DC poker decision expected this week
Congress has until tomorrow to act upon District of Columbia budget, which includes amendments allowing for provision of online poker.
The District of Columbia could overtake a number of American states in the race to become the first jurisdiction in the country to regulate online poker after proposals to allow lottery provider Intralot to increase its offering were written into the state’s budget earlier this year.
Mayor of DC Vince Gray signed the full budget on 27 January, however a quirk in US law means it needs the approval of Congress before it can be passed into law. The Lower House only has until the end of tomorrow to reject the proposals, or else DC could overtake Nevada, Iowa, California, Florida and New Jersey in the race to regulate an intrastate industry capable of generating an estimated US$13m in revenues by 2014m, according to councilman Michael A Brown.
The plans are not without opposition, however, with Republican representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah saying in December that he was “absolutely, totally opposed” to measures he believed would make Washington DC “the Mecca for gambling.”
DC-based lawyer Jeff Ifrah told eGaming Review the dollar amounts mooted by those in support of the poker element of the budget could yet prove false. “One thing that is possibly misleading is whether it will be possible to ensure player migration,” he said.
“The figure out there right now includes players from Pokerstars and Full Tilt, but the proposals represent an exclusive bill with one provider [Intralot] who would be able to add poker to their arsenal of games.”
Even if the budget survives this stage, amendments to the wording of any legislation might be required to ensure compliance with federal laws. Consequently, the actual implementation of new laws could be some time off.