[Content Disclosure: 98% Poker, 8% Life, 3% Waiting for Barney]As many of my loyal and all of my disloyal readers know, I write for several websites. My two biggest jobs are PokerBlog.com and the Beginner's Blog at OnlinePoker.com. These sites are operated by Party Gaming and in a strange twist of governmental bureaucracy, I cannot play poker on the Party Poker site. Since the 2006 passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, U.S. based players cannot access Party Poker. Besides driving many of us a bit nutso over this strange act of governmental restriction on personal freedom, there is also the plain truth that for many poker players Party Poker was our favorite site.
Well here is the current good news/bad news for U.S. players and the good news/great news for every other poker player on the planet. First, there's new Party Poker software, which now makes the Party Poker site one of the most amazing player interfaces anywhere on the web. The tables are faster, more intuitive and just easier to use. The Party Poker lobby also has a new, completely updated design. Play is more fun for all the poker players with Party access. Great job tekkies!
On the other side of the coin, the U.S. Congress after nearly two long years has made its first move to quash the draconian restrictions of the UIGEA. Representative Barney Frank's House Finance Services Committee has reported out a piece of legislation, which begins the slow march back to full access for all U.S. poker players. Once this legislation works its painfully slow way through the legislative process, we will all have access again to the party at Party Poker.
