No hope for poker exemption says AGA president

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is fighting to get poker exempt from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). According to the American Gaming Association (AGA) president Frank Fahrenkopf, "They don't have a chance in hell."

A few weeks ago, Michael Bolcerek, president of the PPA, stated that the organization is working toward a short-term goal of exempting poker from the UIGEA.

"I have spent a good portion of January in Washington, D.C., meeting with lawmakers and others to get support for legislation that would provide a 'skill game' exemption for poker," said Bolcerek in the statement.

Fahrenkopf isn't as hopeful as Bolcerek.

In an interview with the newspaper Las Vegas Sun, Fahrenkopf said that the climate on Capitol Hill is not favorable for any pro-Internet gambling legislation.

"They don't have a chance in hell," Fahrenkopf said in regards to those working for a poker exemption from the UIGEA.

Instead, the AGA is hoping for a law that would allow individual states to decide whether to offer online gambling.

If a congressionally mandated study shows that technology exists to limit problem gambling, make sure customers are playing from jurisdictions that allow gambling and keep underage people from gambling, such legislation could be passed.

Fahrenkopf also stated, however, that the individual states probably would set the tax rates so high that no one would be able to take advantage of such a law.

courtesy of Erik Sylven

News Added: 12 February, 2007

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