A last-minute effort by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to pass internet gambling legislation succeeded on Friday, September 29, 2006, leaving the future of the industry in the United States in doubt. The President is expected to sign the Safe Port Act, to which the internet gambling legislation is attached to. The implications and effects of this last-minute jockeying will likely not be known in the immediate future. PocketFives (www.pocketfives.com) and industry leaders are continuing to fight for the rights of online poker players everywhere and inform thousands of affected internet gamblers of what has occurred.

On Friday afternoon, word broke that Senator Frist had reached an agreement to put internet gambling language into the Safe Port Act. Much of the language dealt with payment options to internet gambling site; the internet gambling legislation did not appear to contain language that updated the Wire Act of 1961. Around midnight Eastern time, the House of Representatives passed the Safe Port Act and accompanying interenet gambling legislation by an overwhelming margin; the Senate passed the legislation by “Unanimous Consent,” bringing internet gambling legislation to fruition.

“This is a very unfortunate turn of events,” said PocketFives President Cal Spears. “Much of last week, the focus of any internet gambling legislation was centered on a Department of Defense resolution. At the 11th hour, this critical internet gambling legislation was attached to the Safe Port Act. It is truly disappointing and unnerving that internet gambling legislation did not receive its due discussion in the Senate.” PocketFives is a community consisting of nearly 20,000 online poker players, many who now stand to lose their ability to play the great American pastime. “Our members are outraged at these events,” said Spears. “The professional online poker players on our site are now facing the grim possibility that it will become extremely difficult for them to make a living. The internet gambling legislation will harm not just internet gambling enthusiasts, but also online poker professionals everywhere.” Online poker, a game of skill, still appears to be lumped into the same legislation with sports wagering and other games of chance.

Poker Players Alliance President Michael Bolcerek, whose lobby group is the main industry spokesperson for online poker, said in a statement, “The American people should be outraged that Congress has hijacked a vital security bill with a poker prohibition that nearly three-fourths of the country opposes.” Bolcerek cited a 2006 ICR Market Research poll in which 74% of respondents answered “no” to the question, “"Should the federal government prevent Americans from playing poker on the Internet?"

“The best thing we can do now is be educated on what this bill will and will not do,” said Cypra. “It is important to remain calm and remain informed.” PocketFives.com will have Bolcerek and Brian Jakusik, Executive Director of the National Right for Online Gaming, on its weekly Podcast to discuss the background and implications of the internet gambling legislation. The show will be released on Thursday, October 5. “Please join the Poker Players Alliance (www.pokerplayersalliance.org) and the National Right for Online Gaming (www.nrog.org). Both are industry experts who have online poker and internet gambling enthusiasts’ interests in mind, respectively. Together, we can all make a difference.”