Annie Duke to Testify Before Committee on Regulating Online Poker

It has been announced that the House Financial Services Committee meeting that is scheduled for the afternoon of July 21, 2010 will be attended by well-known poker pro Annie Duke. Duke. She is one of poker’s most notifiable pros as she was the runner-up on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice and a NBC National Heads-Up Poker Champion. Duke’s ability as a popular poker player will make the committee meeting on the regulation of online gambling gain more exposure than what was expected.

Duke is traveling to Washington D.C. as spokeswomen for the Poker Players Alliance for which she has been very active in. Duke will testify that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) puts unfair restrictions on American’s ability to choose for themselves to play poker online or not. She will not be alone at the meeting as she will merely be one voice on a five person panel that will give testimony for or against online gambling.

The committee meeting is attempting to gain a full understanding of online gambling in reaction to Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-Mass) Anti-UIGEA legislation, HR 2267 (Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act).
Duke will be joined by the President and CEO of the Discovery Federal Credit Union, Ed Williams; Vice Chairman of Commerce Casino, Tom Malkasian; Mohegan Tribe representative, Lynn Malerba; and, Law Enforcement and Anti-Terrorism Consultant, Michael Fagan.

When the UIGEA was passed in 2006 it sent shock waves throughout the online poker world. Forcing many businesses to exit the U.S. market. In response there has been a movement to regulate online gambling to create safeguards to help protect U.S. gamblers, while allowing for freedom of choice to gamble online. The main hero for online gambling, Barney Frank, has created a bill that would do that and also has a financial bill from Congressman Jim McDermott (HR 4976) that would create tax benefits for the U.S. government to regulate online gambling.

Franks bill needs to be the next steps to be marked up in committee so a proper vote can be made on passing it. The issue is that instead of moving forward with a markup and pushing it through to the House floor, the bill is stuck in committee due to meetings like the one on July 21. With active voices like Annie Duke’s there is a sign that the 1.2 million person PPA is doing all it can to get online poker regulated and open to every American. It’s only a matter of time before the online gambling industry is regulated, and meetings like the one of July 21 will only help clarify the issue to lawmakers for a markup and vote are done.