This month, the PocketFives.com Podcastwelcomes Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX, pictured), the author of HR 2366, which would license and regulate internet poker in the United States. Barton’s bill was officially unveiled in June following a major campaign by the Poker Players Alliance on Capitol Hill and has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which Barton is a member. He shared keen insight with us on the bill’s future.

The number one question PocketFives.com has received from members is when a bill like HR 2366 will become law. 2011? 2012? Ever? Barton revealed that the measure could likely pass the House: “It really depends on how much effort Senator Reid wants to give in the Senate. If he wants to make sure it gets a vote in the Senate, we can pass it in the House. If he is reluctant to put too much effort in, it’s going to be hard to get Speaker Boehner and [Committee Chairman] Fred Upton of Michigan to move the bill in the House.”

Reid, who hails from Nevada, is the Senate Majority Leader and reportedly was set to introduce a bill legalizing online poker late last year. “My sense from talking to my staff, who has talked to his staff and some of the stakeholders, is that he’s very supportive and very interested in it,” Barton said of Reid. “He and I together make a pretty good combination – a Democrat Majority Leader in the Senate and a former Republican Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House.”

Many in the industry have questioned whether an online poker bill could muster enough support during an election year in 2012 or if the end of 2011 would mean the end of the bill. Barton noted, “Our strategy is a one Congress strategy, meaning that we want to get it done in this Congress, but this Congress does go through 2012, so it doesn’t have to happen in calendar year 2011. The probability is that it would be next year, not this year.”

Barton explained Congress’ agenda: “We have the debt ceiling, the August recess, and then when we come back, we’ll be dealing with budget issues for the coming fiscal year.” Therefore, 2012, despite being a Presidential election year, could be our best bet.

Boehner (pictured), who hails from Ohio, serves as Speaker of the House. His home state recently opened up land-based gambling, leaving some insiders we talked to wondering whether Boehner would potentially jeopardize Ohio’s revenue by legalizing internet poker.

“I’ve not had a direct conversation with the Speaker on this bill, but his staff has been well briefed,” Barton told PocketFives.com Podcast listeners. “They aren’t flag-waving supporters of the bill, but I’d say they are yellow light. They want to see how willing Senator Reid is to move the bill in the Senate before they decide whether to move the bill in the House.”

Barton candidly admitted, “What I have in the House is kind of a hunting license. I haven’t gone out and shot anything yet… I have a license by leadership to test the waters and see what kind of support we can get… Poker on the internet helps the brick-and-mortar casinos. I have not heard otherwise from any of the stakeholders who are in the land-based casino business.” Barton’s bill quickly shot up to 20 co-sponsors from both sides of the political aisle.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, was passed in the final moments of the 2006 Congressional session at the urging of lawmakers like Bill Frist (R-TN, pictured), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Jim Leach (R-IA). It was attached to the SAFE Port Act, an unrelated port security bill, and not discussed in the Senate, where it passed by unanimous consent.

“UIGEA is not enforceable,” the Texan contended. “It’s hypocritical. It wasn’t vetted before it became law. It may be well intentioned, but in real life, to put banks in the position of determining the source of a transaction is a lose-lose situation. In the case of playing poker, it’s not illegal to play poker on the internet under current Federal law.”

What should concerned poker players do to advocate for the bill, along with others that could be released later this year? Barton, who hears from his constituents on a daily basis, suggested, “The main thing they can do is contact their local Congressmen and Senators and tell them they’re supportive, like to play poker, and hope to play poker legally on the internet. The bill is getting a lot of support and a lot of member involvement here in Congress. Poker, in my opinion, is a game of skill, is the all-American game, is a lot of fun, and as long as you play responsibly, I don’t see that there’s any negative to doing it.”

Listen to this month’s edition of the PocketFives.com Poker Podcast. We’d like to thank Congressman Joe Barton for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk with us.