Dakota citizens to vote on legalizing Online Poker
March 11, 2005
The Bismark Tribune carried good news for poker fans this week
when it reported that state legislators wanting to legalize Internet
poker in North Dakota had won another victory when the House voted
50-44 in favor of a resolution that would put the question to a
vote in the June ballot.
House Concurrent Resolution 3035 allows citizens to vote on whether
the North Dakota Constitution should be amended to make Internet
poker legal.
The vote on the resolution was taken yesterday afternoon (Tuesday)
following a four-hour hearing on House Bill 1509, a separate bill
which would set guidelines for establishing the industry in the
state.
Supporters of the game say millions of people are already gambling
on the Internet on offshore sites that receive little or no regulation.
Rep. Blair Thoreson said regulating the industry will help reduce
problems with those who already play the game. "If we
don't do something to regulate it, who knows what the downside is,"
Thoreson said.
Internet poker sites operate offshore because of fear of the 1961
Wire Act, which was aimed at preventing betting over the phone lines.
However, supporters of the legislation say that law does not apply
to Internet poker.
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