Have a listen to the premiere episode of Pokerati “all up in” @G2EVegas. Still workshopping the title … but come along for the ride as I find a sucker friend and colleague to fill me in on what’s been going on at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

In this first episode, Mike, aka Lavigne in Austin aka @AustinML, discusses a session titled:

Online Gaming: The Legal Landscape, Part 2

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It featured Frank Fahrenkopf from the AGA, Caesars’ DC powerhouse Jan Jones (the former mayor of Las Vegas is recipient of this year’s lifetime achievement award), a lobbyist for companies looking to do business with licensed casinos, and a guy representing Native American interests. Here why they all seem convinced that intrastate online poker is going nowhere, but interstate online poker is right around the corner.

Some of you probably remember Mike Lavigne. He’s not much of a player (lol), but the former Texas state director of the PPA and fellow co-founder of the Texas Poker PAC, has been part of Pokerati since way-back. And with my government and public relations cronie in town for G2E … well, it made me think we needed a cheap knock-off of Tao of Pokerati, obv — not just to keep me posted, but to let the busy people out there doing real work get a taste of the wonk-fest and sales orgy going on at the Sands Convention Center this week.

G2E is arguably the biggest annual confab of gaming industry brainpower in the world … and though some may find it hard to get interested in a Las Vegas convention that doesn’t even include a poker tournament … what goes on here will be affecting your poker (and overall casino) experience in the future whether you like it or not.

The 11th annual Global Gaming Expo kicks off next week in a new location, the Sands Convention Center, in Las Vegas. Of all the gaming expos worldwide (there seem to be about two a month these days) G2E is one of the big ones (if not THE big one) … not just for vendors hawking comfortable casino seats and slot-machine rides, but also for the sessions in which casino industry leaders gather to chat about everything from gaming technology to online regulation to Indian nations to rewards programs.

Check out the lineup for G2E ’11 here.

Just got the press release about what AGA/G2E chief Frank Fahrenkopf plans to speak on in his media address: (Yay. Looking forward to it.)

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE CASINO INDUSTRY, ONLINE POKER TO BE
KEY TOPICS AT FAHRENKOPF’S ANNUAL G2E MEDIA BRIEFING
Preliminary Topline Results of Major Economic Impact Study to be Unveiled

Also got word that this year G2E has very clear “no audio or video recording” rules for their extra-informative sessions. (Crap, there go Pokerati’s plans for recording as many as possible and sharing them with you and others who didn’t pay to attend.)

Either that wasn’t policy last year or I mighta missed the memo. (Oops?)

From Pokerati’s vast archive of yet-to-be-seen-or-heard content … have a listen to Fahrenkop’s 2010 G2E media pow-wow. And hear, now with the benefit of hindsight, what the AGA leader had to say about how some wanted to work with (or against) online poker sites such as Full Tilt and PokerStars … and what the vision was (and presumably still is) for a combination of state and federal regulations being the future path for legalized online gambling in the US.

AGA’s “new reality” (circa 2010): 1. Doing the Macau-rena; 2. “Hey Harry, pull my finger!”; 3. Poker (only) face.

MEDIA BRIEFING: Frank Fahrenkopf at 2010 G2E
40:22

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Fahrenkopf: We’re ready to bring American casinos online (starting with poker)! Who’s with me?

The political arm of America’s brick-and-mortar casino industry is working on its own federal online poker bill, Frank Fahrenkopf, CEO of the American Gaming Association, revealed yesterday at a press conference in Washington DC. The AGA bill will likely be a hybrid between inter- and intra-state, providing federal oversight of independent state regulations.

Joining Fahrenkopf at the press conference were Keith Smith, president of Boyd Gaming; Gordon Kanofsky, CEO of Ameristar Casinos; and Virginia McDowell, president of Isle of Capri Casinos. The lobbying push the AGA kicked off yesterday talked about online poker most immediately, but language used didn’t seem to exclude the possibility of online slots and other casino games becoming part of these efforts.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is holding a lunch today with top Democratic leaders and casino executives to discuss, they say, a broad range of online gambling matters.

Gary Loveman, CEO of Caesars Entertainment (parent company to the WSOP), made note of the importance of online poker yesterday in an SEC filing yesterdayreporting Caesars Q1 2011 financial results. In the positive spin put on losing $147 million in the first three months of this year, he told Uncle Sam:

“Finally, we believe strongly that the recent federal indictments of illegal online poker operators should convince Congress to allow American citizens to play online poker and to allow American companies to compete in a multi-billion-dollar industry,” Loveman said. “By acting now to legalize a game enjoyed by millions of adult citizens, Congress can clarify ambiguous federal laws, generate tax revenues for federal and state governments and bring thousands of jobs to this country.”

AGA just released a statement in support of the “Prohibition of Internet Gambling, Internet Poker Regulation and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2010″, or, as I like to call it -> the PIG-IPRSUA. Catchy, right?

Surprising? No. Except the time it took for them to come forth with an official press release.

Frank Fahrenkopf, AGA chieftain, had the following to say:

“This is tough law-and-order legislation that puts in place a solid regulatory framework and legal oversight that will prevent illegal activity and protect the estimated 15 million Americans who already are playing poker online. Ours is a unique industry in that it wants tough regulatory control and strict law enforcement oversight, which ensures the integrity of our business and protects consumers. Current online gambling laws do not provide these safeguards, leaving players and the system open to fraud, cheating and other illegal acts.”

“Without this legislation, players will remain unprotected, law enforcement oversight will remain murky, illegal offshore operators will continue to reap billions from U.S. bettors, and the U.S. will continue to lose out on the significant tax revenues and thousands of jobs that could be generated by this already popular activity. The millions of Internet poker players need and deserve the protections of a strong regulatory structure and law enforcement oversight that this legislation would provide.”

Nothing new here.  Yes, consumer protection is a positive.  But what about this (emphasis added)?

The proposed legislation ensures that Federal and State authorities will now have the ability to control what has, until now, been unfettered access to all forms of Internet gambling.

My takeaway?  AGA is letting *everyone* know they are behind this legislative horse.  Gotta wonder what Fahrenkopf and crew think about Jersey, California, and the District of Columbia‘s push to legalize iGambling on their own.

Harry Reid won his Democratic Senate primary yesterday. Not a shock, but an essential hurdle for the powerful yet vulnerable Nevada senator to overcome in a race that will almost certainly play a role in how all poker politics progress.

He won handily — 75 percent — but for him the primary was more a matter of how deep he had to dig into general-election coffers to secure the nomination … as he’ll likely need all the cash he can get come November. (He’s spent $8 million so far, and has about $9 million left, according to the National Review.)

First Lady Michelle Obama came to Las Vegas on June 1, not to bemoan the UIGEA, but to rally support for Harry Reid. The two hiked in Red Rock Canyon, but didn’t even consider stopping by the WSOP, even though Jack Effel totally woulda let either one of them do the shuffle-up-and-deal.

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Fahrenkopf: Click your mouse for the house FTW!

As much as we try to resist, about twice a year CardPlayer.com does something uniquely worthy of sending you to them. (See, their spade points up, ours points down … that’s why we’re generally not link-friends.) The first of 2010 come from Stephen Murphy’s interview with Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association. It’s a great getting-to-know one of poker’s most powerful potential allies in Washington DC … and he provides a solid explanation of where, from the Big Casinos perspective, all the current legislation, in DC and the various statehouses, stands.

First thing is that Fahrenkopf acknowledges the AGA has officially changed its position on online gambling. For years the folks at AmericanGaming.org were against, and more recently shifted to neutral. Now, overall, they can be chalked up as for. “Open to the concept” means they’ll get behind it, so long as it’s done the “right” way.

However, Fahrenkopf informs us, the AGA’s voting membership is leaning more towards a state-based regulation model, and are maintaining a neutral stance on Barney Frank’s federal bill specifically. Also, he acknowledges, there actually is a need for the UIGEA if we really want the safe, protected internet gaming that we all purport to be demanding.

Good stuff that you can’t find anywhere else … and something that anyone following how the legislative framework that will shape poker’s future is, er, taking shape … will want to read.

From APCW.org:

Coverage of the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Interviews with the President of the American Gaming Association, the Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance (about the possibility of legal online poker in California), and a major industry announcement from the APCW, the GPWA, Affiliate Guard Dog, and Poker Affiliate Listings.