Harry Reid’s attempt to legalize online poker fails

Harry ReidWord came down from ESPN.com late last night that Harry Reid’s (D-NV) proposed online gambling legislation that would pave the way for the legalization of online poker in the US was no longer on the table during the current session of Congress.

The announcement will likely cause a major uproar in the poker community as this appeared to be the final chance to see poker legislation enacted on the federal level. Now all hope for online poker legislation falls squarely on the shoulders of the states, with New Jersey and California leading the charge to legalize and regulate the industry.

While Reid’s bill had many detractors in the poker world, and was full of problematic stipulations, such as the 15-month blackout period that would follow the bill’s passage, for the most part poker players do what they always do and looked at the measure in the long-run; where it was evident that legalizing the industry would be good for poker.

Once again online poker players in the US find themselves in odd gray area of the law, where they are legally participating in an illegal industry. The main concern now lies in whether the DOJ will continue its crackdown on payment processors, which could lead to the demise of the online poker industry in the US.

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