The renowned US online poker legalization bill H.R. 2366 created by Congressman Joe Barton of Texas gained an additional five supporters this week. Currently the bill has 25 co-sponsors, which makes up 25% of the Senate.

One of these new supporters is Representative Howard Berman from California, who is also often referred to as the "representative from Hollywood" due to the large support he gets from the entertainment industry. He is also the ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Another co-sponsor of the bill since this week is Representative John Larson from Connecticut who is a member of the Committee on Ways and Means together with Rep. Jim McDermott who in the past also introduced a separate online poker bill.

The third in the list of the new supporters is Representative James Himes who was born and raised in Lima, Peru. He is member of the Committee on Financial Services together with one of the biggest online poker supporters Representative Barney Frank, but also one of its greatest enemies, Representative Spencer Bachus.

The fourth on the lists is Representative Peter Welch, who is member of two committees, the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He is considered to be one of the most progressive democrats in Congress, therefore his support is not a surprise.

Representative Jim Gerlach is the fifth Congress member who joined last week as co-sponsor of the bill. He is also the single Republican from these five new supporters. Gerlach is a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

The new online poker bill with the ID H.R. 2366 is called Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011. If the bill would be adopted, it would legalize and regulate online poker in the United States.

The bill includes several security elements, as well, like the prohibition of credit cards for transactions, minimum age of 21, prosecution of cheaters, and the option for individual states to continue prohibiting online poker.

When the bill was introduced in June, it only had 11 supporters. By now this number increased to 25, but it's not sure yet if it manages to get majority approval.

Tags: US Online Gambling Legislation, USA