Is God for Legalised Online Poker?

Joe Barton thinks yes but Marsha Blackburn says the devil is in the details. Out-of-place reasoning and counter arguments collide during the hearing on the bill for the federal level legalisation of online poker in the US.

Republican Congressman Joe Barton filed a bill to legalise online poker in the United States on a federal level in July. In the draft, Barton suggests a state level regulation-friendly solution; individual states would be able to decide whether to allow online poker within their borders but if they do, they would have to be part of a merged, federal level market. In other words, he proposes an opt-in/opt-out system.

On Tuesday, the congress hearing on the bill took place and the respected politicians showed off some divine reasoning on both sides. Barton said “God must be for this bill” because he managed to get to the hearing an hour early, despite icy roads and “a 200 mile and hour tailwind behind the plane,” which he recognised as a clear proof of divine intervention.

Later on, Barton would describe internet as the embodiment of freedom and a marvellous tool to do whatever we want – except for online poker.

"Just about the only thing you can't do anymore on the Internet is play poker. I think the time has come that in the internet age, we need to regulate and set a level playing field for those of us who would like to play poker online," Barton remarked.

"Mr Barton, who we all know and love, got off on a little bit of a tangent during his opening remarks when he said 'God is in favor of my online poker bill' … but he only need to look at the number of his bill, 2666, to remember that the devil's in the details," fellow Republican Marsha Blackburn replied.

More importantly, some important and relevant discussion took place in the hearing and it appears that the congress has, in general, a more positive attitude towards federal level regulation than before and they seem to have parted ways with regarding online poker a simple tool of money laundering. Still, full acceptance seems yet a bit farther down the road.

Watch the recording of the hearing below: