Congress is entering their final weeks before they adjourn early for the elections this year and that gives Internet poker a small chance for Internet poker to get pushed through in a bill before the Congressional session comes to an end.

This year has already been one that has seem some advancements in American’s citizens right to play poker with Representative Barney Frank’s bill to both regulate and license online gambling through the House Financial Services this July. However, the progress will not carry over in Congress from year to year and if there are changes from the election this November it may halt the momentum Internet poker has gained on Capital Hill.

The next thing that needs to happen is for Representative Jim McDermott’s Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act to get to the Ways and Means Committee. A representative for McDermott recently stated that the Congressman wants a bill markup that will take place in late September or early October.

However, McDermott is not in Frank’s position, as he has the power to make the decision if a bill will be marked up since he is the Financial Services Committee chairman. McDermott has to convince the Ways and Means Committee chairman Sander Levin to get a bill markup.

Congress is back in session on October 8th, but John Pappas, who is the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) director, expects the representatives to come back after the 2nd of November for an extended session.

Pappas recently stated, “In past experience, they’ve worked all the way through Thanksgiving and through Christmas eve when I worked on the Hill. I wouldn’t expect anything different this time around. They have a lot of bills that need to be taken up. They don’t have the appropriation bills done. The lame-duck session is going to happen. It’s a necessity, no question about it.”

Members of the PPA that live in the districts of representatives of the Ways and Means Committee are being asked to write them letters to try to get members of Congress to push for a bill makeup.

Papas does not think that the Ways and Means Committee markup has to held in this session in order for the momentum for the legalization of online poker to continue. He said, “If it doesn’t happen before the elections, we feel very good we can get a markup and vote during the lame-duck session.”

There will have to be some serious political wrangling in this extended session from Frank, as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for legislation for online poker to go through in 2010.

Frank has been at the forefront of trying to get Internet poker legalized and regulated for several years and he may do everything in his power to pass his bill if there is a legitimate chance it will be passed. Reid comes from Nevada and he is one of the most powerful people in the Senate. Land-based casinos, such as Harrah’s, that want online poker to be legalized, have influenced him. Even though Reid may have warmed idea of legislation dealing only with poker, he has yet to show public support for the issue. It would be a major event if he were to come out and champion the idea of legalized online poker and make it happen this year.

Basically poker players should not get their hopes up. There is more of a chance. However, there is still a better chance at the current time then there has ever been to legalize online poker in the United States.

Leaders in the Democratic Party have been trying to overturn the unpopular the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) for 4 years. Even though leaders like Rep Barney Frank have looked to be on the side of the online gambling industries they really have not done anything yet to change the laws.

With the new election cycle come up Frank and others on the Democratic Party have the cards tacked against them in overturning the UIGEA. Legislation has been proposed by Frank that did get to the House Financial Services Committee, but the bill has not got to the floor of the House and he has said that it may not take place before the mid-term elections.

As the new election cycle comes into full swing, Rep. Frank and other Democrats are up against the wall on overturning the UIGEA. Frank has proposed legislation that has made it through the House financial services Committee, but he has yet to advance the bill to the House floor, and he acknowledges that may not happen before the mid-term election.

Frank stated in a recent interview about the issue, “I’m not optimistic.” If the bill is not passed in the current session on the Hill it would be yet another delay and it is possible that it could cost the Democrats votes come this November.

For a few years Democrats have had the votes of millions of Internet poker players in America that wanted to be supported by the party so the laws about online poker would be changed. However, with not much being done some supporters of the party and Frank may instead turn their main focus to the slumping economy.

Maury Bell stated, “If the economy is taking center stage and the Democrats do not have time to fit in our agenda of changing the online poker laws, then I am going to have to reassess who I vote for in the upcoming election. It has been a frustrating four years, and I’m not going to allow them (Democrats) to hold my vote hostage any more on the hope that they might make my issue a priority.”

In November the Democrats may lose the majority in the Senate and the House. The majority in the Senate looks to be more stable for the Democrats since the Tea Party candidates may cost the Republican party the chamber majority.

However, in the House there is a legitimate chance that the Democrats will not be in control any longer. If that happens the likelihood of the UIGEA overturned do not look good. Even if there is bi-partisan support it is probable that Republican Spencer Bacchus and other lawmakers that are against pro-gambling legislation will keep the bill penned by Frank from being passed.

There is a still a possibility that in the lame duck session that the bill by Frank will gain momentum. Also, there is a chance that the Democrats will attach Frank’s bill to a bill that will create jobs and this will take place before the elections this November. If this does not take place the balance of power in the House will shift since many people in the United States will vote the other way in the election with how poor the economy is doing and their thoughts that the Democrats have not done anything to improve it.

At the end of last month a big date for the battle to legalize online poker happened, as the House Financial Services Committee passed Barney Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act vote of 41-22-1. This is the first time that they bill that regulates and licenses the Internet gambling industry in the United States received a positive vote on the federal level.

Just because the bill passed it does not mean Internet poker will be legalized. However, it does show that the views towards online poker are changing. Only 4 years ago Congress voted 6-1 against online gambling, as there was a lot of support for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. In last month’s vote online poker received a positive vote by almost 2-1.

Former Senator Alfonse DíAmato, chairman of the Poker Players Alliance recently stated, “The fact is, online poker is not going away. Congress has a choice — it can license and regulate it to provide government oversight and consumer protections, or our lawmakers can stick their heads in the sand, ignore it, and leave consumers to play on non-U.S. regulated websites in all 50 states.  I’m glad the Financial Services Committee today overwhelmingly chose to act and protect Americans as well as preserve the fundamental freedoms of adults and the Internet.”

Frank’s bill got major support from the Democrats, who voted 34-4 in support, and they also received some bi-partisan support from the Republican Party as well. The Republicans had 18 votes against the bill 7 for it.

There were 14 amendments made to Frank’s legislation, most of which were supported by the Poker Players Alliance.

The controversial additions to the bill for poker players were a couple or amendments that would keep websites that have been seen to be in violation of international gaming laws from getting licensed in the U.S. This deals with such websites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which are a couple of the bigger poker websites the world over. The federal law is in a gray area in terms of online gambling.

Pappas stated the PPA would support the legislation as long as these current website operators are given the chance to apply for a license. Pappas believes the websites would have the chance to make their case before regulators under the current laws that may soon take effect in regulating online poker in the U.S. He also believes the poker sites of PokerStars and Full Tilt will continue to support the legislation as well as the effort of the PPA’s efforts. Pappas stated, “It’s not our job to guarantee a license. It’s our job to guarantee an open market where everyone can apply for one.”

In the last couple of years there have been 2 big issues that lawmakers have been divided on. One is the issue of same sex marriage and the other is Internet gambling. Recently a federal judge gave those who favored same sex marriage hope and now online gambling being legalized may be next.

In California Proposition 8 banned same sex couples from getting marries, which irked many in the liberal community of the state. However, Judge Vaughn R. Walker recently overturned Prop 8, as he claimed that the law was one that was unconstitutional. The ruling garnered praise across the United States.

Internet gambling may be the next issue on the agenda and there is a good chance it may be legal soon. Washington lawmakers have already begun writing a bill that would not only make online gambling legal, but it would also regulate the industry and that would reap the US government billions of dollars.

Recently Representative Barney Frank, who has been at the forefront of making online gambling legal, passed the legislation through the House Financial Services Committee. Taking the legislation to the House is the next step and that may not happen until next year since the legislative session will be in a recess soon. After the session break is over the focus will then shift to the mid-term elections, which are slated to take place in November of this year.

The issues of same sex marriage and online gambling have had lawmakers in the U.S. in a heated debate for some time. Earlier this year legislators in California have talked about regulating the Internet gambling industry. Millions of residents in the United States already play poker online and online poker has become a billion dollar industry.

The state of California is known as a very liberal state, which is why it is a tad surprising that they banned same sex marriage from the get go. For the Internet gambling issue the Govenator Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in favor of gambling expansion for most of his time as the Governor.

Other states in the U.S. have already considered regulating the Internet gambling industry. A couple that have been aggressive in passing the regulation are Florida and New Jersey, but neither of the states have passed any laws making online gambling legal. New Jersey would like to make Internet gambling legal so it can help the struggling land based casinos in Atlantic City.

It has almost been month since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) went into effect and things seem to be going well. The law was supposed to halt gambling online by US residents by stopping the source of funding for websites, but it has not done much to slow down Internet poker gambling.

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, recently stated, “I think we’ve seen very little impact on the ability of Americans to play poker on the Internet. For many Internet poker sites and players, the ill effects of the UIGEA were felt several months ago if not several years. Most sites migrated to other responsible payment systems and the players migrated to that as well.”

The Poker Players Alliance asked for its members to contact the organization if they were coming across problems withdrawing winnings because of the UIGEA, which was to only have an impact on financial transactions of Internet poker websites. Papas stated that the organization has not received a lot of complaints on the matter.

Papas said, “We’re kind of the front line. If our members have problems they e-mail us, and we haven’t really seen an uptick of complaints from our membership.”

The UIGEA has stopped any chance of credit card deposits, but Internet poker websites have changed to work around the laws. It is interesting that the websites that are having problems are ones like Internet horse ranking sites that were exempt from the UIGEA laws, but are still being overlooked by credit card companies and they did not have any other options prepared to take money from customers.

There have been meetings with representatives of the House of Financial services committee and the PPA to resolve the issue. The committee is expected to look over the Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, authored by Barney Frank, in July to see why the UIGEA is not properly working.

Even though no date has been set for the markup of the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, which Frank stated should have been done in may, a hearing will take place in July or August.

To make preparations for the vote the PPA is having a promotion to raise money. They are asking for donations, which began July 1st, and can be made at the website of the PPA. Pappas stated, “This is a historic vote and the PPA needs everything in place to do what is necessary. We’re hoping the poker community steps up and donates to the PPA to get us the funds we need to carry out a successful month of July.”