The poker industry has a little more time to gain support against the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, thanks to the postponement of the March 5th hearing. RAWA was supposed to be subject to a hearing by the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations but will now be delayed due to inclement weather.
Washington D.C. is expecting severe weather so the hearing will be moved to a later date. On Twitter, John Pappas, the Poker Players Alliance Executive Director, posted that the hearing has been postponed as Congress is out of session due to the expected inclement weather.
The PPA has been working full time to gain support against the bill with a new petition created just a few days ago to try and stop the bill from moving forward. The bill would ban online gaming activity in the US including poker which is already offered in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey. The postponement gives the Poker Players Alliance as well as other proponents of iGaming to opportunity to gain even more support, which is well-needed after seeing the witness list for the hearing.
According to a report by PokerNews, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations where the hearing will take place is home to the lead sponsor Jason Chaffetz and co-sponsors of the bill, all of which are members of the subcommittee. The witness list includes four people, three of which are testifying in favor of the bill, which will not lend to the side of online poker proponents.
John Kindt, a professional gambling critc, Les Bernal, the Stop Predatory Gambling National Director and Michael Fagan, a former US Assistant Attorney all three are considered in accordance with RAWA. Standing alone as a positive witness for online gambling will be Parry Aftab, the WiredSafety.org Executive Director. Aftab has studied online gambling and the risk factors and has determined that regulation will be a better solution for the states.
A new hearing date has not been announced but should be expected in the coming days.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.