There has been lots of discussion in the online poker world about Senator Harry Reid’s, who is also the Senate Majority Leader, bill to legalize online poker during the “lame duck” session. With the passing of that bill, though, could come a 15-month “blackout” period for US citizens.
A lame duck session is held when Congress meets after its successor has been elected, but before the successor’s term begins. During the November election, many Democratic members of congress were voted out and will soon be replaced with Republican members. The Republicans will become the new majority leaders but the Democrats have a small window of time, before the newly elected members take office, where they are still in control.
During this session, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada is considering attaching a bill to license and regulate online poker to legislation which is much more likely to pass. This would be very helpful, as the bill alone would have much more opposition.
Sources have read through an older draft of the bill and, while the bill did have many good components, the most noticeable and upsetting portion to poker players is the proposed 15-month blackout period.
The draft of the bill stated that no site would be able to get licensed until 15-months after the bill goes into effect. Any site that wants to get licensed will have to stop catering to US players during that time. It seems the major reason for this, besides to give the US time to set up the regulations, is because they are afraid that sites that have been serving US citizens would have a head start on US-based companies that were not allowed to compete because the argument that online poker was illegal in the United States.
It is widely believed that Bovada Poker and PokerStars will comply with the blackout, so they may obtain a license afterward. This would mean that the two largest online poker sites in the world would be unavailable to US citizens and that worries and angers a lot of players.
On the other hand, some players, like Scott Dobos, are in favor of the blackout if the end justifies the means. Dobos has played poker for the last five years, becoming a successful NLHE heads-up player and coach within the last two. Despite the fact that his play and coaching would be affected by the blackout, Dobos remains optimistic.
“Obviously, losing the two biggest sites would be a huge hit to my own playing. I play 100% of my play on FTP and Stars. If it’s for the better good, I’m all for it. If poker will be better for us in 15 months, it’s worth the wait,” says Dobos.
While there is no word on how other companies such as Cake Poker and the Cereus Network will react, it is believed that many smaller companies will not comply because they do not feel they will be able to compete after the blackout. This is something keeping poker players, like Dobos, believing that the state of online poker will be sufficient during the blackout.
“Add in the fact that the smaller sites that wont comply anyway because of the Casinos attached to their companies like Bodog and Merge gaming, we’ll still have a place to play,” Dobos further states.
Of course, if the bill does not pass, the blackout will not be an issue. Many people, though, believe that this could be the only shot at legalizing and regulating online poker until 2013 at the earliest. Poker players are sure to be keeping an eye on the issue as the lame duck session nears its end.