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Republicans Against Online Poker
Earlier in the week the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, the GOP approved a 54-page document that included a provision calling for a ban on online poker, which the platform warned was putting the “American Dream” at risk.
“Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families,” read the party-approved platform. “We support the prohibition of gambling over the internet and call for the removal of the Justice Department’s decision distorting the formerly accepted meaning of the Wire Act that could open the door to internet betting.”
Should the Republicans reclaim the Whitehouse from the Democrats later this year, this could therefore spell bad news for online poker as the GOP are seeking to force the Department of Justice to change their stance on the Wire Act of 1961, which previously only applied to sports betting.
However, Rich Muny of the Poker Player’s Alliance has hit out at the GOP’s decision, saying: “As we all know, the DOJ decision the plank calls for reversing is the very one that determined that the scope of the Wire Act does not include poker. Also, as we all know, our opponents are including poker in ‘gambling’ activities they seek to ban. Some have event taken to calling it ‘poker gambling’.
If you wish to find out more about the online gambling ban included in the 2012 Republican Platform, a full text can be found at the party’s website: www.gop.com
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