The Poker Players Alliance is celebrating the six month delay of the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act regulations.

The enforcement of the law has been extended to June 1, 2010 by the Federal Reserve and Department of Treasury. The Poker Players Alliance, along with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, issued a petition for the delay to give lawmakers more time to clarify the law, according to a press release from the poker alliance.

“The Poker Players Alliance is extremely pleased with the decision by the Federal Reserve and Treasury to grant the six month extension,” said chairman of the alliance former New York Sen. Alphonse D’Amato in a news release. “This is a great victory for poker.”

“These additional months are critical to provide legislators time to clarify (the Act) and pass legislation to license and regulate poker early next year,” Alphonse D’Amato continued. “It is our hope that another extension would be granted should the deadline approach before these pieces of legislation can be passed.”

Alphonse D’Amato was a U.S. Senator in New York from 1981-1999. During that time he led as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Some banking and gambling agencies have been concerned about the “vague” language in new law, which was passed in 2006.

However, “the Poker Players Alliance remains committed to passing legislation to license and regulate online poker,” a press release states.

The alliance is calling for protections to be included in the bill for underage and compulsive gamblers. A hearing is to be held on Dec. 3, 2009 in the House Financial Services Committee.

“The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board of Governor’s deserve a great deal of credit for suspending these midnight regulations promulgated by the Bush administration which would curtail the freedom of Americans to use the internet as they choose and which would pose unrealistic burdens on the entire financial community,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank in a statement about the delay last week. “This will give us a chance to act in an unhurried manner on my legislation to undo this regulatory excess by the Bush administration and to undo this ill-advised law.”