Indiana Online Poker | Indiana Poker Rooms
Recently the future of online poker took quite a big blow as the FBI seized the domains of FullTilt, PokerStars, Ultimate Bet, and Absolute Poker. With these sites being effectively shut off to servicing Americans no one is certain what the future holds for United States online poker. Since the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act was passed in 2006 there have been many talks on ways to legalize poker benefiting the players, rooms, and US government. Unfortunately nothing definitive was ever passed leaving online poker in limbo, caught between providing Americans a game they love to play and trying to stave off government regulations. A lot of states seem poised to pass intrastate online gaming laws allowing residents of each individual state to play against one another legally. Residents of pro-gambling states should be quite optimistic moving forward about the ability to play poker online again. However, in other states that may not be the case. For example, the future on Indiana online poker looks awfully bleak due to how poker has been perceived by lawmakers of the state.
Anywhere there is a large live casino base there will tend to be staunch opposition against online gaming. This is certainly true in Indiana where there are both casinos on Indian reservations as well as independently owned and operated establishments. There is some poker history in the area including WSOP events taking place at the Caesars location in Indiana. The Main Event has seen quite a deal of success with large prize pools and six figure payouts. There is also a World Poker Tour stop at the Hollywood casinos that saw Mike Scarborough take down Erik Seidel for the 2011 title and nearly $1,000,000. Even still it seems there is a major disconnect between online and live poker in Indiana.
Unfortunately for those wanting to play Indiana online poker the government does not see poker as a game of skill. This means while licensed gambling casinos in the state can run cash games and tournaments it is illegal to do so online. While other states have ruled poker to be a game of skill it appears lawmakers feel differently. This does not bode well for the future of Indiana online poker. With some believing the next step for online poker legislation is intrastate regulation there is just not much hope for a state with so many brick and mortar casinos that feel poker is not a game of skill. It appears at this time there is just too much opposition against online poker in Indiana for in to truly take off. At this point poker players will need to make a big push along with the Poker Players Alliance to have a shot at playing online in the future.
It’s a shame online gaming may not take off in Indiana as the state has more than enough residents to support multiple internet poker rooms. As one of the fifteen biggest states in the nation there are more than 6,000,000 people living in Indiana. When it comes to intrastate regulation the bigger the state the better. This is because with more players online there can be multiple sites in business causing competition. This will force all of the Indiana online poker rooms to improve their software, increase their promotions, and expedite support issues. However, it appears merely to be a pipe dream at this point. With poker not falling under the game of skill category it will take some major changes to existing legislation in order to have a chance to legalize online poker in Indiana. Poker playing residents will need to be proactive if they want a chance at playing online in the future.
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