I’m constantly amazed at how hard it is to explain the US legislative system to those not familiar with it. It’s been challenging since ’95 when I got in this business and it continues today. As one friend likes to remind me, when he asked about the perennial i-gaming prohibition bills pending in Congress, I was quick to let him know that he was being “too rational” in trying to understand US politics. That situation was only exacerbated with the procedural shenanigans of Senator Bill Frist in passing the UIGEA. No hearings, no debate, hell, not even a bill introduced in the Senate.

Well, with the recent maneuverings of the Bush administration and their “midnight rule-making”, the head-scratching continues among international observers of our politics. What good will we garnered for having the sense and guts to elect Barack Obama was already challenged by these incumbent tricksters.

In spite of the appearances of a government person and former NFL lobbyist (the most vocal proponent of the prohibition) behind these maneuvers and the dictates of the White House Chief of Staff last May that there would be no rules propagated beyond November 1, we find ourselves now faced with the long-awaited “final” rules.

What can be done about it? Lawyers and lobbyists representing the industry have been deep in discussions about this. I-gaming is not the only industry affected, of course, and www.politico.com was quick to point out that there is some banding together and consideration of the use of the Congressional Review Act to overturn these “midnight” rules. All of this is being done under the backdrop of discussions of which of the “regulatory” bills introduced this year will crop up again next session under what the industry hopes will be a more rational and sympathetic Congress.

Clearly, as we say here, Congress has ‘bigger fish to fry” in 2009 and beyond. But, given the fact that any regulation (and taxation) of i-gaming and particularly poker (the sport of presidents) is “found money” in a struggling economy, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that positive movements on either the state or federal levels may emerge. In what has been, over the years, an increasingly fractured industry from an advocacy standpoint, I’ll ask again for cohesion and a search for the most reasonable and politically expedient approach to getting our foot in the door in the US regulatory landscape. To my mind, that’s poker. I think most veteran observers now realize that online sports betting in the US is a non-starter. If it happens in my lifetime, it will be a shock to me. But poker is a uniquely American game which continues to be played by millions in spite of the roadblocks thrown in front of them.

I’ll be spending next week in Vegas at G2E and will be listening closely to the myriad of discussions on this topic. Stand by for more observations on the debates regarding this issue.