Maybe I’m expecting too much from Annie … just watched her on MSNBC’s noon-time news, and I think if I were her opponent in this mini-debate I coulda blown her outta the water — even without believing anything I was saying! Fortunately, the opposition she’s up against here is so weak, she still clearly wins. The best psychology professor Tim Kelly’s got is some report about gambling addiction from 1999. As if anything related to the internet has any perception of validity when it comes from an era that existed before Windows XP … let alone the iPhone, the iPod, the War on Terror, and George W. Bush’s first term.

Check it out here and watch for yourself.

What I find most fascinating here is the sponsor for this news segment … GFT Forex online currency trading. Risk based on limited, imperfect information … clearly elements of skill with some players guaranteed to win and others guaranteed to lose … exchanging money over international boundaries … come play for free with a practice account? They just don’t have to make you go to a dot-net for that.

Seriously, check out this old ad and ask yourself … how is this high-variance online financial game any different than something you might see on Full Tilt? I think they’ve even got some of the same avatars!

At first I had the wrong guy when learning about my latest Cardrunners instructor, Rick Mask, aka “Rask” … that’s OK, because despite his super-duper online success, the Hendon Mob hardly knows who he is either. Rask’s latest training video is geared toward teaching a level of poker many of us feel ready to consistently beat … but may not be seeing equivalent results. Here Rask is playing a $400 NL game, where apparently skilled online poker sometimes involves making moves when your mouse freezes up on the precipice of a full-on crash.

Remember, you can get a free membership to CardRunners — the original intense online training site — by signing up with Truly Free Poker Training.

And here’s some additional sample training from Rask, holding class on the low-stakes NL cash tables:
http://www.cardrunners.com/poker-videos/livesessionsmsnlfrpart1of2

Here is the breakdown of yesterday’s vote in the House Financial Services Committee. I’m curious about those who chose NOT to vote, and libertarian-wise … Ron Paul’s declaration of “present” — despite his stated support of HR 2267 a week earlier. Obviously had to be a reason … and Paul’s generally not afraid of his voters turning on him, and his seat seems hardly in peril.

(I posed the question to him or his people on twitter. Will look for but not expect a response, despite < 140 words finagled to sound more constituenty ... #semibluff)

Data via the PPA.

Getting caught up and back in the swing of things — slowly but surely — so what better way than to listen to the most recent episode of The Poker Beat?

The Poker Beat: July 22, 2010

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Rookie twitterer @GaryWise1 took his turn in Capt. Huff’s chair as @BJNemeth and @JessWelman panel-bantered about:

• The pre-markup hearing in DC with Annie Duke
• Make-up of the 2010 November Nine
• The value, if any, of poker agents — and how the WSOP accommodates them during the main event
• BJ’s philosophical non-dilemma over coverage of Matt Affleck’s emotional bustout *
• The difference between poker media and poker journalism
• The Year of Mizrachi and the accidental WTF? of the current WSOP Player of the Year scoring system
• Annette Obrestad’s B- performance
• The 3-headed Monster of Team WSOP without @JeffreyPollack
• WSOP numbers and final table times

* great explanation, BJ. But question … Is there any discernable line where the “field of play” in poker begins, and ends?

Other episode-relevant links:

The Redemption of Matt Affleck by Gary Wise
The Long, Lonely Walk of Matt Affleck by Howard Swains (with photos by Joe Giron)

Next ep coming tomorrow. Play along in the PokerRoad forums.

A press release from the PPA regarding the passage of HR 2267 from the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 41-22.

More…

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Editor’s Note: After seven months of what seemed like stall-and-get-nowhere — and a delay yesterday until today — the poker-friendly legislation that Barney Frank (and the PPA) has been pushing and refining since 2007 faces a critical vote. It’s an all-in situation … if we “win”, legislative matters related to online poker and gambling still have a ways and means? to go before seeing the desk of Barack Obama. However, if we lose — as we did by a tie vote back in 2008 — it’s back to the drawing board.

You can watch it all going down here, assuming there aren’t shenanigans in play to delay matters further. And because there’s always a chance I don’t know WTF I’m talking about, Pokerati has deployed a Beltway team to not only keep us posted on today’s developments from the Hill, but also to provide a primer on what’s really in play today for the future of internet gambling and/or poker in America.

You can follow reports from the Hill today on Twitter with @Scarlet_LV, and below is more about what she’s walking into.

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HR 2267 Markup

A special report for Pokerati by @Scarlet_LV
photos by James Berglie / Be Photography

If all goes well, the House Financial Services Committee will decide today the fate of HR 2267, which seems to be the keystone for any new laws that stand to eliminate burdens of the UIGEA and establish a framework for the future of licensed and regulated online poker in the United States.

Today’s hearing is a “mark-up”, where the full committee debates amendments to a bill, and votes on a motion to send the bill to the House floor with recommendations on the amendments to consider for a decisive vote. Make sense?

I’m pretty sure that’s how it works — but I never would’ve expected two weeks ago when dealing the WSOP that I’d be on Capitol Hill watching a different (but not too different) game with so much riding on the deals being cut. For more explanation, see house rules and parliamentary procedures here and here.

H.R. 2267 Internet Gambling Regulation and Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act.

To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for the licensing of Internet gambling activities by the Secretary of the Treasury, to provide for consumer protections on the Internet, to enforce the tax code, and for other purposes.

Having attended last week’s meeting, I met this week with people who could fill me in on the amendments the Committee will be discussing today. Though more or fewer are possible, here’s what most expect:

1. Barney Frank “Managers Amendment” — the contents of this will not be disclosed to anyone before the markup, but it will provide the baseline used to “define the debate”
2. Brad Sherman –- his amendment will likely look to limit licensing to US-only companies and those that have not been acting “outside the law”.  Supposedly “smaller internet gaming companies” might be able to get around this if added to the bill, but bigger companies with a notable TV presence (such as FullTilt, PokerStars, and UB) would not be able to so easily if at all.
3. Spencer Bachus / Michele Bachmann –- perhaps with elements of Sherman’s amendment included (I peeked over the shoulder of some lawyer suits holding it yesterday, he’s looking to completely gut the bill and more regulation to strengthen anti-gambling components of the UIGEA.

With these potential amendments, you get a sense of the driving forces currently behind the bill, and the key players. These became apparent during last week’s hearing — which sources tell me was rather unusual for a bill like HR 2267 to get a second hearing like that — as testimony from Members and witnesses helped shape matters that will be in play today.

As the mark-up proceeds, here are the different Members and groups claiming a stake in this piece of legislation.

More…

Watch the markup hearing here

The markup hearing of the House Financial Services Subcommittee started shortly after 10am. The schedule is to discuss HR 2267 until 11am ET, then take a one-hour break. The Committee will return at 12pm for more discussion with a vote scheduled by 2pm ET.

With the markup of HR 2267 scheduled during the House Financial Services Committee today, Greg Raymer appeared on Fox Business to discuss regulating and licensing Internet poker. Video of Raymer’s appearance now appears below:

The battle over Barney Frank’s HR 2267 is heating up, and he seems to have found allies in sensible albeit unusual places. Specifically, supporting efforts to dismantle – or at least rebuke and revise – the UIGEA are the Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks.

A letter they all sent to Congressional members yesterday:

More…

Watch the markup hearing here

The attempt to regulate and license Internet gambling tries to move another step forward on Tuesday with the markup of HR 2267 in the House Financial Services Subcommittee. The markup is scheduled to start at 10am ET, with HR 2267 currently listed third on the list of seven bills.

The last time a bill regarding Internet gambling made it to a markup vote in the Committee (2008), it “lost” by a vote of 32-32. Doing a little bit of research by using the PPA Congressional Ratings website, the 2008 markup vote, and previous hearings, there are currently 34 Yeas, 21 Nays, and 16 Undecided on the bill.

Democratic Yeas – Frank, Kanjorski, Gutierrez, Velazquez, Watt, Ackerman, Sherman, Moore (KS), Capuono, Hinojosa, Clay, McCarthy, Lynch, Green, Cleaver, Bean, Moore (WI), Hodes, Ellison, Klein, Wilson, Perlmutter, Donnelly, Foster, Carson, Childers, Minnick, Adler, Dreihaus, Himes, Maffei

Republican Yeas – King, Paul, Lance, Campbell, Lee

Democratic Nays – Meeks, Baca, Miller, Scott

Republican Nays – Bachus, Castle, Royce, Lucas, Manzullo, Jones, Miller, Capito, Hensarling, Garrett, Barrett, Neugebauer, Price, McHenry, Putnam, Bachmann, Marchant

Those listed as undecided include those who voted against the bill in 2008, but have either signed on as a co-sponsor to HR 2267 or sent a letter in support of Internet poker.

Democratic Undecided – Waters, Maloney, Speier, Kilroy, Kosmas, Grayson, Peters

Republican Undecided – Biggert, Gerlach, Campbell, McCotter, McCarthy, Posey, Jenkins, Paulsen

To add your voice of support of online poker, check out www.standupforpoker.com and call, write or Tweet your local member of Congress.

The final day of the $335 Commerce Guaranteed Million Dollar Tournament concluded with a 6-way deal as Richard Bakovic earned the win for a reported $173,500, according to a Tweet from TD Matt Savage.

Notables:
Young Phan – 22nd – $4,770
James Pittman – 23rd – $4,770
Sara Chau – 30th – $4,340
Nam Le – 33rd – $4,340
Archie Karas – 41st – $3,900
Joe Tehan – 46th – $3,470
Tony Ma – 86th – $2,170
“Miami” John Cernuto – 102nd – $1,730
David “the Dragon” Pham – 217th – $750
“Hollywood” Dave Stann – 234th – $750
Eric Mizrachi – 239th – $750
Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri – 259th – $500
Barry Shulman – 300th – $500

Full results can be found at www.commercecasino.com.

The final opening day of the $335 Commerce Guaranteed Million Dollar Tournament drew a field of 896 players, making the total number of entries 3300 on Saturday. This means the tournament finished with a $59,500 overlay in the tournament led by TD extraordinaire Matt Savage and his staff. The day 1e leader was Jesus Delgadillo with 247,500 in chips. The most notable name from day 1e returning Sunday at 2pm is former Team Pokerati member (?) Sara Chau of Dallas with 150,000 in chips.

Players who cashed for a 2nd time in the tournament Saturday: Arguan Roye, Binh Nguyen, Leopoldo Araneta, Tom West, and Wlodzimierz Panasiuk. The full list of players who cashed in the tournament and the payouts for those who’ve made it to the final day are available here. To see the table draw for the 2pm conclusion of the tournament as the winner is expected to earn $173,500, click here. Play resumes with 22 minutes left in level 15, as the blinds will be 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante.

Friday afternoon of the $335 Commerce Guaranteed Million Dollar Tournament drew the largest field with 716 players entering the tournament, with the final 72 making the money. To avoid an overlay, Saturday’s field will need to top 1,100 players. Saturday is expected to be the largest field, with registration available until 4:15pm like the other days of the tournament.

Joe Tehan led the field on Friday with 376,000 in chips, with Don Zewin (72,000) the other name player returning Sunday at 2pm. Among the name players to make the money: David “The Dragon” Pham, Hon Le and “Hollywood Dave” Stann. Friday’s tournament had three players — Abraham Barbarian, Sarjiv Karnataki, and Frank Schram — take advantage of the opportunity to re-enter the tournament and cash for a second time. Barbarian (108,000) and Schram (30,500) did well enough to return on Sunday afternoon.

Full results can be found here and for more details, click on the banner at the top of the page.

Another fun one looking at poker a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away … from CardRunners instructor/filmmaker JimmyLegs:

Remember, you can get a free membership to CardRunners by signing up with Truly Free Poker Training here.

Thursday morning at the Rio, Andy Bloch was part of a panel at Netroots Nation titled Internet Freedom: Protecting Rights in the Digital Realm. Many in the poker community have heard Bloch’s points about how the government is infringing on the freedom of poker players (UIGEA), but to most in the audience, it was new information to them.

Bloch stated three reasons why they should care, even if they’re not an online poker player: Basic freedom, the implications and side effects a ban on Internet gambling would have and how it could move to other areas of the Internet, and that people need to be organized and actively defend their rights. Bloch related a story about how he was playing a $1 SNG online (not mentioning Full Tilt Poker, but he was wearing a PPA patch) with an individual who was visually impaired. He stated that the person he was talking to, and others like him, would not be able to play in a brick and mortar casino. He also described how the UIGEA was passed in the middle of the night in 2006, attached to a must-pass bill. At the time, the PPA and poker community weren’t as mobilized as they are today in the effort to regulate Internet gambling.

The other two individuals on the panel, James Rucker of ColorofChange.org discussing net neutrality and Amelia Donoley of the Center for Media Justice discussing how Internet freedom affects migrant and Latino communities. Most of the audience questions (which were difficult to hear on the video) appeared to be geared toward the net neutrality issue, with the fear that big corporations would control the flow of the Internet, forcing out smaller companies and non-profit groups. Andy stated that there are big corporations supporting net neutrality, as well as to help regulate online poker.

At the end of the panel, each panelist had one final opportunity to promote their efforts. Bloch brought out a poker chip with a bar code to enter into a drawing for an Ipad. The other two panelists seemed impressed with his offering as they each picked up a chip. To watch the hearing, it’s available below: