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This is Congressman Barney Frank’s second attempt at passing legislation for the legalization of online casinos and Internet gambling.  Last time Frank failed to get his bill out of committee.  This time around things have changed a great deal in Frank’s favor.  Along with the significant disempowerment of the Republican Party, corporate support and a grass roots campaign may help Frank get his bill passed into law.

“The poker players and other online gamblers have gotten organized,” said Frank.  According to Frank passing the Internet gambling bill is less about him being an advocate for online casinos and more about him defending what he believes is the personal freedom of American citizens.

Industry experts believe that Frank’s odds are good for legalizing and regulating online casinos.  I. Nelson Rose is among the experts that believe Frank will succeed.

“It will pass, although there will be changes,” said Rose, a Whittier Law School professor and coauthor of “Internet Gambling Law.

“Very few people in Congress really care at all about Internet gambling.”

While many believe Frank, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has the power to get the bill past the House of Representatives, no one is sure how it will do in the Senate.

Two big obstacles for online casinos will be Majority Leader Harry Reid and lobbyists for brick and mortar casinos.  In spite of Reid being a Democrat like Frank, he has opposed the legalization of online casinos in the past with doubts that the industry could successfully be regulated. 

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