No love for Barton poker bill; no dice at the Pentagon; no hope for Full Tilt?

The American Gaming Association has issued a clarification regarding some public misperception that the AGA (a) opposes the federal online poker bill (HR 2366) introduced by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), and (b) intends to introduce its own federal bill at some point in the future. In an email to GamingToday.com, AGA communications director Holly Wetzel said the AGA (a) has been “neutral on all introduced legislation related to online poker, and the same is true of the Barton bill” and (b) “does not have its own bill and does not have plans to introduce its own bill. If a bill is introduced that meets our board’s approval, certainly we will consider supporting it. But we are not drafting our own bill.” (For the record, our hunch is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.VA.) will emerge as the author of a bill that will melt the AGA’s icy heart.)

Also not supporting the Barton bill are House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and chairwoman Mary Bono-Mack (R-CA). Despite Barton’s apparent belief that the pair would be more ‘receptive’ to hearing his bill than, say, House Financial Services Committee chairman and anti-gambling zealot Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), a federal lobbyist told Chris Krafcik (@CKrafcik) that Upton and Bono-Mack “are not about to give Barton a hearing on HR 2366.” Even Barton reportedly doesn’t intend to push his own bill all that hard unless “he sees [Sen. Harry] Reid show some movement on the Senate side.” (Is ‘Barton’ some new Texan slang for ‘inertia’? Just wondering.)

There will be no online gambling allowed at the Pentagon, at least not on the proposed system being considered (and possibly rejected) by the District of Columbia. DC Lottery exec director Buddy Roogow likely disappointed a great many officers and gentlemen when he clarified that access to the igamingdc.com system “will only be permitted at trusted sites with verifiable IP addresses. Any locations within the federal enclave, including the National Mall, will not be considered a trusted site and access will be denied. This includes both government computers and employees’ personal computers. The system will recognize their location and will shut them out. Finally, the Pentagon is not within the District and, therefore, is ineligible for iGaming access through the DC Lottery.” Which is a roundabout way of saying ‘fuck you, heroes.’

Finally, those irrepressible wags at Paddy Power are taking bets on how much longer Full Tilt Poker will be a going concern. Following the Alderney Gambling Control Commission’s suspension of FTP’s operating license last month, a public hearing/shaming is scheduled to go down in London on July 26. Paddy’s proposition prognosticators are now taking bets on the likelihood of FTP reopening for business on July 27th. Any guess as to which side of that wager is offering the better odds?