Home / Poker News November 2011 / The Poker Grapevine – Online Poker Hearings
The Poker Grapevine – Online Poker Hearings
Posted by: Jo Martin - Fri, 2011-11-18 06:36
The issue of legal online poker is more burning than ever these days as there’s a general feeling out there that something major is about to transpire regarding the matter soon. Land based casino companies are securing online partnerships and with Full Tilt Poker and
PokerStars out of the way, everyone is jostling for position to enter the market as soon as Capitol Hill serves up some much-expected good news.
While nothing is certain yet, the issue is not off the table at all. As a matter of fact, this week there will be two hearings, one on Thursday, and one on Friday.
The Thursday hearing will take place in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, while the Friday one is scheduled in the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.
Thursday’s hearing is titled the Future of Internet Gaming: What’s at Stake for the Tribes and it will mostly feature witnesses from the various Indian tribes involved in the gambling industry. PPA Chairman Al D’Amato is also among the witnesses.
Friday’s hearing appears to be the more important of the two hearings. The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade has already held a hearing regarding the online poker issue, focused on the safety of the industry. This time around, several high profile supporters of legal online poker will be present: Barney Frank, John Campbell and Frank Wolf. Mark A. Lipparelli, the Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board will also be there. According to Lipparelli, the NGCB will begin accepting applications for
on line poker licenses as early as February.
In other news: the Nations Cup hosted by the International Federation of Poker as part of the London Mind Sport Festival kicks off on Thursday. The event features a truly unique format: there will be 12 teams featuring some of the best players in the world, which will play Duplicate poker. Duplicate poker takes the luck factor completely out of the game, leaving only player skill to decide the winner.
