On Wednesday, longtime reporter John Ralston wrote on his blog, “Here’s what’s floating around DC. I smell a Nevada company.” What followed was text of a draft bill that expands the scope of the Wire Act by adding the following language: “The term ‘any sporting event or contest’ includes games in material part or predominantly subject to chance which are played for a prize, including games in which players compete against each other, and not against any person, entity, or fellow player hosting the game, the outcome of which, over any significant interval, is predominantly determined by the skill of the players.”

Despite expanding the reach of the Wire Act, the draft bill includes a critical carve-out for poker, both intrastate and interstate. Therefore, according to Online Poker Report, many non-poker casino games would be disallowed under the draft bill’s language. The bill is also questionable as to how it treats fantasy sports, which received a carve-out from the UIGEA. The bill does not appear to reference the section in the UIGEA that applies to fantasy sports (section “ix”) and instead references sections “i” to “viii”.

Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas told PocketFives in an exclusive statement, “It is important to keep in mind that this is a draft bill, likely written by someone in the industry, and it is not an introduced piece of legislation.”

Even though some could view the poker carve-out as being positive for the industry, Pappas (pictured) confirmed, “At this time, the PPA is not pursuing a compromise carve-out billthat simply gives poker players the status quo. We are focused on defeating the Graham/Chaffetz bills and pushing state or Federal regulation of internet poker. If Congress does anything, they should either set standards for interstate licensing of online poker or get out of the way of the states who wish to pursue it on their own.”

Online Poker Report was not optimistic about the chances of any Federal legislation passing in 2014, an election year in the United States in which one-third of the Senate and the entire House will be up for grabs: “While a compromise bill certainly has a better chance in absolute terms than an outright ban or widespread legalization, any Federal action on online gambling remains highly unlikely. The bulk of the upside for politicians in the issue continues to reside in the writing of op-eds and the sponsorship of bills that will inevitably die in committee.”

In the US House and Senate, respectively, Congressman Jason Chaffetz and Senator Lindsey Graham, both Republicans, have introduced legislation to restore the Wire Act and eradicate internet gambling, including licensed online poker sites in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. Pappas told us at the time, “The PPA’s position is that these bills should be defeated.” There has been no movement on either bill.

Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest poker legislation news.

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