Gaming law expert Anthony Cabot as expressed doubts that the new US online gambling laws proposed by Barney Frank and Robert Menendez will pass.
Speaking at the International Masters of Gaming Law conference in Amsterdam this week, Cabot, a gaming law expert from Las Vegas, put the chances of America seeing new online gambling laws at the national level this year at only 5%.
'Nothing is going to happen this year...Barney Frank has already pushed his back, and once we get into next year we will be into an election cycle. The Democrats in particular are under a lot of stress at the moment and the last thing the Democrats want to get involved in is an unpopular fight because the Republicans would be all over it.'
He was more optimistic of online poker being legalised at State level than he was of a national regulatory regime ever being implemented. Although in this regard, progress in even the more liberal states has been very slow. In Massachusetts the PPA has failed to get a proposition to regulate online gaming on the state ballot, while in California moves initiated by the Morongo Indian tribe to set up regulated online poker for Californians have failed.
Barney Frank himself has on a number of occasions announced delays in presentation of his proposed Bill to the house - the most recent coming in a statement from the PPA only last week.
His Bill was introduced in May this year and seeks to repeal the existing UIGEA and replace it with a licensing and regulatory regime for online poker and casino games. The law is intended to operate at a national level, with States given the option to opt-out within a certain period.
Mendendez's Bill seeks to legalize online games of skill - poker particularly.
While casino giant Harrah's is behind the moves (as owners of the WPT brand they have a lot to gain) according to Cabot, many of Vegas' other big name casinos are still luke-warm on the idea and as a consequence, Nevada Senator Harry Reid has yet to throw his support behind the proposals.
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