US Awaits Implementation of UIGEA

May 26 - It seems that the United States is going to go ahead with the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) on June 1st as scheduled.

The act was granted a temporary reprieve when it was pushed off from January 1st but it seems that this time, unless something major happens at the last minute, banks and financial institutions will be barred from processing gambling transactions from the beginning of the month.

Online poker proponents have been making last ditch attempts to have the game exempt from the UIGEA, arguing over and over that poker is one of the most popular games in the United States, and that it is a game of skill.

The latest attempt was made by former representative in Congress and now the chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, Alfonse D'Amato.

The PPA chairman met with Rep. Jon Kyl in a bid to sway one of online gambling's harshest critics to exempt poker from the law.

However, nothing was achieved in the meeting and D'Amato came out empty handed.

"It does not seem Senator Kyl is willing to accept even an exemption for peer to peer in it," said the Director of the PPA, John Pappas. "He wants to see the law finalized."

Pappas took a different spin on the implementation of the UIGEA and actually sounded quite upbeat about it.

"Honestly, I think the silver lining here is, come June 1 when the law is finalized, those who would say the UIGEA is going to stop internet gaming will be proven wrong," he said. "I think that adds more credence to our argument that alternatives have failed and now is the time to do what is right to license and regulate the industry."