New Online Poker Bills by John Campbell & Joe Barton

Last year was a tough one for online poker. With the Black Friday crackdown this year, it seems this might also be a tough year, but a few legislators are determined to bring a legal online poker bill back to the fore.

In the House of Representatives, John Campbell (R-Calif.) is sponsoring a bill that will regulate online poker. On the Senate side of things, Joe Barton (R-Texas) is putting in his own push for regulating online poker.

Previously seen as an issue favored by Democrats, this time the Republicans are leading the charge to get online poker legalized and regulated. Last year, a bill sponsored by Barney Frank (D-Mass.) failed to move fast enough through the Senate, and Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) bill was attached to lame-duck legislation and was expected to pass, but it also stalled.

Now, new bills are being presented that will not only legalize online poker but regulate it so problems like that which caused Black Friday don’t occur.

It’s expected that new regulation will be presented in the next couple of months.