Home / Poker News March 2011 / The poker grapevine – new poker bill, Negreanu vs Isildur1
The poker grapevine – new poker bill, Negreanu vs Isildur1
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2011-03-20 13:32
Bills aimed at legalizing online wagering – more specifically online poker - seem to be introduced on a monthly basis now, as the legal system chews them up then spits them out in an unsightly pile one after another. The interesting thing about the newest such initiative is that unlike previous efforts – this one was a by-partisan move. The sponsors of the latest attempt to legalize
online poker on a federal level were Barney Frank – a long time supporter of legal online poker – and California Rep. John Campbell. The rhetoric behind the bill was the usual one: millions of US-based players play poker online, their revenues are untaxed and their interests unprotected by US law.
The new bill includes provisions which would make underage gambling prevention compulsory for operators. Limits on losses and on deposits would also be instituted. The bill also calls for a list of illegal operators.
In other news: Daniel Negreanu is set to take on Viktor Blom in the next round of the
PokerStars SuperStar Challenge. Although he starts out as the underdog, Negreanu, whose Achilles’ heel seems to be online poker, isn’t about to lie down after a couple of punches. He has prepared meticulously for the bout, and he is ready to go for all the marbles.
Negreanu said that the confrontation meant a lot more to him than the money involved and that he was never as motivated as he was going into the bout. He also said he probably wanted the win more than his opponent.
In still other news: according to a January ruling by the US Tax Court, gamblers will now be allowed to deduct gambling expenses (like travel and accommodation). The only problem is that in order to qualify for these deductions, people need to prove that they are indeed professional gamblers and that most of their revenues come from gambling. That means very few people will ever see Uncle Sam overlook their gambling-related expenses.
