislation, titled the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act. While progress has been somewhat slow on this bill to date, Frank told PokerNews that he’s still shooting to have the bill marked up by the House Financial Services Committee prior to June 1st. Obviously that wouldn’t leave enough time for the bill to become law, but even progress toward that goal might be enough to limit the motivation and willingness of Treasury to pursue enforcement of the UIGEA.

For those of you unfamiliar with the US legislative process, a “mark-up” is (roughly) a process by which a committee essentially constructs a final version of a proposed legislative change and decides whether or not to move the change on for a vote in Congress. Learn more here about how a bill moves from committee to becoming law.

The initial reaction of the online poker community has, understandably, been negative. Check the temperature in the growing 2+2 legislative thread on the issue here.

Could there be a silver lining? Sure. Some suggest that UIGEA implementation will lead to “overblocking” – financial institutions going too far and prohibiting legitimate transactions from processing – that will force a repeal of the UIGEA. Others believe that if the UIGEA is successful, online poker advocates will be forced to take their case to the courts as opposed to waiting for a lengthy legislative process to resolve the matter.

Below are some useful links for those interested in learning more about the UIGEA final rule and what it means for poker:

- ABA’s FAQ for Banks on UIGEA Compliance (PDF, 4 pages)

- Full Text of Final Rule of UIGEA (PDF, 121 Pages)

- Poker Player’s Alliance Home Page

- FAQ: What Does The UIGEA Mean For Poker Players?

Get your daily dose of poker news with the PTP Hit and Run.

Props Get Paid up to 125% Rakeback. Click for Offers >>>