Here’s a best-of list of links, tweets and general brooding from over the weekend:

The cold anniversary was, of course, trending on Twitter Twitter hashtag #BlackFriday … From Ben Lamb wondering if anyone would tweet about it to Dan Fleyshman posting this sad picture http://instagr.am/p/JcjU9BJT1C/

The legal landscape

Reminding people they really do represent the players (especially since Black Friday) the PPA urged them to continue to contact their political representatives. http://www.lvrj.com/business/poker-lobbying-group-marks-black-friday-anniversary-147424325.html

As legislators grapple with the future of online poker, Nevada officials want to host the first legal sites. http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/13127-black-friday-the-day-that-changed-online-poker

Poker affiliates reflected on lessons learned since being forced to admit that the whims of authorities are a legitimate risk for anyone doing business in a legally gray world. http://www.casinoaffiliateprograms.com/blog/black-friday-lessons-learned/

On the casino side, Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, pushed for amendments to the Wire Act and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that would “unambiguously eliminate illegal Internet gambling.” http://www.americangaming.org/newsroom/press-releases/statement-on-the-anniversary-of-black-friday

And FairPlay USA has Greg Raymer reminding you to sign their petition while former FBI Director Louis Freeh cites the anniversary of Black Friday as a call for federal action and continue the fine worl of the DOJ. http://fairplayusa.com/blog/fairplayusa%E2%80%99s-judge-louis-freeh-statement-black-friday-anniversary

Meanwhile, lawyers of all stripes took note, with a new class-action lawsuit filed against Full Tilt filed just before any anniversary parties. 
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/13/45602.htm

Thanks for the memories, DOJ

QuadJacks.com did a special anniversary live podcast, which included “original Black Friday audio.” Ah, the memories.
http://quadjacks.com/poker-radio/

Short-stacked Shamus gives a thorough write-up of the drama to that would befall so many in different ways. http://betting.betfair.com/poker/poker-news/black-friday-one-year-later-130412.html

Wicked Chops Insider talked with poker industry leaders about where they were when they heard the news for an oral history of that fateful day (worthy of free distribution). http://insider.wickedchopspoker.com/543/an-oral-history-of-black-friday/

Many pros, like Shane Schleger here, had to share their thoughts and perspective from a day they won’t forget. http://shaniaconline.blogspot.com/2012/04/black-friday-one-year-later.html

Like a moment frozen in time, here’s the original 2+2 Black Friday thread, which received more than 6,000 replies in the first 3 days: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/reuters-full-tilt-poker-pokerstars-absolute-poker-charged-illegal-gambling-1020606/#post26050483

The guys at pokerfuse.com produced a bomb-ass timeline, tracking all the major events since that dark day, including their own birth. http://pokerfuse.com/features/in-depth/one-month-black-friday-timeline/

Michael Gentile, a former online pro, interviewed Poker Players Alliance board member Patrick Fleming to (re)assess the online poker legal landscape in the US. http://pokerfuse.com/features/in-depth/us-legal-landscape-one-year-after-black-friday/

Here’s another sharp timeline at PokerStrategy.com. http://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/world-of-poker/One-Year-Since-Black-Friday:-The-Complete-Timeline_58551/

And another by-the-minute timeline at PokerNews.com. http://www.pokernews.com/news/2012/04/the-black-friday-timeline-one-year-without-online-poker-12445.htm

Poker still has a future

A bunch of pros, like Matt Waxman, told PokerStrategy.com that this year’s WSOP Main Event should hold steady. “It’s like so prestigious and like world renowned, you know, so everybody’s gonna just make it out cause this is the one tournament that like if you’re the guy who plays the nightly home game for 100 bucks, you’re gonna splurge your 10k just so you can play in the main event,” he said. Like riiiight. http://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/world-of-poker/Daily-Rewind-Black-Friday-Anniversary,-New-Gambling-Film,-WSOP-2012-Thoughts_58570/

CalvinAyre.com looked at the companies “making noise” about bringing online poker back to the United States. http://calvinayre.com/2012/04/15/poker/how-to-make-it-in-america/

QuadJacks put out a new music video by Sonny Caine and Dennis Rybaczewski (DRybes) to inspire a little hope for the future.

And our own Dan Michalski summarizes it all as simply a “big, industry changing day” in All In – The Poker Movie, which is available April 24, 2012, on iTunes. http://mashable.com/2012/04/13/online-poker-black-friday/

Read the full press release below:

PPA Names Rich Muny Vice President of Player Relations

Washington, DC (June 2, 2011) – The Poker Players Alliance, the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, announced today that Rich Muny will serve as Vice President of Player Relations for the Board of Directors of the PPA.

“Through the years Rich has worked with the PPA, his passion for the game of poker and staunch devotion to protecting poker players’ rights has proven unparalleled,” said former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the PPA.  “Given the growing concerns within the poker community over their inability to play online poker in the U.S., now more than ever, American players need to know their voice is being heard and I believe Rich offers the level of expertise needed to reinforce their calls to action.”

A member of the PPA Board of Directors since 2007, Rich also served the alliance as the PPA Kentucky State Director, tirelessly advocating for poker players’ rights. In his new role, Rich will serve as the liaison between the PPA and the poker blogs, forums, social networking sites as well as some traditional poker media outlets.

Prior to his work with the PPA, Rich made a living at the tables as a professional poker player. Incited by the 2006 passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), Rich made the decision to devote his time to advocate for poker players’ rights and has been working diligently with the PPA ever since.

Before becoming a professional poker player, Rich honed his project management and problem solving skills working as a mechanical engineer for GE Aviation, a skillset that has served him well both in his poker game and in his role with the PPA. His thorough understanding of the game of poker and passion for upholding its future in the U.S., has spurred him to help motivate and organize like-minded poker enthusiasts to campaign for poker rights. He regularly communicates directly with the player base on several online forums under his online handle “TheEngineer” and via phone calls and emails.

“The strength of the PPA greatly depends on the voice of its membership and Rich has proven to be an outstanding representative of poker players, not only in his home state of Kentucky, but from across the country,” said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA. “As an avid poker player himself, Rich is truly ingrained in the issues and understands the frustration players feel around the current legislative challenges to online poker in the U.S. I can’t imagine anyone more suited to directly communicate with our membership and I look forward to working with him to ensure this country establishes a licensed and regulated environment so players can enjoy this great game in any format they choose.”

From the press release:

WASHINGTON – The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act was introduced in the House today by Congressman John Campbell (R-CA) with Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) as a leading sponsor. Congressmen Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Peter King (R-NY) are also leading co-sponsors.   The bill is identical to H.R. 2267 that was passed out of the House Financial Services Committee on July 28, 2010 with bi-partisan support.  The bill would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework under which Internet gambling operators could obtain licenses authorizing them to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the United States. The legislation comes in response to the enactment of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which restricted the use of the payments system for Americans who gamble online.

As a recap, HR2267 passed through the Financial Service Committee last July.  It never took further steps in Congress last year, despite a significant sweat.  Harry Reid floated a draft of an internet gambling bill in December, known lovingly as #reidbill in Twitter, which also never made further official progress on Capitol Hill.  HR2267 contained no mention of the now dreaded “blackout” period that was the most infamous part of the #reidbill draft.

You can read the full statement by PPA, giving Campbell/Frank a virtual pat on the back-> here.

This time it was player-on-player violence … leaving one man dead and another injured after a gunfight broke out early morning at a warehouse poker game in Anderson County, SC.

Jermaine LeCorey Scott, 34, supposedly was losing in the wee hours of a game last week, and at some point pulled a gun on five other players. Though not clear whether or not the triggering incident had anything to do with a bad beat or involved accusations of cheating, police contend Scott was attempting to rob his opponents … even though he was not wearing a mask like most (99 percent?) armed poker robbers.

From local news reports: Channel 4 (with video), more Channel 4, Channel 7

Players supposedly called flagged down police at a nearby intersection around 7 am on Tuesday to report the shooting, and deputies arrived to find two men shot, lying on the ground in the empty warehouse, which may or may not have been cleared of poker supplies before their arrival. Scott died at the hospital from multiple gunshot wounds a few hours later. The other player, unnamed, had bullet wounds to his hand and a concealed weapon permit. Police investigators have ruled the deadly shooting a matter of self-defense — justifiable homicide — and say they have no plans to press any charges.

This fatal player-on-player shootout comes on the heels of poker-related violence in neighboring Greenville County, where an alleged underground poker-room operator shot at police officers believing he was being robbed — leaving one cop wounded and 72-year-old Aaron Awtry in jail facing charges ranging from unlawful gambling to attempted murder.

The South Carolina Supreme Court is currently considering a case out of Charleston County that questions whether or not certain poker rooms are even illegal, and could draw new lines between friendly real-money home games and illegal for-profit gambling operations. The Poker Players Alliance provided legal assistance in this case, in which attorneys representing poker player interests argued before the high court, which should return with a decision next year.

Legislators in South Carolina have been pushing measures to revise the state’s gambling laws — with proponents looking for laws that would allow more poker in safer environments, and opponents saying no, that would be bad. A Senate Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on the issue just last week — the same day as the fatal shooting — where groups such as the South Carolina Council of Catholic Women found themselves on the same side as poker players seeking more permissive gaming laws. Opposition came from the Southern Baptist Association of South Carolina, which argues charitable bingo and church raffles present a moral slippery slope leading to numerous social ills.

The Senate committee plans to have a new gaming bill drafted before the end of this month, and a separate bill for church raffles, both of which are finding widespread public support.

We could find no information available about funeral services for Jermaine Scott, nor anything indicating whether he was a good guy or bad guy, other than authorities’ contention that his death by gunfire was justifiable.

Though still doing a little fact-check on this … I’m fairly certain that 2010 has been the most violent and deadly year of poker in recent memory, if not recorded history.

It really is an offensive law that Washington passed in 2006 — the Internet Gambling Ban, making it a felony to play a computer game online — regardless of where you stand on poker. But we’ll have to see how the non-poker masses take to one man’s challenge the constitutionality of such a government intrusive.

I’m pretty sure the WA Court doesn’t make its decisions on the spot, so it will likely be some time before we learn if the below vid that D’Amato and the PPA just put out is an invitation to a victory party or a battle cry. Either way, it’s still fun to hear D’Amato get all impassioned:

I don’t know Washington state’s gun laws, so for now it’s probably best to leave your weapons at home. But you can still suit up belligerently in appropriate rally attire:

They’re sending a petition around Congress requesting an exemption from the UIGEA for online poker and “peer-to-peer” games. Procedurally, this is similar to what got us that first six-month delay. And while it seems like a bit of a hail mary — starting off with just 22 signatures – if the PPA pulls this off it could be huge. Just guessing a bit here, but an exemption for poker, an ex post facto carveout essentially, seems like it would be a serious reversal of power akin to a middle pocket pair turning a set against an Ace-King that connected on the flop.

Haven’t spoken to anyone about this yet, but I think the big telltale sign here will be whether or not Harry Reid gets on board. He’s the guy other Dems (like my rep, Dina Titus, who recently signed on as a co-sponsor to the stalled Barney Frank bill) often look to for direction. Supposedly the rumors we’ve been spreading about his support for online gambling (and a possible poker-only bill) have been “greatly exaggerated”. And if you recall, his longtime big supporters at the American Gaming Association want more online gambling for sure, but only after this June 1 D-day passes.

(Just a little deeper … the 96-page report itself, which was written in February and updated a week ago, costs $1,200.)

Click here for a detailed summary.

You’ll see that the online gambling lobbying spend is actually down from Q4 2009, but mostly because of cuts from the US Chamber of Commerce. (Had no idea they were even on our side … nor that they were allowed to lobby, lol! Go jobs?)

Also, a breakdown of who’s dropping the dough:

Harrah’s topped the list of spenders at $1.22 million followed by Poker Players Alliance ($785,000), UC Group ($717,239), USCC ($664,442) and the Interactive Gaming Council ($412,580).

UC Group, interestingly enough, is a voice for European payment processors — and boast of making it possible via the internet to get fresh flowers from Holland to the US. Gotta think they’d really like to handle all the PokerStars buyins, cashouts, and transfers to the WSOP somewhere down the line. Not sure who the USCC is … best I can tell is it’s either the United States-China Economic Security Review Commission, US Cellular, or the United States Composting Council — all of which seem like plausible backers of online gambling special interests when you think about it.

Oh, wait … USCC, that’s the Chamber of Commerce. I was thinking China or cell phones, and just hoping we had an ally in composting.

And a special rookie of the year award goes to a company we know well, who seems to be playing a bigger and bigger role in the American game:

The most significant new party to join the mix was Betfair US.

The report also points out that the Indians, surprisingly, have been financially inactive in all this. The casino tribes not causing as much trouble as it mighta seemed, I suppose.

And while you don’t wanna judge a report by its cover, you can tell a little more by looking at the table of contents. The title itself caught my eye:

INTERNET GAMBLING ON CAPITOL HILL: An Ongoing Struggle for Political Relevance

Interesting. Didn’t think “relevance” was still the issue.

After giving a breakdown where current legislation stands — and how the Frank, Menendez, and McDermott bills all fit together — it runs down a list of the most relevant players in Washington:

§4. Analysis of, And Electoral Prospects for, Legislative Players

SENATOR HARRY REID
REPRESENTATIVE BARNEY FRANK
REPRESENTATIVE SHELLEY BERKLEY
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES MCDERMOTT
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS
REPRESENTATIVE PETER SESSIONS
REPRESENTATIVE SPENCER BACHUS
REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT GOODLATTE

Interesting to see Harry Reid up top … And of course we know about Goodlatte and Bachus. But I would so love to see what they’ve got to say about Pete Sessions (R-TX).

Sessions, of course, was the congressman who Pokerati played a role in wooing over to the poker side back in 2007. The following year he held a fundraiser in Las Vegas, where he received some nice money from Andy Beal, Doyle Brunson, Linda Johnson, and the usual Full Tilt Politicos.

However, when he eventually introduced his anti-UIGEA bill, the PPA was pissed! Because while setting up a poker carveout that he coulda sold to his rightwing buddies, he included some language in there that implied online poker (and thus the operations enjoyed by some of his donors) was an illegal activity.

To make matters worse, he got a lot of flack from his anti-poker supporters at Family Reseach Council and Focus on the Family for holding Vegas fundraisers, particularly the one held at the near-naked 40-Deuce Club in Mandalay Bay.

Really wonder where he fits in to all of this now … woulda thought he had been too burned (from both sides) on the issue to make the short list of online gambling’s major legislative players.

Lastly, take a look at the obstacles we still face:

§7. Political Barriers to Regulation

THE POLITICAL PERIPHERY
THE TALK
THE ELECTION YEAR
THE AGE OF CONGRESS
THE LACK OF CONSENSUS AMONG SPECIAL INTERESTS
THE LACK OF UNIFORM SUPPORT FROM THE AMERICAN GAMING ASSOCIATION
THE COMPETITION FROM BIG-SPENDING SPECIAL INTERESTS
THE ABSENCE OF CLARITY FROM THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Second to last — the absence of clarity from the Obama administration. See … just because the President “plays” poker has never meant he’s been on our side.

That’s why the recent study saying online gambling leads to jobs was important … because it’s a necessary step toward bringing him over to our side, by attaching our issue to something that matters to him.

They seem to be playing fierce and maybe even a touch dirty. The bipartisan nature of the letter is sure to catch some undecided Congressional eyes — and in it they drop a story about a college student committing suicide after going uber-deep into online gambling debt.

Click here to read the letter circulating in Washington DC.

Nice!

Katkin bought in for a single $300 tax-deductible good-cause bullet, and with blinds rising quickly, maintained a 10-20 BB stack throughout to get to the final table. There, he knocked out Howard Lederer and outlasted Allen Cunningham to win $5,000, a week’s stay in a fancy-room suite at the Rio during the WSOP main event, and $1k in food comps at any of the restos there.

Read Katkin’s take on his own game as well as PokerGrump’s impromptu coverage of the event.

This was one of three (that I know of) big charity tourneys over the past week where FullTiltPoker.net sponsored the event and contributed a $10k WSOP main event buy-in to the prize pool for the winner. It was almost like a Full Tilt charity tournament series …

Tuesday, of course, was my ill-fated attempt at charity glory in Jen Harman’s Nevada SPCA tourney.

And Wednesday was the inaugural running of Ante Up for Africa-DC, hosted by Annie Duke, Don Cheadle, and the PPA. The fete raised $70k for Darfur relief and presumably helped convince at least a few federal types charged with determining our industry’s future that Full Tilt are the good guys:

Check it out … even though AUFA-DC was the one event with a field that didn’t include Carrot Top, the Philadelphia Inquirer took note — and found a curious subtext in members of Congress hootin’ it up with Lederer, who has been unabashedly trying to win support for anti-UIGEA efforts at the same time he may or may not be subject of a federal grand jury investigation …

The PPA informs us that the hearing has been “postponed [until] later next week possibly”. Its being scheduled for a Friday shoulda been the first clue that the House Financial Services Committee wasn’t really serious about having a debate on these bills. At this point in an election season, the members often try to get out of Washington DC as early as possible on a Friday so they can return to their home districts.

The whole purpose of this not-so-scheduled hearing is not for debate and mark-up … but rather to appease a Spencer Bachus (R-AL) beef, who previously complained the last time they talked about these bills that Frank did not do his due diligence and invite the Deptartment of Justice and the Treasury (and maybe the Federal Reserve?) to testify. Supposedly someone from California is also looking to speak, saying these regulatory matters should be left to the states, not the Feds.

But this upcoming week, Frank’s online gambling bills apparently are moving … on the docket for Friday, April 16, are Full Committee hearings for H.R. 2266, Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act and H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act-Governmental Perspectives.

Click here to watch the committee hearing live when it happens.

UPDATE: This hearing has been postponed, without a new date set.

HR 2266 is the bill that would grant a one-year delay for enforcement of the UIGEA. (The Treasury Department lumped it in with some bigger-politics stuff last year and compromised with a six-month delay, which expires on June 1.) So perhaps further delay is possible?

HR 2267, of course, is the full-fledged UIGEA-repealing online gambling regulations. Not sure where “governmental perspectives” comes in, but that’s how it’s officially listed at the top of the House Financial Services Committee calendar. I’m pretty sure this is where the committee goes over the bill, representatives voice their beefs, and send it back for revisions. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) will likely preach the terror it brings to the the children, at which point any Tea-Party-minded Republicans will have to say, “Yeah, he’s got a point. Make the child protection stronger and I can sell it to my voters as being fiscally sensible!” I think that’s how it moves … once they do that, then the bill is ready to be (considered to be) heard on the House floor.

It’s gonna be a big week for poker in Washington DC, that much is for sure. A high-power poker politico contingent will be in town (with their Hollywood friends?) for the Ante Up for Africa-DC tourney on April 14. Why on earth is no one broadcasting that tournament? TV pros and movie stars vs. congresspeople trying to out-bully and out-deceive each other … with a little lobbying subtext to the banter? It’d be like Celebrity Poker Showdown meets C-Span. Throw Gabe Kaplan in the mix and you’ve got a guaranteed ratings hit.

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

It’s kinda a tough sell when you think about it … the buzzwords in influential conservative circles these days are all about less government, not more. So here we have poker’s Libertarian ambassador trying to persuade GOPers to: forget the moralists in favor of personal freedom (ok, probably doable), set up a new government bureaucracy to monitor our financial activity on the internet (what the …?), and tax him a lot more personally. (“OK, now we gotta hear this; hey Jeb get over here, I think the guy who showed up in your office this summer wearing shorts and sandals with socks is gonna tell a joke!)

Vanity Fair seemed to find it a little bit mockworthy. But according to Time magazine, what really matters is that poker players do know how to party:

But probably the coolest parties that first night at CPAC were secret ones — invite-only passes palmed to a select few. The first one was hosted by the Poker Player’s Alliance and included CPAC’s “It” kids, James O’Keefe of Acorn pimp fame and his three cohorts who were recently entangled with the law for messing with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu’s phone lines; anti-tax champion Grover Norquist; conservative media personality Andrew Breitbart; and 2004 World Poker Champion Greg Raymer. The open bar at Medaterra got quite a workout with young conservatives ordering everything from beer to shots of Redheaded Sluts, a crimson concoction involving Jagermeister. (After some debate, no one was game enough to try a flaming Redheaded Slut.) Breitbart and the rest of the Louisiana Four — as they were fondly hailed by many at CPAC — then headed over to a party hosted by Mike Flynn, editor of the website Big Government, at Morton’s Steakhouse. Flynn not only had an open bar tab but stacks of fine cigars for guests to chuff on.

BTW, check out CPAC’s straw poll to see what issues matter most to people who consider themselves true conservatives in 2010. You’ll see on page 11 that the runaway favorite for president amongst these folks is Ron Paul (R-TX), who generally hates all things more-government, but as a co-sponsor to the Barney Frank bill, could prove a critical ally.

It’s apparently all gonna be twitter-based this go-round — www.tweetforpoker.com.

Good interview helping mak sense of it all:

If I remember correctly, mark-up is where the committee votes yay or nay on moving the bill forward, but everyone, regardless of how they’re voting, gets to pipe in with what elements they’ll need to see in it to vote for it on the floor. So you know, maybe some sorta protection for the kids has to be included, or money for the Indians … that kinda thing.

Here’s PPA honcho John Pappas letting you know that anti-anti-poker legislation — a licensing and regulating bill — is indeed moving forward in 2010:

Anyhow, they’re back at it starting today — with Gov. Ed Rendell creating a direct and immediate association between casinos (+poker) and jobs. Specifically, the governor has said pass this thing THIS WEEK or 1,100 state employees will be without work. The process of firing them begins Friday.

The nitty-gritty they’re down to is upping the number of licensed resort casinos from two to three (with an option for four in 2017), and increasing the max number of slot machines at each venue from 500 to 600. Fuckin-A. How ’bout three resort casinos, compromise on the slots numbers at 550 … all for a vote to be named later? Politics doesn’t have to be this hard … or maybe it does?

Instapoker

Meanwhile, the Rivers Casino, in Pittsburgh, seems to be getting ready for expanded table games offerings by hiring a bunch of Harrah’s executives to help them run the ship in new waters. David Patent will be the new big-big boss in Pa. His plans include opening a sports bar and running TV commercials. [Pittsburgh Business Journal]

A few other semi-related links:

The PPA plans to attend CPAC again this year — that’s the Conservative Political Action Conference, where all the GOP muckity-mucks gather to shmooze/grovel for money and power. Should be a feisty event, and @TheEngineer is trying to rally some conservative troops to turn against Spencer Bachus (R-AL), calling him out as a past-his-conservative-prime dimwit whom the party should abandon, or at least treat as ineffective and irrelevant. [BigGovernment.com]

In South Carolina, a Catholic church rejoices over Fr. Andrew Trapp’s near-million-dollar run on the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge. If only he coulda prayed as well as Jerry Yang! [WBMF]

Also in South Carolina, Attorney General Henry McMaster is appealing a court ruling that poker is a game of skill, and trying to take the prosecution of a busted home game to the state Supreme Court. [Charleston Post and Courier]

Toledo, Ohio, is getting ready for its first casino+poker to open. The pre-launch message going out: OK, we look forward to your money, but you better be damn good citizens. [Toledo Blade]

Although jobs and economic development are critical to the city’s recovery, Mayor Bell has to avoid the temptation to give Penn National Gaming a blank check as Toledo’s casino project takes shape. Gambling is not a panacea for Toledo’s ills.

Big score, btw, for Lyle Berman, who made a $4 million bet in October to help make Ohio casinos a reality, politically, and in return locked himself into 10 percent of Ohio casino profits. [Poker Player Newspaper]

Gambling gambling gambling seems to be the big buzz in cities, states, and regions looking to shore up their coffers. And to prepare for our gambling future, the National Center for Responsible Gambling is advising American universities to develop formal gambling policies for students. [NCRG.org]

In Washington DC, readers are challenging editors on their usage of poker metaphors in stories about the Obama vs. Ahmadinejad heads-up match over nuclear proliferation. [Washington Post]

“From what I understand, investigators are at a stalemate,” said Commander Chris Noble with APD’s organized crime division. “The victim is not being cooperative.”

But, Mike Lavigne, the Texas State Director for the Poker Players Alliance , blames antiquated laws for the robbers’ success and the unsolved crimes.

“A lot of times people don’t even call the cops if these places get busted by a thief because it’s not legal for them to be necessarily running that room in the first place,” Lavigne said.

[...]

“It’s not seen as a crime in most parts of the world,” said Lavigne. “It just happens to be the leftovers from some old laws in Texas. It’s not clear what’s legal or illegal in our state right now.”

UPDATE: Here’s the video:

However, it turns out that busting bad guy Tim Donaghy has had the NBA taking a closer look at sports betting and seeing some new realities … perhaps.

While the league’s seemingly softening stance gets Las Vegas excited about the possibility of having its own franchise some day (the NFL still says no way, not never!) the discussion has now been opened up in the sports betting world for the possibility of “nationally legalized gambling” on the NBA.

I don’t even need to waste your time pointing out how obviously connected this is to anti-UIGEA efforts, right? Good to see the big-league sports media embracing PPA talking points … and at least one big-league honcho open to changing a long-held anti-gambling position.

Click here to read SI’s discussion with David Stern on where fully legal gambling may or may not fit in the future.

Here’s what I’m watching. Follow along if you we can …

* Yikes, video is great – HD! – but audio sucks, like irritatingly buzzy and scratchy.

* Barney’s opening argument … personal freedom. On the internet.

* He quotes John Stewart John Stuart Mill.

* Holy shit, you can pause this video? Like even without Tivo … awesome. I’ll be right back … need to get a beverage …

* OK, I’m back. While I was gone a press release came over the wire … apparently something that will be introduced forthcoming:

Study Shows Regulation of Internet Gaming Effective and Attainable
Study Unveiled During Financial Services Hearing on H.R. 2267

Washington, DC (December 3, 2009) –The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, today commended the release of a study by Harvard Professor Malcolm Sparrow showing that the best way to address the risks of Internet gambling is through regulation, not a prohibition. The study, commissioned by Wired Safety, a leading Internet safety non-profit, was released during the House Financial Services Committee hearing on H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act.

“Following last week’s decision by the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury to delay the implementation of the flawed Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), the release of this study adds even more fuel to the fire that a prohibition like UIGEA won’t work and that licensing and regulation, such as Chairman Frank’s H.R. 2267, is the right answer,” said PPA Chairman Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato. “Robust and effective licensing and regulation will not only protect poker players, children and problem gamblers, but also collect billions in tax revenue that is currently being lost. This is a win-win situation.”

As more attention is being paid to the appropriate way for the U.S. to oversee online gaming, the Wired Safety study provides an academic view of how best to protect consumers. The study cites evidence that millions of U.S. consumers currently gamble online through offshore gambling sites, outside of American oversight and thus offering no consumer protections. The study concludes that a prohibition on online gambling would only serve to continue down this misguided path and turn a blind eye to protecting American consumers, especially children and problem gamblers.

The second, and equally important, component of the study is that not only is licensing and regulation the best approach, it is also realistically achievable given the technologies available today – and being used in other countries. Learning from what works around the world, the report identifies regulatory tools and technologies that have reduced the risks associated with underage and problem gamblers, money laundering, fraud, privacy and security.

“The technology to effectively regulate Internet gambling in the United States is available today – and it works. The time has come for Congress to acknowledge that Internet gambling is not going away and that consumers need – and want – the security of Federal regulation of this industry,” continued D’Amato. “The PPA looks forward to continuing to work with Chairman Frank on this legislation.”

* There are not a lot of people here:

* The bald heads in the foreground are the people who will be testifying.

* In the back, you can see Barney Frank (D-MA), our strongest opponent Spencer Bachus (R-AL) … and I’m not sure who the woman is on his far right.

* Barney starts out addressing the issue of protecting kids — we have to stop kids from doing all sorts of things on the internet, he says.

* Spencer is still very concerned of this wave of internet addicted youth roaming the, um, internet.

* Anyone wanna place odds on whether or not Joe Cada gets brought up in this hearing?

* Spencer’s lead argument is that the 24/7 temptation is too much for kids to handle. I’m biased, but his arguments on why it’s different than buying liquor or porn or weak.

* We’ve heard all these arguments before. I could out-debate this guy in a neutral forum any day. #WorldSeriesofDebate

* Now he’s bringing up his real beef: Spencer wants to put these “illegal gambling enterprises” out of business, “not reward them like the Chairman [Frank] would do.” That’s a big friggin’ challenge man.

* Bear with me. Multitasking …

* Spencer Bachus is very unhappy that the Treasury and Federal Reserve have “allied” with Frank. He is very upset — it’s “particularly egregious” — that no one from the Fed or DOJ has been invited to this hearing.

* Most offensive Spencer Bachus statement so far: claiming that we are going against the will of the people — the American people have spoken — because the Congress voted overwhelmingly for the UIGEA. (No mention of the whole dirty Port Security thing.)

* If this passes, says Bachus, we will create a generation of 10s of millions of Americans who will be addicted to internet gambling from their youth.

* YES! That’s what we want! I mean, no, that’s not right. Check your numbers Beyot-achus. Coca-Cola! Baby stock trading commercials!

* LOL, they’re scratching! Addicted gamblers will be a danger because they will be playing from their Blackberries or iPhones while they drive, he says! Funny because it’s true.

* Bachus will do everything he can to make sure this never happens, he says. Sigh. My bullshit detector going berzerker.

* Awesome. Frank and Bachus fighting now over whether or not there was a request submitted for someone from the Fed or DOJ to be there.

* My inner Joe Wilson to Spencer Bachus: “You lie! You lie, distort, and jimmy! Liar liar pants on fire!”

* Barney shutting Bachus up — “It’s MY time!” — calling him out on his procedural mistruths.

* Barney no turning it on the matter of turning the banks into the internet police.

* Barney calling out mistruths related to Bachus’ numbers. Trying to shift it to efforts to stop adults from gambling online.

* Addiction addiction addiction. Barney is trying to dismiss relevance of addiction arguments.

* Ooh, first poker specific argument! He’s saying calling the millions of poker players addicts is unfair.

* Yikes. This is going to take a long time. Representative from Independent Community Bankers of America from West Virginia. (You say Darvin, I say Moon!)

* HR 2266 and 2267. Those are the bills we’re talking about.

* This bank guy likes our issue. He says the banks’ having to enforce a ban on internet gambling transactions would hinder their efforts to stop terrorism and rebound from the financial crisis. A little Spencer Bachusy with his linkage, but hey, he’s on our side, so yeah, you tell’em!

Mr. Samuel A. Vallandingham, Chief Information Officer and Vice President, The First State Bank on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of America

* OK, wow, I’ve gone back (as per commenting with KevMath) and all sorts of stuff I missed from Bachus. He says $40 million has been spent lobbying to repeal this law.

* Listening to the part about the FBI letter … Bachus submitting it for the record, where it supposedly says that the technology exists for peer-to-peer transfer of ill-gotten gains from one person to another. (His words, mostly.)

* The FBI rejects claims from vendors that they can validate age and location.

* Any protections won’t work, says Bachus. Still nothing about Osama bin Laden.

* Ah, that $40 million lobbying figure goes all the way back to Abramoff. OK, fastforwarding back to the Independent bankers guy …

* Please don’t make us do this, the banker says. Leave it to law enforcement and courts, he adds!

* Uh-oh, Barney Frank admitting he did get an email from Bachus’ camp on Tuesday afternoon requesting testimony from the DOJ and Treasury. He apologizes. He was busy.

* Current score: Frank 4 – 1 Bachus

* We’d like more than one day notice, Frank says.

* Frank says he will have no problem with the Federal Reserver coming in to testify. He thinks they make his case great.

* I was wondering about the DOJ, though … it’s really hard to say where they stand on “our issue” (my term, not Frank’s). I think against.

* No taking the mic … a guy repping Indian casinos. Ooh, should be interesting. Wondering where they fall here.

* Ah, California. We know they want in.

The Honorable Robert Martin, Tribal Chairman, Morongo Band of Mission Indians

* Indian guy droppong President Obama’s name … something he submitted on November 5th of this year. Executive Order 13175: Tribal officials are supposed to be in on this action.

* Tribes were not consulted on the UIGEA delay.

* Tribal gaming = 600,000 jobs.

* By following the law, Indian tribes are not able to compete in international marketplace. “Please allow the current regulatory scheme to work and protect that which we have so carefully built.”

* Hmm, not sure exactly what that request is then.

* Skipping ahead to the end on Twitter:

@VegasTales
Hearing is over. Last point made was that gambling with credit cards is bad, but debit cards are fine.

* The woman speaking now might be our best testifier yet:

Ms. Parry Aftab, Executive Director, WiredSafety

* She protects kids on the internet for a living, apparently. Says Aftab: “This is a consumer protection issue … it’s ironic that I am sitting here today saying the only way to protect the consumers from online gambling risk is by legalizing it. I never thought I would say such a thing. But if we don’t legalize it, we can’t regulate it.”

* She wants a holistic approach. Financial system regulation is only part of it. “I do not advocate gambling anywhere. I advocate the protection of consumers and families and children.”

* Aftab is now claiming that she works with Bachus regularly (and with volunteers in his district) … very interesting someone on his side taking our side.

* It’s all about who gets what cut.

* Murmur? Be careful what we wish for? The Indians have to get their money, the Family Safety people have to get their money … see how this works? We’re gonna get there — I’m almost sure — but we are gonna have to share the profits — big time. And not just via taxes. That’s what I’m reading into this.

* Her group did a study — paid for by gambling interests — but she insists the data was protected and not manipulated.

* Now here comes the Harvard professor who ran the study … Macolm Sparrow, from the JFK School of Government, with an expertise in regulatory policy.

* They assessed risks associated with regulation. No moral issues considered, and no attempt to take a side on legalize online gambling or not.

* I’m fading …

* Really fading …

* Numbers. $6 billion. Status quo.

* Here’s a picture of Barney:

* US market currently represents 1/3 – 1/4 of the global market (despite existing restrictions)

* Gibraltar … ooh, wait, this is interesting. Rewind …

* OK, British companies, those in UK, Gibraltar, and Alderney are well-regulated.

* Those run out of Antigua, Grenada, and the Kahnawake not so much. “Less well-regulated or completely unregulated.”

* US incurs all the social costs.

* US has no jurisdictional control for its citizens who play.

* US offers no consumer protection. (These are the Professor’s arguments.)

* US, currently, is unable to prevent organized criminal growth.

* (Do you get the idea that Spencer Bachus is saying the same thing we are to these?)

* Conclusion: Legalization + Regulation ~ licensing = Good. Current legislation provides adequate framework.

* Eventually, he says, US sites will be able to dominate the industry, and all categories of risk would be better controlled.

* Now: Mr. Keith S. Whyte, Executive Director, National Council on Problem Gambling

* Neutral on these two bills. Just here to discuss problem gambling to establish a baseline (my interpretation) on what’s what when they are arguing problem gambling issues.

* 1 percent of Americans have a really bad gambling problem. A few percentage points more have a kinda bad gambling problem. Including 500k kids age 12-17.

* $7 billion a year in social costs of problem gambling.

* Internet gambling has the lowest participation of any form of gambling. It’s an “add-on” for people already involved in gambling.

* UIGEA had no affect up or down on problem gambling helpline calls.

* The problem gambling guy appears to be wearing his nice cufflinks:

* He wants the law to require money for his research. He finds it appalling (but not in an angry way) that the current bills don’t have anything in them for research on problem gambling.

* $7ish million in grants should suffice.

* He claims to be working for Bachus’ issues, too.

* New guy: Mr. Jim Dowling, Dowling Advisory Group

* Says he has dedicated his whole professional life to preventing fraud, money laundering, and now financing of terrorism. I think he said he’s a former IRS special agent.

* He’s now on the casino payroll, helping them prevent money laundering.

* Another Barney:

* Dowling says he takes no side on the legislation. It’s a banking, law enforcement, and technology problem as-is.

* Billions of dollars at stake. And terrorist financing.

* I think this is important … but I’m zoning out …

* Land based casinos have good stuff in play. Sophisticated electronic systems, foot surveillance, strong compliance department doing transactional monitoring, state regulatory agency … 24/7 365 …

* (Efforts to blacklist sites is impossible, he said earlier.)

* Frank jumps in to tell him to rap it up … and he did.

* Last guy. Mr. Mike Brodsky, Executive Chairman, Youbet.com

* Microphone problems. Lots of starch in his cufflinks.

* Youbet is the largest legal online gambling op in the US … they handle horse racing. In the process of being acquired by Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby.

* He really really wants legalized internet gambling. Even though he technically already has it.

* They love technology. He has kids. Legal is the best! Only way to protect kids.

* Barney Frank closing it all up, addressing Indian concerns … don’t worry you can be in on it, too, he says.

* Indians concerned about jobs being shipped off-shore.

* Ah, the horse racing people are concerned because the DOJ still considers some of their business illegal, because their UIGEA-protected transactions — 88 percent of them — take place over state lines.

* Spencer Bachus gets his final questions and words. He’s trying to discredit the studies based on their being funded by the PPA and Harrah’s.

* The lady insists her data (and Prof. Sparrow’s) is pure.

* Bachus trying to site a study that shows addiction problems dropped after the UIGEA, and then came back up when Treasury didn’t enforce it.

* No way, he’s trying to bring the suicide factor back in while trying to discredit the National Council of Problem Gambling guy?

* Some new guy speaking … not sure who it is, but he is bringing up the historical problems with alcohol prohibition, and why regulation is a better way to curb its destructive potential.

* Yeesh, I kinda fast-forwarded … there’s still a way to go. Taking a break …

* Here’s the Youbet bloke. He seemed to have the most self-interest on display:

* A letter from some law enforcement guy … saying yeah, regulation is better than black market. Rep. Moore (?) wants to drive it into the sunlight.

* Yep, Rep. Dennis Moore … from Kansas.

* Unknown alcohol prohibition comparison guy giving Bachus credit for his concerns, acknowledging they are real, but disagreeing with his solutions.

* Lady says: Technology can do a whole lot to help problem gamblers.

* Self-set betting limits help. (Indeed. I’ll set mine to one BILLION dollars!)

* Ahh, now they are bringing into play the billions and billions of data on online gambling transactions … and how that can help with predictive behavior.

* Rep. Peter King (R-NY) in the house. He apologizes for being late, but says it’s because he had something to do as the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee.

* King says he’s dealing with major Constitutional issues there, so he apologizes for the pop-in, as he just came over from a Homeland Security hearing on the White House party crashers and related separation of powers.

* He thanks Rep. Bachus for his hard work, even though they haven’t seen eye-to-eye on this issue over the years.

* King got in a spat with another Congressman from Illinois earlier this year:

Rep. Rush says Rep. King should apologize for calling Michael Jackson a pervert

* King brings up how the UIGEA was passed … without barking on the process of last-minute hardly related add-ons … simply saying that those who voted for it were well-intentioned, but the law has had unintended consequences.

Important Rep. Republican Popper-Inner.

* I wonder if it’s a Republican issue … that King didn’t want to seem too supportive.

* OK, probably not. He’s speaking very strongly in support of both UIGEA repeal bills.

* King gives a shout-out to Ron Paul and his libertarian ideals.

* Frank gives King props as a former Chair of the Homeland Security Dept. and now ranking member.

* Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) now pushing for the States. “You have to leave your house to lose your house,” he says. Huh?

* But maybe we can’t stop it anyway, he says, since the internet has no boundaries.

* Ahh, now I get it … he’s discrediting the Indians. Pointing out that Robert Martin is against the federal regulation but pushing for the state regulation in California. Or something like that. Not sure where Martin stands. Or Sherman for that matter.

* Damn states.

* Someone’s cell phone rings briefly. Not an embarrassing ring. Standard phone sound.

* Martin choking a bit on trying to explain the consortium of California tribes.

* This whole California state thing is directly referencing “online poker” … and working with the card rooms.

* Fugk, I’m getting a phone call. “Ignore”.

* Where was I?

* Oh, right … so the Indians are just saying they want to compete like any other business enterprise, but it may or may not be outside their compacts, which is why they need to work with the state to establish this entity that they would like to have competing for any federally regulated online poker pie.

* I kinda get it.

* Yeah yeah, leave a friggin’ voicemail, I’m typing …

* Sherman poses question to Martin (the Tribal rep) … what are your fixed costs? Martin goes silent, consults with notes and associate.

* In the interim, Sherman, from Caifornia mind you, calls out Nevada for not having a representative at this meeting … and then points out that Nevada is at the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis.

* It is. My landlords are letting Pokerati HQ go into foreclosure. Forced move forthcoming. A-holes

* I can’t tell if Sherman is working with or against the California Indians.

* Dude, Martin … he’s faltering!

* Rep. Lee — not sure what state or party he’s from — now doing his own pop-in, bringing up the issues of credit cards … claiming, essentially, that gambling on a credit card is getting an unsecured loan to gamble with.

* Interesting.

* He says he is making no moral judgment, just bringing up the credit card issue. It’s unfair to taxpayers if they’re stuck with bad debts on that sorta thing.

* Hmm.

* So here’s the only comment he wants on the record — that online gambling should only be allowed on debit cards. Not credit.

* And he’d like to know how much, percentage-wise, of online gambling takes place via credit card. As opposed to debit.

* Frank adjourns the meeting: “We will be returning to the subject next year.”

* And likewise, I adjourn.