The latest attempt to legalize online poker in the US failed last night during a “lame-duck” session of Congress. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) had drafted a proposal into a recent tax bill that would allow casino companies to create online poker sites for their customers. The bill would also carve an exemption for online poker into the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

 

 

Online casino industry observers estimate that more than fifteen million Americans play online poker. These players generate up to US$25 billion in annual revenue for the sites. Some US government officials, confronted with higher demands for revenue from the proposed health-care initiative and two wars, sought to use the monies generated from taxes on online poker to fill in these gaps.

 

 

Senate Republicans, led by John Kyl of Arizona and Spencer Bachus of Mississippi, blocked the measure. Both senators oppose the expansion of online gaming on moral grounds. Kyl, Bachus and other Republicans used their votes to prevent the measure from appearing on the latest tax bill.

 

 

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, said that Reid “made a very good-faith effort” in his work to get the bill passed. Pappas also expressed his regret over the politics that led to the bill’s demise. "We've come to the reality that this is not going to happen this Congress."

 

 

The “lame-duck” session of Congress ends 5 January, when the new Congress elected last month takes their oaths of office. With the Republican victories in the 2010 mid-term elections, poker industry experts are pessimistic about the chances of any new online poker legislation.