Reid's Poker Bill Lives To See Another Day

Published on 2010-12-09 05:43:00

The title of this article is meant to be facetious - Harry Reid's Internet Poker bill (aka the Prohibition of Internet Gambling, Internet Poker Regulation, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2010) didn't actually die today, but multiple media outlets pronounced it all but dead, only to have competing outlets reveal that the bill is still very much alive.

So what's the latest?

According to representatives for Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader has not yet given up on this bill, and still hopes to see legislation passed during this current "lame duck" session of Congress.

So, after 24 hours of riding a rollercoaster of emotions, US online poker players still don't know for certain whether or not this bill will actually become law.

The bill was thought to be dead early Wednesday afternoon after a blog posting on Lasvegassun.com indicated that the online poker bill had "fallen off of the agenda".

Just a few hours later, the posting was changed to reveal that some of Reid's statements had been misinterpreted, and that he was still hopeful of passing the bill.

Earlier this evening, CNN.com published a story which featured a quote from Senator Jon Kyl, who revealed that "Senator Reid has agreed with me that it will not happen." (referring to the online poker bill)

Dead again? Not so fast.

The Wall Street Journal claims that Reid "hasn't folded yet in his effort to make Internet poker legal". This article is one of the most recent on the subject.

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I wouldn't believe anything that you hear, as there were multiple head fakes on Wednesday. There were multiple stories in the media from reputable sources that were basing their articles on the original Las Vegas Sun story that was subsequently changed.

While it certainly seems like a long shot that Reid will be successful in his attempt to enact his online poker legislation, anything could still happen.


Photo: GettyImages

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Filed Under: Poker Legislation