Barney Frank Gambling Bill

As online gaming continues to gain in popularity, the government is taking a new hard look at how these operations work.

If some senators have their way, a new law will regulate online casinos and poker rooms; if passed, the law will allow the government to not only ensure that the online gambling continues in a legal, secure and upright manner, but that taxes can be captured on the profits.

HR2267, sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is also called the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act. It would license and regulate poker websites, among other goals. Frank has a good deal of support — more than 60 legislators have signed on to co-sponsor the bill.

This winter, a committee headed by Frank will review a bill from 2006 that bans U.S. banks from transferring money to those online gaming sites. The bill effectively prevents American players from playing poker online (or gambling online at all) when using their credit cards.

During committee hearings last month, FBI officials told the committee that because the poker rooms aren’t regulated, it’s easy for people to discover how to manipulate the games, often winning cash without having honestly won a game.

Because the 2006 ban makes online gambling difficult in the United States, many online gaming companies have found ways to work around the ban, by operating the casinos and poker rooms in other countries, for example. Others let players use foreign credit cards or use money from offshore accounts.