By Renee | January 27, 2012

The lawmakers of the state of Iowa are now mulling over the idea of creating better online gaming plans for multistate online poker games with the potential to increase the player field and the size of the prize pools.

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Speaking on these ideas recently, Jeff Danielson said that the latest re-interpretation of the Wire Act of 1961 on the part of the US Department of Justice will permit Iowa to sign agreements with other states that have legalized and regulated the online poker industry, such as Washington D. C. and Nevada, as well as with foreign countries.

Last month, the DoJ announced that the Wire Act of 1961 will no longer be used to criminalize forms of online gambling, an interpretation that had forced Iowa to limit its online gaming activities within its territory. Now that the Wire Act prohibits only betting on sports events online, the states are free to explore a wide range of online gambling possibilities. Danielson says, “We believe that because of the Department of Justice ruling, we can now have a multistate compact.” This “multistate compact” can be likened to the agreement that allows the playing of Powerball in 31 states, leading to insanely huge jackpots.

Danielson has also revealed his plans to frame a bill proposing the legalization of online poker in Iowa, which he plans to push this session.

Last month, the Iowa Racing and Gaming commission published a report, in which it considered the pros and cons of creating a regulatory framework for online poker within its territory. Research studies point out that an annual rake of $13 to $16 million can be pulled in every year from the online poker games. This might generate an income of anywhere between $3 million and $13 million for Iowa.

Although nobody has opposed Danielson’s proposed bill, people are very hostile to the idea of legalized online poker. According to the Des Moines Register Iowa Poll, taken in Jan 2011, 73 percent of the people of Iowa do not want online gambling, 23 percent welcome it, and 4 percent are not sure about it.

According to a report published last fall by the Center for Social and Behavioral Research, University of Northern Iowa, 5 percent of the adults in Iowa had played online games and 2 percent of them had gambled online during the previous year.

Simultaneously, Iowa also has its fair share of people welcoming interstate gambling opportunities.

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