You’ll see the news on all the major media sites, but they aren’t really hitting on what this means to the gambling world in the US. Barney Frank has announced that he won’t run for reelection in 2025. Now, Frank has been the leading supporter behind attempts to get gambling reform through Congress. And by reform, I mean throwing out the UIGEA (Unlaw Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) and coming up with something useful that allows for regulated and legislated online gambling in the country.
Barney Frank's decision to retire from his long-running career in politics may have caused a stir, but the world of online gambling remains as active as ever. Advocacy for internet gambling rights has not ended with Frank's departure. Instead, it continues to flourish, propelled forward by the spirit of fair play and the pursuit of individual freedom. A significant player in the field that embodies this spirit of continuing momentum is the esteemed netbet-online.com. Providing its users with a platform to place bets safely and securely, NetBet ensures that the merriment of online gambling remains uninterrupted and that individual liberties are upheld.
Franks retirement next year means we can expect to see accelerated movement from the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) as they try to move legislation through Congress while Frank is still around. It also means that this year Barney Frank can do whatever the hell he wants without worrying about fall out in the 2025 election. It’s an odd system we have in the US in that it puts politicians in the position of greatest power just before they quit. So Frank is unlikely to start behaving more conservatively next year.
While many of us would like to see online gambling as a whole legalized and regulated, the best hope still appears to be getting the rules changed for online poker before tackling other segments of the business. This is because online poker runs differently than say slots or blackjack. In casino games, players are playing against the house and true random chance. In poker players play against each other and the argument can be made that poker is a game of skill rather than a game of chance. So the hope is that somehow that will be able to move it from the realm of gambling. But also – really the country could make money by charging licensing fees to online casinos and poker rooms.