Top News – U.S. Online Gaming Regulation and PokerStars Around the World

With the World Series of Poker on hold until November, poker players and fans were able to wind down from the whirlwind summer for a few days before action picked back up. PokerStars picked up with two of its tours, the UK and Ireland Poker Tour and the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour, giving players the chance to compete for prestigious titles in various corners of the world. And back in the United States, Congress was testing the waters with online gaming regulation as Rep. Barney Frank’s bill, H.R. 2267, was finally undergoing a committee hearing, which led to a mark-up session and vote in the Financial Services Committee. With its ultimate passage, the overthrow of the UIGEA inched a bit closer, and online poker companies held their breath as the bill faced change and did go one step nearer to the possibility of a vote in the House of Representatives.

PokerStars-Sponsored Tours

The first season of the UK & Ireland Poker Tour began in December of 2009 but was scheduled to run through the majority of the 2010 calendar year. Right in the middle of it all was a stop in Brighton, England, which took place from July 15 - 19. Players from the region who were already finished with their WSOP Main Event runs were home, and those who couldn’t travel to Las Vegas for the summer looked forward to the tournament in their own backyard.

There were 259 players in the field, all of whom put up £1,000 to play, but in the end, there were only eight at the final table, six of whom qualified for the tournament on PokerStars. And when it was all said and done, the champagne was chilled for Jamie Burland from the UK, who beat Tomas Cibak in the heads-up battle to claim the title and £65,400 in prize money.

While that tournament was playing out, PokerStars was busy in Queenstown, Australia for its mid-season stop on the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour. The Skycity Casino was the place to be on July 17 for most of the players, though another flight was held the previous weekend in Auckland to bring other players to the final days of action.

Altogether, there were 119 players and a $267,750 AUD prize pool, but only eight made the final table. And in the end, there were only two until Julian Cohen defeated Andrew Watson to grab the title, celebrate with friends, and cash out for $73,630 AUD. 

While other PokerStars-sponsored events are on the calendar for the coming weeks, the newest addition to the schedule was an event independent of its tours, even of its Asia Pacific Poker Tour. The Macau Millions was announced and scheduled for August 4-8 at the Grand Lisboa Casino on the island of Macau. 

The big draw for the five days of festivities was to be the $1 million HKD guarantee tournament, which offered special luxuries for the players. For a $2,200 HKD buy-in, players could buy-in to any of the first five days of play, and eliminated players could buy-in again on another day. And the top 7 percent of each day’s field was guaranteed to be in the money. There was also a $5,000 no-limit hold’em tournament on the list for players looking for higher buy-in action.

As PokerStars Macau Operations Manager Danny McDonagh said, “PokerStars and Grand Lisboa have been synonymous for record-breaking poker events in Macau. The Macau Millions is going to be historic for the Asia poker community and I simply can’t wait to get things started.”

Congressional Committee Supports Online Gaming Regulation

It has been a long road for Rep. Barney Frank and his fight against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006. His repeated attempts to repeal it have been thwarted, and his latest bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, also known as H.R. 2267, was introduced back in May of 2009. It took months to get its first hearing, and then many more months of silence led to the promise of a July hearing.

The July 21st hearing in the Financial Services Committee was interesting, with testimony from Annie Duke in support of the bill and a representative of Commerce Casino opposed to it, but a surprise at the end of the hearing came from Rep. John Campbell, who noted that the bill was headed to mark-up the following week. Mark-up is the step preceding an actual committee vote, which was encouraging news.

Said mark-up was scheduled for July 27 but postponed a day, and when Wednesday came around, it was a whirlwind of an afternoon on Capitol Hill, as amendments were proposed that could have turned the online poker industry on its head. The most concerning proposal was one that came from opposition leader Rep. Spencer Bachus, as well as Rep. Michele Bachmann, that intended to ban any sites who currently do business in the United States, along with their employees, from ever obtaining a license for online gaming under the new law. The broad nature of that amendment was troubling, but that amendment was defeated when it came up for a vote.

In the end, H.R. 2267 came up for a vote and passed 41-22, as several Representatives crossed party lines to comprise those numbers. Poker Players Alliance Chairman and former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato commented, “This is a great day not only for poker players, but for proponents of internet freedom and individual liberty. We thank Chairman Frank for his leadership on this bill, and look forward to working with him to bring this bill through the legislative process.”

That legislative process could be lengthy, however. In order to gain broader support and keep the support of those on board with the committee vote, amendments will need to be made before putting it up for a vote before the House of Representatives. The process to pass internet gaming regulation may be only in its beginning stages, but any steps are welcomed by supporters after a long wait thus far.