PartyGaming, the owners of PartyPoker, say they will continue lobbying in the USA despite increasing fears that US online poker licenses will be granted only to domestic operators if Washington repeals the UIGEA online gambling bill.

Senator Robert Menendez's recent Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act contains a clause which can be interpreted as protectionist and allowing the US to deny licenses from overseas operators. Barney Frank's earlier bill contains a similar clause.

Some commentators also suggest that individual states may opt out of federal regulations in favour of intrastate gambling to collect tax revenue.

However, PartyGaming are not ready to give up just yet. “What’s encouraging is that America is looking to re-open the market, and we are going to look at ways to re-enter that market," says a PartyPoker spokesman.

Source: EGR.