Nothing earth-shattering in the story … just the non-poker populace continuing to be educated on the basics of our issues at stake. And the mainstream media letting said populace know that indeed, these issues will be dealt with in some capacity this year. Also interesting — the ST’s running a poll with that article, looking for essentially a thumbs-up-thumbs-down referendum on the matter of online poker. Our side is in the lead (as usual), but a stronger than usual 39 percent have voted so far to say that instead of legalizing and taxing online poker, the government should crack down.
This shoulda gone up about two-and-a-half months ago … but hey, we were busy with the November Nine and Tiger Woods was busy banging every chick in Vegas who ever said “call me!” … not to mention posing for photoshopped covers of Golf Digest with advice for Barack Obama. No wonder he didn’t have time to be smoking pot with Michael Phelps …
Still, before golf officially decided to go the degen route — or perhaps in preparation for it? — Golf Magazine ran a feature in their November issue about Phil Hellmuth, Layne Flack, Erick Lindgren, and Gavin Smith hitting the Las Vegas links, apparently foreshadowing the concept of risking big-big bucks on every hole:
Check it out … the New York Times Book Review, as part of a holiday gift guide, have put out their “100 Notable Books of 2009“ … and making the list is Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker by Jim McManus.
Of those 100, 55 are non-fiction. Cowboys Full sits between ‘A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent’ by Robert Merry, and ‘Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression’ by Morris Dickstein. Granted, the list is alphabetical, but still …
Take a look at the excerpt the NYT ran last month — titled “Pokertician“. Considering all the good recent press poker has gotten from the likes of the Times, the Wall Street Journal, the National Journal, NPR, et al, you can see how McManus’ book — and his or his publisher’s attached promotional efforts, of course — has done more in 2009 to spread contemporary poker ideology to America’s liberal elitist intellectual set than any press release from PokerStars ever could.
(No offense, Matt, just sayin’ …)
Of course the NYT’s review of McManus’ book is hedlined the (“The Cheating Game“) … so maybe that’s a reminder that despite efforts that may seem to legitimize poker pursuits, the game still will always be thought of as … similar to dieting and matrimony? If so, that might explain why this tome — currently ranked in the Top 500 on Amazon — has apparently struck a chord with at least a few people who aren’t otherwise thinking ’bout poker.
You really should buy Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker by Jim McManus. No one’s paying us to say that, but Pokerati will earn at least $0.14 if you do.
The first thing that caught my eye when I saw the cover of the new issue of National Journal was the hand: Obama already has Jacks-or-better, but could also be drawing to an inside straight. Great artistic display of poker metaphor … and I can’t believe, after more than six years since Moneymaker, someone has finally posed a hand as something other than a royal flush. That in and of itself tells me the story’s gonna be good … as the editor clearly understands a little something about politics and poker.
It took some three years, but the mainstream media finally “gets it” … if not in print, than at least online. Check out the Newsweek blog post, “High Stakes for Online Gamblers“.
Not only have they finally figured out how to condense everything from the shady passage of the UIGEA to undesirable results of unregulated online poker and payment processor issues to a few sentences followed by some well thought out mainstream-friendly paragrafs, but also, at the end, they give a little hint at what might come next, which could involve Full Tilt fighting the matter in courts:
Even if the UIGEA is enacted, it’s unlikely online gambling would disappear completely. There are ways for American players to circumvent bank regulations, including setting up a foreign bank account. “We’re all holding our breath and hoping the petition will be accepted,” Lederer says, but that isn’t the industry’s only option. Online poker could be legalized through the courts on the argument that the Wire Act doesn’t apply to poker. The industry is waiting to see what happens Dec. 1 before taking any action, he says. But if they do head to court, Lederer likes the odds.
This is interesting, because time and time again poker has shown it can win in the judicial system, while the game-of-skill argument tends to carry no weight in legislative circles … where it’s still just gambling, and maybe a matter of personal freedoms at stake.
(I also gotta agree with Lederer … knowing FTP’s growing familiarity with the American court system, the money they’ve got to spend on lawyers, and “our issue’s” generally falling on the right side of the law … we all know where we’re eventually gonna get … it’s just a matter of how we get there.)
This upcoming Tuesday Tonight … on the Late Show with David Letterman. PokerStars PR is downright giddy about it … the basic deets:
The show will be broadcast on CBS at 11:30 PM EST (check your local listings). Cada is the first poker player on the show since 2004.
UPDATE: I still haven’t seen the segment yet … but did find it interesting that a regular-ole London Newspaper — not a special poker-focussed section or anything — made note of the new poker champ’s appearance on an American talk show that isn’t Oprah.
Jim McManus appeared on All Things Considered the morning the November Nine was getting underway, to offer a little cultural (and presidential) history of the game, based on his new book, Cowboys Full.
Not to be a spoiler, but the closing line features a sound clip from Darvin Moon, with weekend host Guy Raz saying, “That is Darvin Moon, and he’s about as far away as you can get from poker royalty.” That is a funnier line than Raz even realizes, considering Moon’s resistance to all things sponsorship.
Raz does a follow-up the next day, just on Darvin Moon:
And for a little low-brow historical perspective on McManus from a pre-Darvin Moon era, here’s my interview with the author of Positively Fifth Street from 2004.
Good op-ed piece by Rich Muny (@TheEngineer2008) that lays out the current poker argument on our issue. Nothing you haven’t heard before, but Muny’s not preaching to the typical choir … he’s addressing conservative small-governmenters and in addition to laying out some legislative history, explains why (spoiler alert:) regulating online poker and gambling ≠wild, rights-infringing government expansion.
You know, I’m obviously not running the poker-political show, though I do try to follow it. And I’m starting to think it’s time to amp-up the aggression on a grass-roots level. Drew Lesofski, the PPA’s director of grassroots and external affairs may not be as visible as the typical spokespeople (Pappas, Frank, D’Amato, Raymer) but he’s effectively rallied the troops — on state and federal levels — and while I’m pretty sure the new tweetforpoker.com has a purpose … bottom line … and this is only me talking here, not the PPA … might it not be time crash a few tea parties?
The message:
Take our goddamn fuckin’ money! And take it now! We want our damn personal freedoms back, and yeah, we expect America to be a better place to engage in a recreational activity legal in 48 states than Malta. We want to pay you, and those who oppose this pursuit don’t have to pay squat. And even though we don’t expect these bogus societal problems to emerge … hey, guess what, if they do, we’ll pay to clean’em up. Cool?
Hey, have you met our new 21-year-old posterboy Joe Cada? Pretty good kid …
Good article. Semi-interesting guy. Neato that the writer is in Begleiter’s extended home game and therefore has a piece of him.
Overall, the press coverage seems more extensive this year than last … I’m predicting growth in ESPN (and Harrah’s) numbers. Not huge (except maybe in Europe), but noticeably needle-moving. The diverse and topical nature of each player in the November Nine class of 2009 likely has much to do with that.
In case you missed it … an LA Times business columnist (different than the guy who did the Matt Savage piece) brought “our issue”â„¢ to the non-poker fore the week before last:
Calling America’s bluff on Internet gambling The U.S. approach to Internet gambling, which is legal in much of the rest of the world, is absurd. The activity is unstoppable, so let’s regulate it.
Writer Michael Hiltzik lays it out pretty good — right down to who has what interest in the billions of dollars at stake, the historic political principals in play, and the impracticalities associated with the unregulated, semi-legal status quo. Gotta like the quasi-wholesome, subconscious message the picture sends, too — seeing online poker positioned with Starbucks (manageable addiction) and golf balls (recreational pursuit).
While “our issue” hasn’t fully arrived until Glenn Beck starts chalking up a connection between Ace-Queen and Al Qaeda … this kinda ink does help the poker industry’s efforts to win hearts and minds of Americans who will give five seconds of thought to the matter or more revenue via safer+better online gambling/poker.
Good story in some non-poker media on Matt Savage, tournament director at the Commerce Casino in California … specifically about what it takes to keep players happy (and business churning) at the largest poker room in the world (160 tables) when your job is to entice customers into events — bad economy and all — where 90 percent of them are guaranteed to go home losers.
Courthouse News Service took note. It’s like a Thrillist for lawyers … a subscription newsletter keeping attorneys abreast of “the most prolific and weighty litigation” in virtually all the courts in the USA (and Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam).
And the Financial Times (the Wall Street Journal of the UK, you know, where all those European online sites that don’t accept American players reside) sees it as a bit more of a federal case:
For a guy who’s not interested in getting press nor a sponsorship from an online poker site or anyone else … November Nine chipleader Darvin Moon sure did get some good ink this weekend, with a major feature in the Sunday Washington Post. Not bad for a guy who was living in a trailer at the foot of Backbone Mountain (before receiving his 9th place money and replacing it with a new modular home).
My favorite excerpt:
Moon started playing poker after giving up softball because, he says, “I got fat.” … Of course, in the slovenly melting pot of the poker room, having a half-watermelon for a gut doesn’t stand out, particularly not at the World Series, where players have been known to show up wearing animal costumes or dressed as Roman emperors.
BTW, check out the comments on this piece … you’ll see at least a few WaPo readers question why they should even give a flip about this story.
Meanwhile, I can’t help but wonder if Moon isn’t a matter of weak-means-strong … both on the table and off. (I guess that’s one of the things we’ll be looking to find out at the final table, and the lead-up to it.)
Says Card Player magazine President Jeff Shulman, who will be sitting at the final table with Moon in November, albeit with 40 million fewer chips: “Darvin tries to say he’s not that good, he’s just an amateur who got lucky and ran really well for eight days. But at some point, you can’t say you’re just lucky. He was making good decisions.”
Missed this article two weeks ago … but it’s a good one, as they always seem to be when the non-poker media takes a more-than-cursory look at poker “issues”.
Calling America’s bluff on Internet gambling
