Don, I've heard from a few people in the poker industry that their issue with the Sessions bill is that if they agree to it then they have to admit that online poker was illegal in the U.S. which they refuse to do. Their contention is and always has been that the only "illegal" online activity ithat ever existed s sports betting which was outlawed by the wire act and they aren't prepared to concede that poker may have been an illegal internet activity prior to this "foregiveness by Congress".
In my article I never really addressed that. I only stated that it's a bit odd that they aren't prepared to accept a UIGEA carve out now if it means getting the DOJ off their back and online poker can move forward.
As you stated though, it does leave the owners/managers of Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker etc. in a lurch if they did accept it since those places would not be exonerated since they continued to offer the product to Americans after the UIGEA was passed. I wonder if the PPA would accept a revised Sessions bill that exonerates all poker operators provided they were only offering poker on the site? Of course that's hypothetical anyways as I doubt any Republican will agree to that.  |