By Alexis Russell

09/01/2008

In 2006 the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act wreaked havoc in the online poker world.  Poker rooms failed and shut down, threats of legal action abounded and the U.S. online poker players’ freedom to play was, and still is, in question.  Though legislation was soon put in place to lessen the effects of the UIGEA, it still had seriously hindered the industry.

                Non-U.S. online poker rooms have felt most of the brunt enforcements that the Republican GOP dealt out.  Losing their U.S. base of real money players is still proving to be a burden to the international companies like PartyGaming.  PartyGaming is an online gaming company that runs poker rooms like PartyPoker.  PartyPoker does fairly well within the industry, however dropping numbers in the recent months have had the higher ups analyzing their hand more closely.

                Between June 2008 and August 25, 2008 the poker sector of PartyGaming was lagging a little bit compared to earlier in the year.  From July to August alone the number of players joining action at the site dropped 19% and their revenue suffered a drop of 9% because of it.  Jim Ryan, PartyGaming’s Chief Executive Officer, credits it to the UIGEA bill. 

                 “This represents a continuing competitive threat to listed businesses like PartyGaming that immediately stopped customers in the US from playing or making deposits on any of the group's real money sites following the enactment of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act)."

                PartyGaming is part of the Remote Gambling Association, an international group that is approaching U.S. lawmakers to represent the interests of European online gambling organizations.  They are hoping a bill that was recently introduced in the House will pass and clarify points of the UIGEA that concern online poker.  These clarifications could lead to possible resolutions between the U.S. Dept. of Justice and some European online poker rooms, allowing for U.S. players to play in them again.

                But this end isn’t made clear even in the newly introduced bill and support for it isn’t looking great.  In this election year its unclear what the fate of online gambling in the U.S. will be, but no matter which Party wins it will surely send ripples through the entire poker industry.