UIGEA Tilt

 By Chad Flood September 8th, 2009 No Comments »

Posted in Blogs

This past month I have been getting back in the swing of things and putting some solid hours online poker hours in. One thing that has been on the back of my mind is the future of online poker, and whether the regulations are going to get worse or if the government will start to see things clearly and make some solid changes for the better. There have been some really good bills in the works for online poker, and a great deal of changes could be made for better or worse within the next 12 months. Lately I have been reading the forums and checking the news on bills and have read a mix between pessimistic players thinking that things could get much worse, and then on the other hand poker groups claiming that better things are on the horizon. Either way I may have fallen victim to a thing I call legislative tilt. Worrying about the future of online poker can definitely effect your game in a negative way, just like any other things that may be on your mind. Its tough enough to beat the online games, battle the rake….and now have to battle the U.S. government. The only solution to this is just to be optimistic and assume things are going to work out for the best.

Unfortunately Barney Frank’s bill to completely remove the UIGEA was recently rejected, however there does seem to be a silver lining in the decision. Apparently, it was basically stated that the UIGEA regulations effect only the states where gambling is illegal (which is only a few), meaning that it is not illegal to play online poker in Minnesota. This is just what I have gathered from reading articles on this, and I do not know all the facts so I could be wrong on this. If this bill would’ve passed it would’ve been a slam dunk for online poker, but there does appear to be some good in all of this.

Here is a complete article on the matter from cardplayer, you be the judge: http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/7501-pokers-uigea-upheld-by-u-s-3rd-circuit-court

In other poker news, there is a new show on G4 called 2 months 2 million, about a group of online pros living in Las Vegas attempting to make 2 million in 2 months among themselves. Great show that really gives you a taste of the high roller lifestyle that these young world class pros are living. Check it out