Barney Frank a Friend to Online Poker

A spokesperson for Barney Frank is doing a fairly good job of discounting reports that Frank has considered proposing a "two year amnesty in regard to Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.  While he was quoted as telling the London press that "there is nothing on the agenda right now", he was also quick to stress that Mr. Frank is against the UIGEA and refused to comment on whether or not the Congressman was considering such an amnesty.  This is after all, politics at its finest....beat around the bush.

One thing we get out of this is that Barney Frank is certainly no foe to the online poker industry.  The possibility of Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee in Congress, working to get the UIGEA pushed aside, is a ray of sunshine for the online poker sector.  What the anti-online gambling zealots failed to realize is that online gambling (specifically poker) has helped to fuel the local US economy.  Where better is this evident than in Vegas with the World Series of Poker.  That annual event is likely to lose several million dollars from lost advertising and exhibit space whereas international poker tours will continue to profit at a massive pace.

PartyGaming appeared to be among the biggest beneficiaries of these news reports on Thursday.  ThisIsMoney.com reported that the news lifted PartyGaming shares to 45¼p before closing 4¼p higher at 41½p.

Last March, Frank said: 'Adults are entitled to do with their money what they want to do.'

---

Gambling911.com News Wire

Originally published February 23, 2007 1:39 pm ET