Reid/Kyl federal online poker bill details revealed
Legislation would prohibit other forms of egaming and block companies operating post-UIGEA for five years.
Details of Harry Reid and Jon Kyl’s highly-anticipated online poker bill have been leaked and outline the US Senators’ plans to strengthen the Wire Act and UIGEA, but permit online poker, online lottery ticket sales and off-track horserace betting.
A summary of The Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012, shows that Reid and Kyl plan to reverse the DoJ’s opinion of the Wire Act in December which has opened the door for states to legalise egaming individually.
The bill summary, seen by Pokerfuse also includes a provision which would ban entities who continued to operate online in the US after UIGEA in 2006 for five years, unless they can prove to a court that they did not break any federal or state law during this time. This would prohibit PokerStars and its recently acquired Full Tilt brand unless the former can argue its case successfully.
If enacted, there would be a blackout period of 15 months before operators would be allowed to go live online.
Under the Senators’ legislation, states will have the chance to opt-in, with tribes only having the opportunity to offer online poker if the state they live in has opted-in. Interstate poker between participating states would be permitted, but international player pools would be prohibited.
Only operators who currently have a land-based casino licence would be considered for an online poker licence for the first two years. The Office of Online Poker Oversight (OOPO) would be set up as part of the Department of Commerce to oversee online poker regulation.
Operators would be required to pay a tax rate of 16%, with 14% going to states and tribes, and 2% set aside for the federal government to cover the cost of the OOPO. Heavy fines would be imposed for unregulated operators.
The bill is expected to be introduced in the lame-duck session following the presidential elections. Reid reportedly wished to move the bill in Congress before the October recess, but was unable to secure enough Republican support for his self-imposed Monday deadline this week.