It started out as a roar in 2006 that sputtered into a whimper in 2008. However, with December 1, 2009 fast approaching, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act appears to have come back to haunt players in the United States one more time.

December 1, 2009 is the compliance date for UIGEA regulations that was set by the Bush Administration on January 19th of the same year. Decried by the gambling industry as a midnight stamp that the administration knew Obama could not politically change for fear of being accused of having the wrong priorities, this date appears to be firm as of the time of this article being written.

The Poker Players Alliance, the biggest advocacy group for online gambling in the country, is pursuing a number of options with respect to pushing this date back. One of them is HR 2266, a bill suggested by Barney Frank that would push the deadline back to December 1, 2010 and therefore give everyone involved in the issue some breathing room. Another is HR 2267, which would effectively legalize, tax and regulate the field of online gambling.

However, this approach is not without its problems. With all of the other problems that the United States is facing at the moment, online gambling has been understandably pushed to the back burner. Therefore, it is unlikely that this bill will receive serious consideration until larger problems like health care and the economy are dealt with. For that reason, most analysts are understandably pessimistic about the December 1, 2009 deadline for UIGEA implementation.

That being said, some analysts wonder whether the implementation deadline will change anything. Most online gambling sites do not accept players from the United States and for those that do, there are payment options available alternative to US-based financial institutions.

Even though this is true, the PPA is not taking any chances. In addition to the legislative approach, they are working on a plan to utilize the Administrative Procedure Act to ask for a delay in UIGEA implementation so that the regulations can be more clearly crafted by federal agencies.