BY TOM SOMACH

First online poker boomed.

Then it started to bust.

It could be booming again.

U.S. Congressman Barnett “Barney” Frank said last week he plans to soon introduce a bill into Congress to repeal anti-online gambling legislation that Congress passed last year.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, also known as UIGEA, made it illegal for banks, credit card companies and other financial entities in the U.S. to transfer monies to and from Internet gambling sites.

The legislation made it harder for Americans to not only get money to online poker and other online gambling sites so they could open up wagering accounts and gamble, but also to collect winnings when they gambled successfully.

Since UIGEA, online gambling worldwide in all forms is down about 25%, according to industry observers.

The legislation also caused many online poker rooms and other online gambling sites to outright ban U.S. customers.

The domino effects of UIGEA have been staggering.

Publicly-traded companies on foreign stock exchanges that ran online gambling operations lost billions of dollars in value, while print and broadcast media in the U.S. lost millions of dollars in online gambling advertising revenues.

Now the tide could be turning.

Last week Frank, 66, a Massachusetts Democrat, said of UIGEA: “I want to get it undone. I plan to file legislation. I think a reconsideration among my colleagues is beginning.

“It’s not far enough along yet, so I wouldn’t move the bill. But I plan to introduce the bill and if=A0the storm of public unhappiness is great enough, I will try to substantially revise that ban. I think it was outrageous for us to pass a law to regulate how adults spend their own money.”

Frank admitted repealing UIGEA soon is a longshot, but predicted that eventually, as legislators become more educated about the issues surrounding Internet gambling, it could be repealed.

UIGEA was passed when it was added at the last minute to a larger bill that concerned port security, as few in Congress wanted to vote against a security bill right before an election.

So why is Barney Frank all of a sudden the best pal of online poker players and other online gamblers?

He said he doesn’t personally gamble, but feels that government shouldn’t have the right to tell anyone they can’t gamble.

Is he really that concerned about the right of Americans to lose their shirts playing hold ‘em online?

Or is there something else to all this?

Frank is a longtime member of the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees American banks and other financial entities.

And, since Democrats took back control of the House of Representatives in January, Frank has been chairman of the committee.

Frank gets lots of campaign donations from banks and others financial entities his committee oversees.

U.S. banks and credit card companies don’t like UIGEA because it makes them act as the moral police of the Internet, telling people they can’t gamble online.

Plus it costs them a lot of money in lost business.

Frank doesn’t want to anger the banks, etc. that give him the campaign donations that help him keep getting re-elected, so he’ll try to do what the banks want–repeal UIGEA.

So is Frank the best face for a new bill that will de facto legalize online gambling?

Many will wonder, because of Frank’s sleazy and controversial past.

In 1990, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 408-18 to reprimand Frank, when it was revealed that Steve Gobie, a male prostitute the gay Frank had an affair with, had operated a gay prostitution business out of Frank’s apartment.

The rest of the country might have been shocked, but not the voters in Frank’s extremely liberal Congressional district–they’ve re-elected him nine times since.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)