Republican Party opposes online poker in America

Republican Party opposes online poker in America

Friday, 31 August 2012

This week’s Republican Party convention in Florida was hit by the after effects of Hurricane Isaac and the future of online poker in the US could be heading into equally turbulent conditions if Mitt Romney wins this year’s presidential election.

The party has released a 54-page programme which included the following paragraph in a section entitled 'Making the Internet Family Friendly'.
“Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support the prohibition of gambling over the Internet and call for reversal of the Justice Department’s decision distorting the formerly accepted meaning of the Wire Act that could open the door to Internet betting.”


Rich Muny VP of the Poker Players Alliance was understandably unimpressed with the latest news from the GOP. “It is unfortunate that the authors of the plank are at odds with many House Republicans who are leading the charge for licensed and regulated online poker, but it is even worse that they are so out of touch with the actual voters,” said Muny.


The US Department of Justice last year changed its long-held position on Internet gambling, deciding that the federal Wire Act of 1961 only applies to sportsbetting, paving way for the possible legalisation on online poker.


The full Republican Party programme can be found here.


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Tags: Politics, legal, law, regulation Mitt Romney