Rep. Joe Barton: ‘God Wants Us to Have Right to Play Online Poker’

Texas Republican Congressman Joe Barton suggested during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing Tuesday that God must want his online poker bill to pass as he safely made it from Texas to D.C. Tuesday morning, braving icy storms along the way.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, questioned Barton’s invoking of God and online poker.

"Mr. Barton, who we all know and love, got off on a little bit of a tangent during his opening remarks when he said 'God is in favor of my online poker bill' … but he only need to look at the number of his bill—2666—to remember that the devil's in the details," Blackburn said, jokingly.

At least you were listening," Barton said in response.
"I'm always listening, Mr. Barton. Women do that very well, “ Blackburn fired back at him.

Barton was adamant regarding a US Citizen’s right to play online poker from the comfort of their livingroom.

"Just about the only thing you can't do anymore on the Internet is play poker," Barton said. "I think the time has come that in the Internet age, we need to regulate and set a level playing field for those of us who would like to play poker online."

The hearing, many believe, is simply window dressing as the legislative session for 2013 is about to end and Barton’s online poker bill faces long odds of passing this year.

Of course there is already 2014, but states like Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware are already jumping ahead of federal legislation.  As such, that train may already have left the station.

- Ace King, Gambling911.com