Great poker news for USA players is that the Bush administrations UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) which was set to be enforced from 1st December 2009 is expected to be pushed back by a further six months until 1st June 2010.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is expected announce tomorrow (Friday) or at the latest Monday, that the U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has agreed to delay the compliance date as set out by the Poker Players Alliance’s petition which aimed for a full years grace to be given a comprise was reached and a rumoured 6 month extension granted.

Under the UIGEA, banks and credit card processors are held responsible for ensuring that no “illegal” Internet gambling money transfers occur, which would severely dent the USA poker market as no Americans would be able to play for real money, if the law was enforced. It would also prove difficult to cash out their winnings.

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Party Poker Revenue Drops in 2009, PartyGaming Plc have just released their interim results for the six months up to 30 June 2009.

http://www.partygaming.com/prty/en/mediacentre/pressreleases/financialnews/?ref=223

While PartyGaming still has a firm foot in the door in the online poker world currently number 4 globally in terms of player traffic the former giant has suffered a major blow ever since the UIGEA was passed into USA law where the LSE based company opted to take the safe road by blocking all USA customers their major source of revenue at the time.

The company has since adapted remarkably well without the US market by extending their services to include PartyCasino, PartyBets and PartyBingo.

PartyCasino has since evolved into becoming the single largest online casino operation worldwide and boasts profit figures that are just short of those generated from Party Poker.

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Rumors have it that PartyGaming is possibly interested in purchasing GigaMedia Limited in doing so the merger would substantially increase PartyGaming’s market share should the two well established online gaming firms merge into one large corporation, the traffic levels generated are expected to rival those of the current number two Full Tilt Poker in terms of busiest poker room online.

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As of the 14th April 2009, PokerRoom.com is closed with the parent company Bwin opting to shut the site down rather than continue maintaining it.

Former players of Pokerroom.com were advised via email that PokerRoom will be disabled from the 14th April with the option to either cash out their funds or transfer them to the new owners site BWIN Poker with bonuses being offered to those preferring to transfer their bankrolls over.
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Plans are currently underway at Obama’s administration to proceed with introducing internet gambling law for the USA, drafts of which can be expected as early as March 2009 which will be headed by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) who currently chairs the US House Financial Services Committee, the new online gambling legislation is set to address the vagueness of the previously passed (UIGEA) Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Now that the $700 Billion bailout has been approved by the US Senate and the house of representatives, Washington can focus on internet gaming. Obama’s team will be looking for any means available to help fund the massive bailout package and what better source than taxing internet gaming operators an industry in the USA worth potentially billions of dollars in taxes to the US government.

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