Barton introduces federal bill for online poker

Joe Barton, a Texas congressman, moved forward with the introduction of another bill that is geared to the legalization of online poker within the U.S at a federal level. The new bill is titled the Internet Poker Freedom Act of 2013. The previous bill was called HR2666 and consisted of over 100 pages with its goal was to legalize online poker but failed.

The new bill includes a clause to prevent those companies who may have accepted illegal wagers in the previous 5 years or any illegal act deemed a felony within the United States. It further allows for the creation of a committee that will provide oversight duties and offers to ban casino gambling within the U.S online period.

The new bill has been accepted and has already gained support from the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. This is due to the belief that the only way to have uniformity relating to online poker is through federal law and not individual law. It is the hope of many that congress will be proactive towards this new bill.

The bill will first be presented to congress in the summer. There is also another bill from a New York rep to legalize all forms of online gambling. That would be the smarter of the two bills to pass and would allow for better revenue streams to be realized.