Online Poker Legislation Campaigners Bullish After PASPA Is Repealed

In Phil Helmuth’s words, “The time is now” for online poker to be legalized.

Online poker campaigners have drawn inspiration from the fact that the Supreme Court has repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) 1992 was indeed infringing on state sovereignty and preventing sports betting from being legalized.

The repeal of PASPA paves the way for all the other US states who were not allowed to regulate sports betting to start consulting with its constituents on whether legislation for online sports betting should be passed.

The victory in getting PASPA repealed and sports betting legalized is also a revolutionary win for online gaming in general, since it opens the doors for packaged legislation that could finally legalize online games such as online poker.

CBC News

 

In fact, many industry experts and individuals are bullish over the fact that the next step should be the push to legalize online poker. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the biggest poker advocacy organization in the US has called the SC ruling an important date for the US’ online gaming industry.

Richard Muny, the president of the PPA, said that since the future of sports betting relies heavily on online technologies, it only strengthens the need for regulation of all online gaming products—including online poker.

Helmuth Pushes For Online Poker Legalization

Poker Hall of Famer Phil Helmuth echoes the PPA’s sentiments and calls for the legalization of online poker alongside online sports betting.

Every Major sport (NBA, NFL, MLB) is behind the legalization of sports betting, and all of them will profit by it. But how can Sports Betting online be legalized w/out online poker being legalized (clearly more skill than sports betting)? The time is NOW to legalize online poker!

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) May 14, 2018

It’s not just the people from the poker community that’s rallying support for the game. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, says that the whole gaming industry is poised to create bigger business opportunities because of the ruling. The legalization of sports betting only stokes the fire that burns under online poker and online gaming in general and it seems inevitable before online poker becomes legalized throughout the nation.

The stock market is also responding well to the PASPA ruling and the stock prices of online gambling and casino companies are up. After the ruling, Penn National Gaming went up 4.7 percent and Caesars Entertainment spiked 5.5 percent, while online gambling technology company Scientific Games increased by 11 percent.