Representative Joe Barton (R-TX) released the language of his latest federal online poker bill today. The bill is titled the Poker Freedom Act of 2013. The bill addresses only poker. It does not affect any other games whether it has already been legalized or not.
The bill would only allow existing brick and mortar poker rooms to operate online poker in the United States. This would leave out companies like PokerStars and Zynga, although software companies could become vendors.
States would be allowed to opt out of online poker under this bill. A governor or other authority would have 60 days to exclude themselves from the legislation. Any state that does not opt out is automatically included until is takes legislative action to change that.
There is a weak bad actor clause added. It prevents any person or company that has been convicted of a felony or gambling offense from becoming an operator. It may also be applied to significant vendors. This mostly applies to Black Friday defendants that have pleaded guilty to a crime.
Companies that are found to be operating without an online poker license may be forced to forfeit all wagers accepted illegally or pay a fine of $1 million per day. A list of companies will be kept on a blacklist that will be used to investigate illegal operators. These websites may be blocked by Internet service providers as well.
There are several problem gambling features. They include the ability for players to exclude themselves from online poker. Players may also limit their ability to deposit, create a maximum daily time of play or the level or of limits.
Cheating will not be tolerated. Any player colluding or using a bot to play can be banned from playing online poker in the U.S. and criminally prosecuted.
Credit cards will not be allowed for deposit. The bill does imply that players may be extended credit by the poker rooms though. Credit cards are a common way for players in the rest of the world to make a deposit.
If the bill becomes law then online poker could be live within 270 days. It seems that the 270 day milestone would be a launch day to create a level playing field.
See also: Poker Freedom Act of 2013 Details
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