Will president Obama save the day for the poker industry?

12.26.2008 | 3:35 pm | gambling

As President-elect Barack Obama gets ready for office in the US there are high hopes that the poker loving politician will start moves to get the online industry legalised in the US. The sector has been hit very hard by the US ban which was introduced two years ago and literally closed a very lucrative industry overnight. There had been rumours of a potential change in the law prior to Obama’s election but news that he “likes to play a hand or two” has given the poker loving community in the US hope for the future.

The only possible downside to a potential change in the law is the state of the traditional casino sector in the US where millions upon millions of pounds are being lost by the major players, many of whom are struggling under serious debt mountains. The reintroduction of the online sector may well compound the difficulties in the off-line sector unless there is some kind of pact to ensure adequate exposure all-round.

There are also strong rumours that the US government is looking to become the central regulator for the online poker and online gaming industry, something which has the potential to bring in literally billions of dollars into the US government coffers. This would put the US government at direct loggerheads with the UK government where Gordon Brown has also made a bid to be the central regulator for the online industry. Whether the UK government could compete with its US counterpart is very debatable as the power of the US markets and the US government would swamp the power of the UK.

As we enter 2009 there are high hopes of changes in the online poker industry where the non-participation of US players has hit many of the online poker groups very hard.