Are Party Poker heading back to the U.S.?

April 8, 2009

After months of intense negotiations between Party Gaming the parent company of Party Poker and the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO), Party Gaming has managed to pen a Non-Prosecution Agreement. The majority of the charges were centred on Party Pokers activity in the U.S. Gaming Market prior to George W Bush signing the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) into law in October 2006. Party Gaming has agreed to pay a total of $105 million paid in instalments ever 6 months. The last scheduled payment will be cleared in September 2012.

Within this agreement, Party Gaming has also agreed to a Statement of Facts which details how they offered real money online poker and casino games in the U.S. before and after the UIGEA laws were in place. They have further agreed not to offer their gaming services to U.S. customers that contravene the countries law.

The news was lapped up at the London Stock Exchange where Party Gaming is listed (PRTY) with it rising 14%. The settlement leaves the door open to Party to Re-enter the lucrative U.S. market once the issue of online gaming has been re-addressed.

Party Gaming sees this development as a great success. Jim Ryan, Party Gaming’s Chief Executive Officer said on Monday: “The resolution of our position with the U.S. authorities marks an important day for Party Gaming. It has been a long and complex process, but we have reached an amicable solution with the USAO that makes commercial sense for our business and is in the best interests of shareholders. We are now well-placed to seize organic as well as strategic opportunities that previously were beyond our reach.”

So when is this all likely to happen? Well….it could happen sooner than people think. Congressman Barney Frank has revealed that he is planning to introduce new gambling legislation after the Easter Congressional recess. However, before any U.S. players get their hopes up he was also the Congressman who attempted to deal with Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act as well as trying to clarify the UIGEA with the payments System Protection Act last September with little success.

The general feeling in Washington is that the new Democratic administration will be much less likely to pursue and arrest owners and operators like the former administration did. This opens up a whole new world to the CEO’s and anyone associated with online gaming operations

All in all this should be good news for both online poker and online gaming in the U.S. It should ultimately lead to more choice for consumers who wish to participate in this kind of activity and improve the offering of the online poker rooms to attract the increasing number of players that will want to play. We wish you luck Congressman Barney Frank!

No TweetBacks yet. (Be the first to Tweet this post)