The recent introduction of the Internet Skill Game Licensing and Control Act of 2008 by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is important for its specific mention of online poker as a game needing protecting in the form of definition…

The PPA is hailing it as a major lobbying victory, and while it may not be the silver bullet online poker players have been waiting for, Senator Robert Menendez’s (D-NJ) Internet Skill Game Licensing and Control Act represents a major step forward for the industry. Introduced yesterday, the bill (full text on the PPA website here ) seeks to do basically what the title suggests – explicitly legalize wagering on online games of skill and create a regulatory and licensing framework for the skill game industry. PPA Executive Director John Pappas broke the news on the 2+2 forum.

If passed, this bill would provide what the poker community has been seeking ever since the passage in 2006 of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act – clear language that Internet poker is permitted in the United States and that U.S. financial institutions may conduct business with those sites

Manzullo says ‘no’ vote on financial rescue was right Rockford Register Star, IL - 47 minutes ago … not be handed the bill for the failures of Wall Street high rollers and subprime mortgage riverboat gamblers who played Texas Hold ‘ Em and lost ‘ em