Online Poker Bill Passes Congress

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 has been passed by a recent vote in the US Senate, completing the process to pass it through the Congress. The US House of Representatives have already signed off on the bill, which is designed to target financial institutions that allow transactions funding accounts with online gambling sites. Tennessee Senator Bill Frist managed to get the bill attached to a Port Security bill, which essentially guaranteed that the bill would pass. Now that the bill has passed, it will take some time to determine what this means to the individual poker player, and how effectively and quickly financial institutions will act to comply with the bill. It is unknown whether or not third party financial companies, such as Neteller, will have to comply at all.