ODDS FOR HR2267 THIS YEAR NOT GOOD, SAYS CONGRESSMAN


With the current Congress running out of time the chances for legalised online gambling in the US are not good, says co-sponsor of HR2267
 
Congressman John Campbell holds out little hope for the passage of HR2267, a bill he has co-sponsored, along with 69 other Representatives, which seeks to legalise online gambling in the United States.
 
Speaking at a fund raiser in Las Vegas Saturday afternoon, the Republican member of the House of Representatives told Poker News Daily: “There’s a little bit more of Congress left this year in November and December called the lame duck session.  There is an outside chance of something happening for poker only passing in the lame duck session.
 
"But the odds are not real good on that right now. So, if we go into next year, we will have a different makeup in Congress and a different Chairman of that committee.”
 
The House may be back in Republican hands – and some believe internet gambling's arch enemy Spencer Bachus could take over the influential House Financial Services Committee – but Campbell appears to remain optimistic for the 2011 Congress, should HR2267 fail this year.
 
“I think we have a real opportunity on this next year," he said. "There will be almost a hundred new members of Congress, so it’ll be a hundred people who can have a fresh look at this.”
 
Campbell, a member of Barney Frank's House Financial Services Committee this year, has been an active supporter of HR2267, and made a key amendment to the proposal at the mark up stage when he insisted that US-licensed internet gambling companies that accept wagers from U.S. residents be located in the United States; that the betting age be set at 21; the odds of a player winning the games be posted, and loss limits for gamblers be imposed. HR 2267 subsequently passed out of committee on a positive 41:22 vote