New Menendez Bill Would Legalize Internet Poker

S. 1597, a 91-page bill introduced this summer by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), would legalize Internet poker as a "game of skill," while allowing individual states and Indian tribes to refuse to permit the game within their territories. The legislation resembles a bill that House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank introduced in the last Congress, but has swelled to three times the length by adding several key elements, including:

(i) Imposing suitability-based licensing of Internet poker operators;

(ii) Granting authority to the U.S. Department of the Treasury to regulate Internet poker operators, or to delegate parts of the job to state or tribal regulators that meet minimum regulatory standards;

(iii) Greatly increasing the attention to the social risks posed by online gambling, including regulation of underage gamblers, geolocation screening of gamblers, and responsible gaming requirements;

(iv) Levying an internet poker license fee of 10 percent of all funds held on deposit for players, with half of the fees going to the federal government and half to a fund that would be divided among state and tribal governments based on the amounts deposited by gamblers residing in the jurisdiction of each entity.

Another key provision grants full immunity to such operators who previously offered Internet poker but not other online gambling choices. No hearings have been scheduled on the legislation.