Devoted poker fan Martin Shapiro – better known by his online handle PokerXanadu – has drafted a piece of online poker legislation.
According to PokerFuse, Shapiro hopes the document will be backed by special interest groups while remaining favorable to players.
In the U.S., there is still considerable difficulty at both state and federal levels in creating online poker legislation that satisfies its various stakeholders. So far, Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey are the only states to pass online poker legislation, effectively regulating it.
Many more state and federal lawmakers have tried to do so in recent years but to no avail.
Shapiro hopes his drafted legislation can guide lawmakers and help them understand the importance of protecting poker players while still preserving the bill’s ability to be passed in today’s political climate.
“I undertook this venture because no one else was doing it,” Shapiro tells PokerFuse. “Every bill that has been introduced to Congress to date has been an incomplete bill and which isn’t passable because it is partisan to a limited number of vested interests.”
“I thought it time to come out with a bill which covers every issue, preserves all the protections and rights of players and sufficiently meets the needs of all the major vested interests in a compromise with which they can support,” he continues.
Although Shapiro’s document is still under construction, it covers many aspects of regulation in ample detail such as licensing, enforcement measures, oversight and updates to existing federal laws.
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