Os Man Corner

Growth in U.S. poker playing still on the increase

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The popularity of online poker continues to soar despite a pending United States federal ban on internet gambling, with the number of Americans playing in online poker rooms on the increase. What’s more, online poker rooms are using their growing popularity to take their offerings into the mainstream, such as cable TV shows and land-based tournaments.

A survey by London-based Mintel says12% of American adults visited an online casino in the past 12 months, most of which were online poker rooms. The ratio of men to women gamblers was about five to one.

American gamblers are apparently undeterred by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which effectively bans Internet gambling in the US by outlawing the transfer of funds from financial institutions to gambling websites.

The UIGEA was supposed to go into effect last November but its implementation was delayed until June 1.
New legislation, notably a bill from Representative Barney Frank, which would repeal the UIGEA and set up a mechanism for legalizing (and taxing) online gambling, has so far not found any support in Congress.

Although Frank’s bill isn’t expected to be acted upon until late 2010 or early 2011, it’s interesting to note the companies that have lobbied for and contributed funds toward its passage.

According to an impending report, Harrah’s Entertainment spent the most money, $1.22 million, lobbying for internet gambling during the first quarter of 2010. The Poker Players Alliance, a grass-roots advocate for online poker, was second with $785,000. Other big spenders were online poker companies PokerStars and Betfair US.

Even though Harrah’s has lined up on the side of some form of legal online gambling, the issue is a tough one for many land-based operators.

"The elephant in the room is internet poker and internet gaming," said Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga tribe, which operates one of California’s largest casinos. "Most tribes are on the fence with this thing, including my tribe."

Indeed, the tribes in California seem to be split on the issue. A proposal in Sacramento last year by Morongo, a Southern California tribe, to have tribal casinos and commercial card clubs join forces to offer online poker in California didn’t go anywhere, but that isn’t expected to be the end of the movement.

Commercial casinos seem to have taken a "wait and see" stance, with the American Gaming Association officially taking a "neutral" stance toward internet gambling, which is actually an improvement from its original negative position toward off-shore operators.