So now that Congress has pushed back the date that the UIGEA is supposed to go into effect, 6 months from its original Dec. 1 deadline for online poker operators to comply with its restrictions against allowing US players on their sites, Barney Frank and his colleagues on the pro poker side of the argument are pushing ahead with the long and arduous task of convincing the other side that this is a good idea.

Last Thursday, Frank et al held a preliminary hearing on one of the bills in particular, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (also known as H.R. 2267). Support for its passage seemed overwhelming, with one unfortunate exception.

That came, of course, from the head of the opposition to legal U.S. poker, congressman Spencer Bachus who had the FBI put together a report answer 6 questions pertinent to the subject, including: protections from cheating and collusion, underage gambling, and money laundering. The findings of the study, as reported by the FBI Assistant Director of the Cyber Division, Shawn Henry, lend weight to the anti-poker argument. How much weight? We’ll just have to wait and see.