Political plots in Financial Services Committee

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The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act (HR 2267), gets its markup today, but the news since the hearing last week has centred on Congressman Spencer Bachus of Alabama (R-AL), who may be removed as ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, the committee that will help to regulate online poker.

News of Bachus’s potential demise was first featured on the Politico website which detailed plots among Republicans to oust Bachus who many considered had come out second best when up against HR.2267 advocate Barney Frank.

It’s not the first time Bachus’s place as ranking member has been challenged.

A staunch opponent of internet gambling and poker, in 2008 Bachus cited a non-existent study by McGill University in Canada, which he claimed liked internet gambling to suicide. At one point Bachus quoted bogus figures that suggested one-third of those who gambled online attempted suicide.

Speaking to Poker News Daily, Jeffrey Derevensky, a professor at McGill University, who also served on the Board of Governors of Youth Gambling International, said that no such study had ever taken place and he found it hard to understand how Bachus might have thought otherwise.

“I am confident the Congressman doesn’t read research – he could not misinterpret this,” said Derevensky.

It’s the nature of the political business that replacements will be lining up should Bachus step down. What this ultimately means for online poker remains to be seen, with Bachus left with the choice of putting up a harder fight or allowing things to proceed without opposition. Regardless today’s business in the Financial Services Committee is a positive step forward for poker and the millions around the world who play online.

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