But what stands out most to me is a line from one of the opponents of any measures for California to finally get serious about regulating online games within their own borders:

“We don’t want to see any of it,” said pastor James Butler from the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion. “Pretty soon they’ll have an app that will allow you to connect instantly to a casino or a gambling site. Want to lose your home? We have an app for that,” Butler said.

Emphasis added. Not sure if we should tell the fine pastor that they already do have such an app — all over the UK to be sure, and in Nevada you can bet sports for real money anywhere you want using your Droid or iPhone with Leroy’s App. (It just turns off when you get to the California border — amazing that crazy technology these days!)

OK, I shouldn’t mock … because we all remember the saying from the days leading up to the UIGEA: “click a mouse, lose your house.” That language stuck in the anti-gambling forces rhetoric for years, pretty much until Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) tried to take it to a new level by claiming 1/3 of all college students who tried online gambling attempted suicide. That, of course, didn’t stick … and since then pro-online gambling forces have made tremendous inroads, with a message that has been quite refined since online poker’s post UIGEA starting point, which pretty much was: WTF?

But don’t expect the opposition to remain stagnant. The closer we get, the more you can expect them to up their game, if not simply because mainstream media often call various sources to get more than one side of a story … and because election years generally tend to be good fundraising periods for people in the morality business.

You can tell Mr. Butler is currently workshopping the opposing message:

“Is there going to be a guarantee that anyone in California who receives social assistance will be banned from those sites? Or will basically the California citizens be subsidizing somebody else’s gambling behavior?” said Butler.

Fascinating point, actually. We are talking more than 2 million people in California, mind you, receiving some sort of government aid. So should we strengthen online gambling bans (against all) to make sure those on the public dole can only play games meeting standards of appropriate bankroll management?

PokerStars did not comment on plans for what could’ve been had the US government allowed them to make food stamps redeemable for T$ and/or VIP swag.

But what about the rest of ‘em?

You can currently find Jerry Yang, the 2007 WSOP’s biggest winner and #20 on the all-time poker tournament money list, bussing tables while commanding an otherwise lackadaisical staff (according to Yelp) at Pocket 8s Sushi & Grill in central California. Um, pass the yum-yum sauce?

Via Pokerati’s resident Vegas grinder-thug @AndrewNeeme:

Poker Fish: You wouldn’t believe how many of Jerry Yang’s relatives are always hitting him up for free sushi.

That’s the whole theme of the Aviator Casino … airplanes, airports, and pai gow. That’s why at least some non-poker people see this creation of an info station at a California poker room as less about tourney registration but not too much less because it is still “functional art”:

More about this awesome little poker room — the coolest I’ve ever seen in the area — at TheAviatorCasino.com.

This notice stood out to me as I was listening to Donkdown Radio live yesterday — where the troublemakers at DD apparently got Russ Hamilton on his private cell phone for a good ole fashioned radio prank call. Russ, of course, has never been prosecuted for egregious crimes he hasn’t even been formally accused of committing at an online “casino”. Hey, karma … living an OJ Simpson existence between Las Vegas and Florida.

Not to get off topic — because really, it’s just an amusing sign — but one thing I didn’t believe from UB and Annie Duke upon fingering the 1994 WSOP champ as the lone gunman in the biggest cheating scandal in gaming history was that they tried to prosecute Russ Hamilton but were unable to because of jurisdictional limitations. I don’t buy it because I’m pretty sure had they tried they’d have a letter from someone official stating just that — you know, like sorry, we’d love to help, but this alleged offense is beyond our ability to investigate. Think about it … the Neteller guys got tagged, as did others, even though they were in Canada and their servers were somewhere outside the US. Rapists have been extradited across state and even international lines for crimes committed in many different places. If anything, you’d think there’d be a fight over who gets to prosecute such people, not who can’t. All authorities would need is some respected agency to cooperate.

If Russ Hamilton did indeed steal $60 million … those crimes were committed arguably in the US against US citizens also in the US, and the Kahnawake would have evidence that the FBI would be very interested in. Sure, his defense counsel might be able to make a strong case around jurisdictional disqualifications … but that would still have the accused facing formal charges, and he would have a Constitutional right to challenge his accusers instead of just lashing out at his harassers in a low-stakes Florida game.

I’m no lawyer, so I could be wrong, but …

That’s what currently doesn’t exist with online poker in the US — the ability to prosecute what seems clearly a criminal act committed by an American in America against other Americans. Kinda bullshit when you think about it. Why can’t we? Why hasn’t anyone?

Not even a civil suit?

Curious, too, about the timing of Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth both leaving UB around the same time Russ Hamilton seems willing to make more appearances (where people might recognize him) and actually vocalize his distaste for efforts to brand him with a scarlet C.

(And btw, how did no one video this outburst if it really did happen? No one at a table nearby had an iphone at the ready?)

The arguments themselves are nothing new — for or against — but you will notice a slight shift on the “Gogogo online gambling FTW!” side that we’re all supposed to be a part of …

Here, Patrick Dorinson, spokesperson for the Coalition of California Card Clubs and Tribes, is clearly pushing for the intrastate model, with the California Gambling Control Commission setting the rules. He addresses that critical component so matter-of-factly that any new recruits to the online poker side would hardly know this is different from the federally regulated, interstate model pushed Barney Frank, the PPA, and others … you know, what we’ve all been supporting for a long time. That one, according to statements in Washington DC congressional debate, looks to rely on regulatory standards set by the Nevada Gaming Control Board … with maybe some input from New Jersey and the Indians.

We always knew the battle for the right to claim poker supremacy between Cali and Nevada was fierce … but now it seems to be hitting a new level of import.

Our good friends at the PPA, you know, weren’t too happy about how California was looking to do online poker in that state. But might we see a necessary shift in strategy? If cash-desperate California pushes through online gambling within its borders, they will do so with an intrastate set-up — as seen in this debate — and from there it’s only a matter of time before other states cut-and-paste Cali’s new taxable online poker framework and follow suit … literally changing the online game for everyone.

California state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) — the legislator behind California’s aggressive efforts for intrastate online gambling and opponent to Barney Frank’s federal online gambling bills — is in some hot water. I couldn’t tell on quickest glance if he’s being hassled over some jurisdictional technicalities or if its indicative of some major shenanigans involving one of the biggest proponents for California’s French-like vision for online poker. But either way, somebody seems pretty pissed off at Wright, as a Los Angeles County grand Jury unsealed an 8-count felony indictment against him yesterday.

Wright is the sponsor of California’s SB 1485, a bill that would immediately kick off licensed and regulated online gambling for Californians in California. The bill has seemed on its last legs since this summer, but just won’t die as California desperately digs into its couch cushions looking for any way possible to to make up for extreme budget deficits supposedly driving the state toward insta-bankruptcy.

California’s legislative session ended weeks ago, but the Governor has called lawmakers, including Wright, back to work where SB 1485 is on a short-list of bills being given top attention because of its revenue-generating potential.

The Poker Players Alliance, the advocacy group championing a federal approach to licensed and regulated online gambling (and poker specifically), has publicly opposed Wright and SB 1485. They also, of course, have been spearheading an aggressive campaign against the Commerce and other California casinos for their opposition to their bills being considered in Washington DC.

The political advocacy group supporting Wright and Cali’s protectionist intrastate ways to a more-legal online poker means is Poker Voters of America, who have stated high hopes that Wright’s bill will indeed find its way into California law this year, which would set an intrastate precedent for other states to follow.

Wright faces up to 8.3 years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding elected office in California should he be convicted.

PPA Excutive Director John Pappas told PokerNews’ Matthew Kredell he will stop supporting Commerce events, but stopped short of calling for an all-out boycott:

“We didn’t think that was appropriate. Players will make that decision on their own. But you see the number of professional players who signed the letter. I know Commerce will be holding a lot of high-profile events in the future. Some pros might question whether to attend.”

Follow coverage of the PPA’s crusade to get Commerce officials to change their minds here. Meanwhile, the Commerce Hold’em Series gets underway today,

Open letter from pros, PPA website target Commerce
Though Barney Frank’s online gambling bill made it out of committee last month relatively unscathed, one troublesome opponent came from the Commerce Casino in California. In an effort to squelch the impact of their dissent, the PPA sends its million-plus members word of an open letter to the Commerce (signed by a few dozen top-level pros) and launches PlayersBeforeProfits.com, making it easy for poker players to bombard the Commerce with tweets, emails, and phone calls voicing displeasure.

Commerce says PPA misguided, Frank bill will cost jobs and hurt poker
Commerce board member Tom Malkasian, who testified against HR 2267 last month, turned up his rhetoric against the PPA, saying they are ignoring key issues. The Commerce has a right to fight against unfair competition from offshore operations, he tells PokerNewsDaily, and its something they must do to protect California revenue, American jobs, and poker player interests, he says. At least Duke and Negreanu seem back on the same team, having both signed the initial letter and both tweeting to help get thousands of signatures for the PPA in just a couple days. Duke hints at plans for a boycott.

Bike, other California casinos lock step with Commerce
In what’s becoming an increasingly hostile back and forth, the PPA appears to be winning the PR battle, now with more than 6,000 signatures and countless tweets to Congress. The Commerce counters with even bigger numbers and a sign their side is growing, too. They mass-email a press release late Friday, announcing a unified front with other major California card rooms, including the Bicycle, Hawaiian Gardens, and Hollywood Park. These card rooms claim they collectively represent more than 20,000 California employees and handle $13.4 billion in wagers, all of which would be severely threatened by the Frank bill.

Industry Leaders Join Together with Commerce Casino in Opposing Frank Bill; “California Will Lose If Frank Bill Is Passed”

The letter suggests HR 2267 is too broad, and would be more acceptable if it tried to legalize poker-only, not all online gambling. It also says the Commerce welcomes the emails, but asks concerned players to use their new email address supportonlinepoker@commercecasino.net.

Boycott Commerce?
Twitter suggested lots of support for the idea, but few if any have thus far declared intent to cancel plans or skip the upcoming Commerce Hold’em Series, which kicks off Wednesday with a $500k Guarantee.

He comes to the table plenty-well bankrolled and plays what first appears to be a loose-aggressive game. But just when you think you’ve sniffed out a big bluff — hey, he doesn’t have a Porsche, that’s just a license plate frame! — turns out you were right, kinda. It’s not the nut Porsche as represented … but he does still have a Range Rover, which is better than your set of kings.

(Doh!)

Dude banks on lesser drivers letting him get there. Also knows how to run over a table.

Word was leaking to interested parties that it would indeed be at the Bike in California, with the Gold-Strike Tunica all but ready to be locked down, too. But now we know the plans for sure — the Bike it is, November 12-17, right after the November Nine — as does any else who might have an extreme stake in the future success and expansion of the North American Poker Tour presented by PokerStars.net.

THE POKERSTARS.NET NAPT ANNOUNCES AN EXCITING NEW STOP FOR SEASON 1

The PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour (NAPT) today announced the addition of a new stop to its Season 1 schedule. The NAPT will visit beautiful sunny Southern California for NAPT Los Angeles, a festival scheduled for November 12 – 17, 2010 at one of the largest poker rooms in the world, the incredible Bicycle Casino, aka ‘The Bike’.

“I’ve played at The Bike in the past and there is a strong local presence in LA,” comments poker legend and Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreaunu. “It’s always really important for a tournament’s success to have a strong core of local players as it gives even more incentive to travel to the events when you know there will be big money on the line. I’m looking forward to playing.”

Others scheduled to be on hand for the new stop include highly renowned Team PokerStars.net Pros such as Vanessa Rousso, Barry Greenstein, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, 2004 WSOP Main Event winner Greg Raymer, plus returning WSOP champion; 2009 Main Event winner Joe Cada.

The festival will feature a five-day Main Event with a US$5,000 buy-in. There will also be a broad range of fun and exciting side events catering to players of all bankroll levels. Up-to-date information on the events and schedules will be posted on www.napt.com

Haig Kelegian, Managing Partner of The Bike, states, “We are very enthusiastic to secure the West Coast Tour stop. We clearly recognize the NAPT as the next major happening in the evolution of poker, and we have no doubt this Tour will entice and attract players from all over the world.”

Season 1 of the PokerStars.net NAPT has proven to be a resounding success. The NAPT’s first three festivals of Season 1 enjoyed tremendous support from players. Sixty different countries were represented in fields that numbered from 700 to 1,500.

The NAPT PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure drew in a record-breaking 1,529 players with US based player Harrison Gimbel taking home $2.2 million for first prize. The NAPT Venetian title was won by 22-year-old online player Tom Marchese for $827,648 and the NAPT Mohegan Sun saw local Vanessa Selbst beat 716 players to win her biggest live tournament pay day to date of $750,000.

Players at all three events were treated to luxurious accommodation, amazing parties, and well-designed, professionally-run poker tournaments.

The easiest path to NAPT Los Angeles is by winning a free tournament package on PokerStars.net. Packages for the festival will include the US$5,000 entry fee for the Main Event, accommodation for the duration of the festival and a stipend for travel expenses.

About PokerStars.net:

PokerStars.net is the world’s largest online poker school with over 36 million members. It’s the premier destination for the world’s top players – with numerous tournaments running every day. PokerStars.net is renowned for offering the best software and security in the online poker world.

PokerStars.net is the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour, PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour and The World Cup of Poker. For more information please visit www.pokerstars.net

On May 28, the same day we ran the first part of NAPT, Venetian Part Ways over Row in Carson City, the Nevada Gaming Control Board officially responded to a formal inquiry about the Stars-sponsored event at the Venetian from attorneys representing one of its other licensees. They then posted this letter on Nevada Gaming’s website on June 2. Though this correspondence in and of itself doesn’t constitute enforceable policy, it does serve as effective notice to all Nevada casinos about how the GCB, the “prosecutors” of Gaming violations, will be seeing relationships with the likes of PokerStars … dot-com or dot-net.

Click here to read this important letter.

(In a nutshell, they say don’t mess with Stars … too much trouble from the Feds with these guys, not to mention the Czechs, and getting into bed with any site doing biz with American players could violate other GCB policies about working with international thugs. Oh, and dot-net doesn’t make it OK.)

Meanwhile, longtime poker politico and legal consultant Wendeen Eolis writes a bit more about how February’s NAPT-Venetian led to the Board’s current stronger-than-ever opposition to the idea of its Nevada casinos partnering with American-friendly online poker sites.

Check out her story in the new Poker Player Newspaper:

By all accounts, throughout the tournament, both Venetian and Poker Stars honchos were aglow over the initial collaboration. Word around town was that they were rarin’ to do an encore this summer.

Yep, sounds familiar. But one important new piece of info she reveals is where the NAPT is supposedly headed next, after having been effectively deported from Nevada.

California. Specifically the Bike.

A well-informed gaming official asserts (on the condition of no attribution) that “Poker Stars has embraced the Bicycle Casino and Card Club for its next NAPT Festival.” He says it is slated for “wheels up” on or about August 1st.

But all of the above is irrelevant, right, when we are discussing state bills, as opposed to federal? Technically, yes. However, when you realize that government is like the worst offenders in internet content ganking, you can see why the bill California just officially introduced — SB 1485 — is so significant … as it could become the baseline from which other states would cut and paste without credit or even a linkback!.

And how quickly are they ready to move on this measure? According to eGaming Review:

Intrastate initiatives in California, New Jersey and Florida, [have] been designated as an urgency measure. This means [SB 1485] would go into effect immediately upon legislative passage and signature by the Governor. A non-urgency measure would not go into effect until 1 January 2011.

Wow, that’s fast! Should we be happy or sad about this? Very hard to say. While internet poker is supposed to be a good thing all-around (right?), would current online poker players believe so if they weren’t able to transfer FTP Points over to a new site, or have the option to buy a Ferrari with PokerStars Dollars? At the same time, who would care if securing buy-ins at the Commerce were suddenly as easy as purchasing White Widow Indo-kush top-quality marijuana in Cali? Well actually, right now the Indians would care; they don’t want this bill. Complex issues … to be handled immediately by people who may or may not understand the intricacies of rakeback and multitabling.

Still, regardless, how big might the next WSOP-Circuit event be at Harrah’s-Rincon?

The plan for California in State Sen. Rod Wright’s (D-Inglewood) bill is to have online poker ops bid for three state-sanctioned games. Pokerati.com would like to hereby officially start the bidding at $100 $150 … any takers? If we have to go much higher, we’re gonna need some backers, preferably those with superior eBay skills.

Now keep in mind that bills do change before they get to any governor’s or president’s desk. But because of the fast-track nature of SB 1485, there may not be time for too many more edits. Have a look at what they’re working with … here’s the actual marked-up bill, which could make California the first state in the US to have fully legal internet poker.

In May 2009, poker players Dennis Chae and Jeff Kim sued five L.A. County casinos — the Bicycle, the Commerce, Hawaiian Gardens, Hollywood Park, and the Hustler — arguing that the $1 taken from the pots in jackpot games didn’t jibe with the casinos’ claim the games did not require a purchase to play. Judge Emile H. Elias ruled both that players couldn’t sue to recover gambling losses, and that Chae and Kim “chose to play the games despite the knowledge that they would be charged” the jackpot fee.

In a state law dating back to 1989, jackpot games are considered “illegal lotteries” in California if they require a fee to win. Since the mid-1990s, casinos have therefore advertised poker games in which a jackpot is taken as “no purchase necessary,” a disclaimer which apparently includes a promise to deal jackpot games without a fee upon request.

Sounds sort of like those giveaways at McDonald’s in which one doesn’t technically have to buy a Big Mac and fries to play, but folks rarely ask to play without buying something. As Commerce Casino general counsel Andy Schneiderman explains, “there are very few players, if any” who request to play jackpot games without paying the fee. Schneiderman also notes that all the games the Commerce offers “are approved by the state, including jackpot games,” and so the casinos were confident they’d win the case.

Read the full article here.

Go Massachusetts Skillaments, but elsewhere, far more is at stake for states that could care less about the nuances of what is and is not technically gambling amongst avowed gamblers. Thus, PPA Executive Director John Pappas has been crisscrossing the country addressing states considering intrastate online poker, trying to persuade them not to muddy the online semi-gambling waters with legislation that comes to the table inherently flawed, legally and from a competitive market standpoint.

Pappas was in Florida last week, addressing a Senate committee on regulated industries. Florida, as we know, has been working on more and more legal poker for the past five or six years with much success, so why not extend that to the internet? Well, Pappas explains, because problems needing fixin’ at the federal level first. Without it, anything any one state creates, he says, automatically will exist in a a legal gray area that could be challenged in a variety of federal ways. And because of this gray area, and the way poker works, regulated “state monopoly” sites will struggle to compete against the unregulated likes of Full Tilt and PokerStars. (He doesn’t mention those sites by name, but players know that’s who he’s talking about.)

It’s an important argument to begin honing, because right now we have California and Florida moving aggressively in the intrastate direction — supposedly with Iowa and Wyoming about to jump on the bandwagon. Legislation can be a rather cut-and-paste enterprise these days, so if those four states go, then it’s only a matter of time before some 40+ others follow suit, which could undermine, or at least complicate, years of work on by poker’s favorite grassroots advocacy group.

Have a listen. In addition to bringing the California arguments to Florida, for the first time we hear the PPA start to lay out some of the details on how internet poker taxation would work under either the Frank or Menendez bills — with provisions included for individual states to receive their revenue share from the federal regulatory system. We also learn of a new organization — the Poker Voters of America — that has effectively brought the idea of intrastate online poker to the Florida legislature. On its surface, the PVA doesn’t look too different from the PPA. But strategically, they’re fighting the UIGEA in a much different way. Well-meaning but misguided is the gist; can we have your donor list?

I’m not sure I’m making the case here any better than Pappas is. We know what he’s saying, of course … no, man, don’t go the Italian monopoly route … go poker, but that’s no good!

But you can see how statewide advocacy groups could be hearing, “Yo, don’t fuck with our shit dudes! This is our turf here!” To which the Floridians would say, You’ve had long enough and gotten us nowhere. Our state needs money now, so we’re gonna go it alone while you figure your federal shit out. PokerStars.Fl.gov. Yeah, I like it. Do you know how much our state could make just as an affiliate!?!

Ultimately, the reason to eschew the intrastate model is the same reason a guy like Ron Paul supports the PPA-backed federal bills … because we believe in free markets and open markets. Anything else is detrimental to the American economy. But with the kinda money at stake and shady people we’ve all smelt at the table, we can’t have financial anarchy. So the way for us to make this work in a way that protects American freedoms and makes fiscal sense is to have the PokerStars/Full Tilt model … all the people in the world able to sit at the same table and play a game. (I like to think of it as the online poker=world peace model.) But you simply can’t have it with any state trying to limit the behavior of its citizens within its borders as if it were China or Kentucky. If I’m in Florida and want to play legal online poker, why can’t I play against a guy in Swtzerland looking to do the same thing? And it’s downright unAmerican if I can’t compete against a Texan!

ALT HED: Something about the Commerce Clause #nottobeconfusedwithCommerceCasino

This week J Todd keeps us abreast of California and New Jersey’ desires to get in on the online gambling game from a state-size perspective, updates us on the online gambling fund-transfer cat-and-mouse game with MasterCard and Visa getting more serious (just three months before they are legally required to do exactly what they are trying to do), fingers the Eldorado Casino as a potentially shady site to avoid, and tease me with some affiliate business stuff that I don’t really care about but am interested to watch because of the hidden-camera + foreign-accent nature of the upcoming interview.

Here are a few other semi-related newsy links about how things are going elsewhere in the poker world:

The Mayor of Baltimore is pushing for poker+table games despite the governor of Maryland having less of an interest in making expanded gambling a priority.

Michael Barnier, the newly appointed EU Internal Markets Commissioner, promises to straighten out inconsistencies in European online gambling laws.

Police in suburban Alabama are cracking down on / raiding the real-money tournament scene there.

As is always the case in regulatory debates, it’s about who gets what cut. And the California Indians are split over what their involvement in it all should be, if any.

From the Palm Springs Desert Sun:

Jacob Appelsmith, bureau chief of the California Department of Justice Bureau of Gambling Control, called the Internet poker initiative that could resurface in 2010 a complex, difficult issue for tribes.

It goes to the heart of tribal sovereignty, Appelsmith said. Tribal involvement in intrastate poker legislation with California card rooms also holds potential to jeopardize the exclusivity rights that tribes have to conduct gaming, he said.

The initiative already has polarized tribes, among them the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, which has not wavered in its objection to intrastate online poker with tribes and California card rooms.

And how ’bout this kicker:

Daniel Tucker, chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and newly elected chair of CNIGA, the nonprofit association comprised of federally recognized tribal governments, told tribal leaders in a letter last week that the drive by members of Congress to legalize Internet gaming nationwide represents the greatest threat to Indian gaming in the past 20 years.

Reminds me of Texas vs. Oklahoma legal battles … and the Californindians are still deciding which side to fight for.

We haven’t seen the legal docs yet, but named in the lawsuit: Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow, Howard Lederer, and Phil Ivey (a November Niner).

From TMZ.com:

Poker Legends Sued for Robot Fraud

For all the obvious attempted shakedowns and plausibly legit payment beefs, this one (not sure how much they are seeking in damages) could be downright fascinating — on its surface at least — because it cuts to some key issues that are super-relevant to the past, present, and future of online poker … where the decisions any court renders (assuming there’s at least a smidgen of factual basis for the claim) affect not just the plaintiffs and defendants, but 10s of thousands if not millions of players.

I remember thinking when that PokerStars WCOOP 2007 champ, TheV0id, got her $1.2 million prize-money re-distributed, and ZeeJustin for that matter … they have theoretical American dollars ganked from them for alleged rule violations, and yet no recourse should they disagree with the site’s ruling nor a valid, independent avenue of dispute. It’s like Guantanamo Bay in Pokerstarzistan, man, and likewise for Full Tilt, which can serve as judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to deciding what to do with its players’ money.

The ironic thing … Howard Lederer, who seems to be the guy-with-the-money attorneys always have their sights set on, is arguably THE BIGGEST fighter for an American regulatory system that would remove this power from online poker sites, his own included. In the world he’s pushing for (and spending shitloads of money on), Full Tilt and PokerStars would essentially have to relinquishcontrol over matters of fiscal disagreement with their customers.

Top it off with claims in this suit that Full Tilt may seat bots at its own tables. Supposed word is that Full Tilt absolutely does not — and if that’s the case the suit becomes questionable. I don’t have an opinion on whether or not that would be a good or bad thing … but it’s a reality that will have to be dealt with in the future. Does your American-friendly site use bots? Is that OK? Should they have to disclose their identities? And if not, why don’t real human players get to use under multiple accounts and/or screen names?

We’ll have to see how much Omotoy and Kennedy are suing for. That will tell a lot about whether they’re just throwin’ shit against the wall to see what sticks or if they have a legitimate beef in wanting to prove that, hey … we’re not bots, give us our friggin’ money back and/or let us take our business elsewhere.