Almost all online poker players have heard of the UIGEA, the U.S. law that blocks financial transactions to online poker rooms. The latest attack against online poker comes not from the U.S. but Canada. I’m not particularly sure that anyone saw this coming. There have been a lot of questions lately about what this means. I am not an expert, but here are some of the basics.

The Canadian government wants to target the Kahnawake Tribe. The Kahnawake’s are a tribe of Indians near Montreal. The Kahnawake’s run the gaming commission that issues gaming licenses and regulate major online poker rooms such as FullTilt Poker, BodogLife, Ultimate Bet, PokerStars, etc. In addition to these huge companies, the tribe has issued gaming licenses to over 400 other poker rooms which represent nearly 60% of all online gambling.

So what is the big deal and who is putting on the pressure? It appears as if most of the pressure on the government to act against the Kahnawake Tribe is coming from the gambling industry. Racetrack owners and other casinos are complaining that the Kahnawake tribe is not paying taxes and it creates a distinct competitive disadvantage for them. One current action the Canadian government is considering would seek to prohibit financial transactions to the Kahnawake tribe, similar to how the UIEGA blocks transactions to online poker rooms.