From the LVRJ (via HoldemRadio):
“Let me get back to you on it,” he said. “I haven’t thought about the issue.”
He did say he had concerns about Internet gaming originating in foreign countries. Of course, this happens because of U.S. policy and restrictions, but never mind.
McCain also spoke about oversight and making sure the kiddies don’t have access.
“I’ll call you back,” he added.
HR 5767, the poker legislation providing the quickest route to undoing the UIGEA, failed to make it out of committee today. This means anti-UIGEA efforts will likely have to rely on more hard work to rally support behind an unpopular issue than slick process maneuvers for now.
The bill was bare-bones from the start, and the plan was to attach an amendment — the King Amendment (Rep. Peter King - R, NY) — which basically said, “Yo, the banks have to cut off some legal businesses (horse racing) because of this UIGEA thingy and it’s not very effective against the bad guys anyway, so let’s do our banking pals a fave and suspend the whole damn thing while we figure it all out. Cool?”
Sounds like sensible government to me … but apparently some members of the House Financial Services committee were suspicious that sumpin’ was up … and the amendment fell one vote short, 32-32. (It’s a 70-member committee — not sure how it broke down, by party or otherwise, nor who the abstainers/no-shows were.) Without the King Amendment passing by a WIDE margin, the whole strategy behind sneaking pushing a quick bank-fix vote through Congress proper kinda fell apart, so committee chair Rep. Barney Frank decided not to put HR 5767 to a role call vote.
I am pretty sure this effectively kills 5767 … little to no chance it will be resurrected. And I have to say, the results of today’s committee hearing are pretty discouraging. More TK on why, but click below to read the statement from PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato, which just came over the transom:
Just a reminder … big Congressional committee vote this week in Washington DC. If you haven’t already, express your support for HR 5767 by sending your representative a pre-templated PPA email.
Especially if your congressperson is on the House Financial Services Committee. (Damn, they’ve really got a lot on their plate. Scroll down and you’ll get a sense of what a big step getting this bill to a vote really will be.)
Click below for a complete list of the pols who really matter to poker at this moment:
Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas did another one of his WSOP fly-ins for a couple days — manning the hallway booth and meeting with pros — but much of his time was spent away from the Amazon and in his room at the Rio, on the phone/computer/Blackberry with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) et al. about HR 5767 — which is scheduled to be voted on in committee Wednesday or Thursday. While getting this bill on the agenda brings the notion of pre-UIGEA poker one step closer to reality, the measure also faces the threat of being voted down and derailed ’til next year or never.
It’s supposedly an all-in push that should hold up … and if HR 5767 — co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and 17 19 others — passes muster in House Financial Services, of which Frank is the chair, then it moves to the floor of Congress for a vote — preferably having shown strong bipartisan support in committee.
So what does this mean for you, the non-political poker types who are fine-and-dandy with playing unofficial WSOP satellites on Full Tilt and PokerStars? More fish, basically … and poker industry people would in some way or another have a say in what may or may not constitute Unlawful Internet Gambling that the Treasury Dept. could look into/stop. (You know, like online site owners who peek at hole cards … that should be unlawful, right?)
Venerable journalist Tim Russert has died at age 58 of a heart attack. Russert, of course, was the Washington bureau chief of NBC News and the host of Meet the Press … and he liked, played, and respected poker. It was during the 2004 presidential campaign where he addressed the Democratic strategy of trying to win the Rust Belt states by saying that going after Ohio was “like drawing to an inside straight.”
Too true …
Back in the day, Russert played in a home game with Johnny Carson.
Of the many groups with a presence at the 2008 WSOP, the Poker Players Alliance is doing its best to let the amateur players who flock here know not only that their voice is relevant, but also that there is a plan of action in motion to, essentially, allow online poker sites to advertise with a dot-com. OK, there’s far more to it than that … but establishing poker’s political presence is important — and because it ain’t easy to become the NRA without something akin to the Second Amendment behind you, the PPA is spearheading the efforts both on the grassroots level as well as the important behind-the-scenes ass-kissing palm-greasing politicking in Washington DC.
To help explain the cause and sign up new members, the PPA has poker pros at its booth daily. Click below to read the full press release about these meet-n-greets designed to get everyone on the same team.
Oops, while rambling on in the previous post, i forgot to share with you the email Alfonse D’Amato sent out today that made me start writing it. He makes some good points while, of course, also trying to give away a seat to the WSOP. My one question for the for-sale figurehead retired senator is: When are you going to start blogging Why age 25? That seems weird.
Dear Dan,
On behalf of the Poker Players Alliance, thank you for being part of our landmark drive to sign up more than one million members nationwide. Speaking with one voice on behalf of the great game, we have become one of the leading grassroots advocacy organizations in the country.
We have expanded our reach coast-to-coast, opened offices in our nation’s capital, and we are fighting each and every day to preserve your ability to play the great game of poker. Politicians are hearing our message – that Poker Is Not a Crime.
Today, I am excited to announce that the PPA is ready to reward you for your participation. We are launching PPA Online, a new and improved Web site, and a brand new membership package of valuable benefits.
Had a pleasant chat with PPA boss John Pappas yesterday about the state of poker legislation. “We have a new website!” he says. OK, that quote’s semi-made up, but he definitely wanted to pimp the Poker Players Alliance’s new forums, benefit packages, and webtronic goodies. Yeah, yeah, website uh-huh … I didn’t tell him that I get most of my PPA on MySpace, where they share rank with Ed, The Poker Atlas, and RawVegas TV.*
Anyhow, in hearing about what they’re trying to achieve, I came to realize just how much progress the PPA has made. There are currently five bills pending in Congress specific to our issue. You can say all you want about the “special interests” … but that’s what we are. And frankly a rather small one in the Beltway schema. Yet those five bills come with 98 unique sponsors — meaning nearly a quarter of the House of Representatives are more than familiar with poker causes and have affirmatively declared themselves on our side. That’s pretty impressive progress over the course of 18 months.
With that said, Pappas doesn’t necessarily expect to see a legally enforceable undoing of the UIGEA this year. Nor do I, nor does Lavigne in Austin, nor does anyone actively working toward that goal. This being a presidential election year, with so many big big issues in play and seats at stake, Congress just isn’t gonna get around to making the world safe for online poker in ‘08. I could be wrong on this — and hope I am — but I’m not. Fortunately the PPA leadership and lobbyists seem to recognize that hoping is seldom a good strategy … and while there’s always a chance poker could hit a political miracle on the turn and river, the PPA should shove all-in! what’s important now for the PPA is putting us in a position to succeed in 2009, when table conditions are sure to have changed.
* Pauly, dude, when are you gonna get on MySpace?
In this episode:
Jon Kyl is Facing Reality!
It’s Lonely at the top of Morality Mountain…
There are still no regulations for UIGEA… Banks don’t want to police UIGEA… and others in Congress want to overturn UIGEA… I guess it’s time to face facts, Jon.
Chuck E Cheese is Facing Prison?
Pizza Selling Rat also promotes illegal gambling…
The great legal minds of South Carolina have concluded that the Skee ball and Whac-a-Mole games at Chuck E Cheese are a slippery slop to illegal gambling… and they must go!
News from both sides of the Atlantic
Lottery to Tennis… Texas to France…
In Texas, lottery officials are warning consumers about buying tickets online… and with good reason! And out of France, a judge has returned a ruling in the French Open vs Online Gambling case.
Matthew Kredell has a good article in the new old issue of Bluff that just went online about poker players’ increased political awareness/involvement. And I’m not just saying that because he references/quotes a highly credible source in ¶’s 6 and 7.
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) recently announced that it hit the one-million-member mark. Truthfully, membership currently stands at 1,000,450. That, in itself, is amazing, considering it is difficult to get more than five poker players to agree on a restaurant for dinner and commit to it, much less take the time to become a member of a political organization.
In its effort to up the ante, the PPA has also launched a voter registration drive, making it easy to register to vote in your home state. The campaign is called, “If You Play, Have a Say.”
And the PPA has launched a political action committee called PokerPAC, and members are encouraged to get involved. With the upcoming November 2008 elections, the PPA seems to have stepped up its game and is ready to play with the big boys.
It’s time to get involved, people! Sit out of that online game for a few minutes and pull up the PPA websites. Register to vote, send messages to your members of Congress, and stand up for your game!
In this week’s episode:
What are the SSIGI and HR 5767?
It’s Bob Goodlatte’s Worst Nightmare…
Barney Frank and Ron Paul have introduced HR 5767 to target the financial powers of the UIGEA, and they are receiving the backing of several prominent groups including the SSIGI… or the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.
ePassporte Pushed Out of Industry…
Another one bites the dust…
Last Friday ePassporte abruptly abandoned their US Customers with little explanation. This week we learn that the US Attorney’s Office in New York has been putting the screws to them. Imagine that!
Legal Online Gambling in the US?
It’s no lie…
American citizens can use credit cards and ban accounts to fund their online gambling activities at this site that the US Government not only knows about, but actually encourages you to play at!
DALLAS–I happen to be on my old stomping grounds … to play a little Batface poker and try to do the work that police can’t and get to the bottom of the string of robberies here. (Pokerati’s conclusion, despite declarations to the opposite a few weeks ago: the Dallas Poker Bandits are a single group of three or four people hitting one room after another … not random coincidental robberies by different sets of two black guys in ski masks.)
Anyhow, this post isn’t about robberies in Dallas or police raids in Houston — everybody wants the poker money, don’t they? … it’s about the April ‘08 issue of Bluff. Though these articles aren’t online yet, three of the four they highlight are about Texans:
One is about how to be like Houstonian Sammy Farha. Another is about poker politics and ledes with a certain group of Dallas players wooing Congressman Pete Sessions to get behind pending poker legislation. And a third is about Gavin Griffin, a former Dallas underground dealer who became poker’s first “triple crown” winner.
Not only do I think that is Texas neato, but also I think it says something about the state’s continued super-relevance in the game. But hey, maybe I’m biased.
Microsoft, we know, likes to fight … and the company fired their first shot against cheaters in their online Xbox Live community by conducting a little neighborhood sweep. They aren’t banning players, but instead dropping their player points down to zero and marking their profiles with the digital equivalent of a scarlet C. Not sure how that would work in poker … but it shows the relevance of poker issues in a non-poker world, and perhaps suggests some potential allies who have an interest our fights. Online gam(bl)ing and online gaming, after all, aren’t that far apart.
Online video game competitions for money are already in play — the Fifa Interactive World Cup, for example, awards $20k to the winner. And the shoot-em-up game Kwari has started offering real-money competition, where you win cash for kills and the house takes its cut by charging you for ammo. Bullets, chips … tomato, D’amato … Seriously, how familiar does this sound:
In this week’s episode:
The Man Behind Poker Dream… Meet John Dutchak…
The “dream” is over, but the nightmare has just begun. John Dutchak swears he’s not the owner of the now destroyed Poker Dream Network, but family, friends, and former co-workers all say differently. And did we mention that the hundreds of thousands of dollars in player deposits are missing as well? Yea…
Tusk Gaming Gone… Players Money is Safe… APCW Member Saves the Day…
We tried to tell players not to worry! Even though the Tusk Gaming group folded, we knew that MicroGaming would honor the player’s cash on deposit. What we didn’t expect was that Rewards Affiliates would step in and manage the casinos left homeless by the collapse… but that’s just what they did!
UIGEA Enforcement to be Debated Within Weeks… Barney Frank Expected to Speak…
It only took one year, six months, and five days, but it looks like Congress will finaly discuss how to enforce the regulations they passed into las on September 30th, 2006. Barney Frank is expected to speak, and we know he’ll remind them all just how stupid this law is… we just hope he uses really small words to do so…
What exactly does the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) stand for?
Frank Frisina of Life’s a Bluff has posed that question, specifically as it relates to the organization’s mission statement that, in part, says it will ensure the integrity of the game of poker. The fact that the PPA would not and will not make an official statement about the recent online cheating scandals at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet was a major concern for Frank. And upon the conclusion of an e-mail interview with John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA, Frank decided that John’s answers - or non-answers - were the straws that broke the donkey’s back.
Frank has officially terminated his membership with the PPA and has explained his reasons in great detail. Life’s a Bluff as a whole has also stopped any support of the PPA. He asks that others who agree with him stand up and do the same.
The introduction and the interview are well worth the read, as Frank poses some serious questions to the online poker community about organization, legislation, regulation, and membership organizations like the PPA.
In addition to those state-by-state member numbers, the PPA put out a press release this week announcing its new state directors. Good to see poker players getting more involved in grassroots activity as the politi-dudes looking out for us in Washington DC continue to develop into a real Beltway force. However, there’s one state where the director curiously isn’t named — and that’s Texas.
Um, Mike …? Has there been a change to your resume that you might wanna blog about that you might wanna blog about?
UPDATE: Lavigne in Austin en-route-to-Wichita-Falls confirms via Blackberry that he is indeed still a state director for the PPA, and showed off his political skills by dodging my follow-up question about “why the ‘TBA’ then?” by reassuring me that the poker political machinery in Texas, having been built and tested now, will be well-oiled for 2009 with real Texas Hold’em in Texas in 2010 so long as I don’t write anything to muck it up.
Been a couple of news items over the last week or so regarding the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. You remember the UIGEA. You don’t? Look over yr shoulder. It’s that big black cloud over there, heading this way . . . .
First, a U.S. District Court Judge threw out the Interactive Gaming Media Entertainment and Gaming Association’s case against the U.S. government. You might remember iMEGA had attempted to have the UIGEA’s implementation postponed until it could be determined whether or not the law was unconstitutional. (They had some other points in there, too.) The case was dismissed, but iMEGA was recognized as having “legal standing†and so will surely continue the fight.
Meanwhile, we learned this week what the American Banking Association had to say about the proposed UIGEA regulations. Recall that back in October, the feds presented their proposed regulations & asked for comments. The comment period ended in mid-December, and now the Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System are considering those comments as they prepare to “finalize†the UIGEA.
The abridged version: the ABA thinks the UIGEA is not A-OK. Gives the banks too much to do — more than they can feasibly handle. In fact, the ABA believes the UIGEA will place most banks in what they call a “compliance trap†and thus do more to hurt the American payments system than it will do to stop folks from gambling online. Read Haley Hintze’s PokerNews article & also check out the full text of the ABA’s comments over at Kick Ass Poker.
And for more from those comments to the UIGEA regs — including some of what the “webmaster of the popular blog Pokerati.com†had to say about ’em — check out Jason Kirk’s article over at PokerListings summarizing them all: “Stakeholders sound off on UIGEA regulations.â€
Eliot Spitzer: Strong means weak.
A key player in getting PayPal not to accept gambling-related transactions … taken down by the exchange of virtual money he tried to stop.
The political season is well underway, and the PPA, having brought on board a new seasoned politico to coordinate grassroots efforts and direct external affairs, is lining up their state directors and kicking butts into gear. Here is a breakdown of how many members poker’s version of the NRA has by each state, as of noon EDT today. (Go Texas!)
CA: 97107
TX: 58512
FL: 57924
NY: 52090
PA: 50221
OH: 40356
IL: 35147
MI: 34541
NJ: 23999
IN: 23538
It seems that CBS’ 60 Minutes is in the process of putting together a story about the Absolute Poker cheating scandal. Nolan Dalla discussed it in his blog on PokerListings earlier this week.
Some of the key players in the drama - one that has been playing out in the poker media since the Fall of 2007 - will be interviewed, and the show’s team seems to be investigating it thoroughly.
I’ve been writing about the Absolute Poker scandal for some time as well. I continually bludgeoned the subject in my Poker Player Newspaper column and in any other outlet that would allow it. After the story lost its dazzle in the poker media, I kept it going as I felt it was never sufficiently investigated or resolved.
While I wholeheartedly wanted the poker community to take notice, take a stand, and take action against Absolute Poker, I’m not sure how I feel about a show like 60 Minutes bringing it to the general public. Part of me believes that such notoriety will bring the government closer to realizing that regulation is the key to preventing this in the future. The other part of me is afraid that this will put poker firmly in the “poker is gambling” and “gambling is immoral” category with the unreasonable powers-that-be.
Looking for opinions here… Please weigh in.
Super Tuesday is right around the corner, and Jason Kirk over at PokerListings runs down the remaining candidates and where they stand on the issues near-and-dear to online poker hearts.
The lack of information the candidates choose to make public regarding righting what is so obviously a political wrong to all the citizens of Pocket Fives suggests that, perhaps shockingly, re-legalizing online gambling and specifically poker, for almost all candidates of any sort, falls somewhere behind the following in terms of overall importance:
War
Economy
Health Care
Terrorism
Britney Spears
Prof. Charles Nesson, of the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society, on The Colbert Report, bringing the plight of online poker to the people:
After Sen. Hillary Clinton received the public endorsement of Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley this month, Clinton seems to have a newfound interest in studying online gaming. While she probably won’t be found grinding it out in the Full Tilt ring games, she has admitted a bill to study online gambling. Is it a coincidence that Berkley is the one who introduced HR 2140, which is the Internet Gambling Study Bill?
According to the Las Vegas Sun, Clinton does support the study, while Sen. John Edwards does not, citing doubt that legal online gambling could be controlled.
Sen. Barack Obama does support the study, though he has concerns about the internet being a “Wild West of illegal activity.†Strange that he wouldn’t be a bigger supporter of online gaming, specifically poker, when poker is such an important pastime to him. He not only started a weekly game in the Illinois legislature when he was a state senator but reportedly took his game pretty seriously.
Today is the Nevada caucus, so a few hours will tell who gets the support of the state’s voters.
Check it out … casino executives have been making political contributions long before this sorta stuff was tracked and kept on the legal up and up. Click here to see who is giving to whom this presidential election season.
Interestingly enough, very few are giving to Barack Obama. Even though Elain Wynn (Steve’s wife) is working for his campaign, their family is giving to Joe Biden. The Binion’s are John McCain people. Kirk Kerkorian digs Joe Biden and john McCain. The Sands Corp. … they love the ultraconservative causes of Rudy Giuliani. There seems to be some bet-hedging with Hillary Clinton … but again, very little casino money going to Obama (or Ron Paul).
One of the most poker-friendly Congresspeople (Shelley Berkley, D-NV) has come out today endorsing Hillary Clinton for President, even though the Senator doesn’t play poker. Just an FYI for those of you who care about a world beyond the rails.
Duly noted. PokerPages wants you to vote for Barack Obama, though they are pretty much saying the same thing as iGamingBusiness.com. I’m still sticking with Ron Paul (R-TX) … a guy with lots of MySpace friends who spoke out against the UIGEA and all it represents way back in the day:
UPDATE: Gambling 911 for Ron Paul.
Baltasar Cruz (D-Dallas) is running for judgeship on the Texas Supreme Court. Just wanted to let you know he is a poker player who likes and respects the game … so if you like to support candidates without any real basis beyond a connection to your own self interests, then indeed, he should probably be your man! His platform philosophies seem reasonable enough, too:
“I want to prohibit Texas judges from accepting political contributions from lawyers and parties who have cases pending in front of them. Incredibly, Texas judges are free to accept political contributions from attorneys and parties who have cases pending in their courts and some judges are known to actively solicit political contributions from lawyers who have cases pending before them! This is an obvious conflict of interest which is entirely indefensible and should be proscribed by the Texas Supreme Court.â€
In this week’s episode:
New year… New music… New Graphics…
…and the same ol’ host, J. Todd. To celebrate the start of 2008 he makes a resolution to clean-up his potty mouth. Then, he tries to give away some cash! Watch and win with this weeks show!
Hollywood the Latest Victim of UIGEA?…
When the WTO gave Antigua the rights to profit $21 million a year at the expense of American intellectual property rights, a collective chill could be felt sweeping over Silicone Valley and the Hollywood Hills. There are some out there who believe that — if Hollywood suffers — they are getting just what they deserve!
What are those damned Germans up to Now?!
Last week we told you that Germany has decided to ban internet gambling as of January 1st, 2008. In a no shame attempt to protect their state monopoly, they don’t seem to care what the EU Court of Justice thinks. Now, they may have issues mounting from within, as several online gaming companies may be teaming up to go after them civilly. Where the hell where these guys and the will to fight when UIGEA rolled out?
In this week’s episode:
The EU Cuts & Runs with a $100 Billion Deal…
The European Union’s $100 Billion compensatory claim against the US over the online gambling ban was a great source of hope for many online gamers. It is no more. This week, the EU reached an agreement with the American government that will allow the UIGEA to go unchallenged by the Europeans, thus preserving the ban on internet gambling and the potential for a future US monopoly of the industry within it’s borders.
So what do Americans do now???
Although losing the potential leverage of the EU is a tremendous setback, we still have five additional things working in our favor. What are these five powerful forces that could still get online gambling back to the US in the near future? Watch and see!
Perspectives Now! Live Radio Call-in Show…
The APCW hosts Perspectives Now on Rounder’s Radio every Tuesday night! Rounder’s Radio is dedicated to poker talk and industry news, and our show is live every Tuesday night at 10pm eastern. Listen live and call in!
An interesting vid I found via the PPA’s myspace page. (We’re “friends.” But should I be jealous that Wicked Chops and CardPlayer are “top” friends and Pokerati is not?)
Anyhow, not sure what to make of this CNN story. The bad side is the way they attribute one person’s weakness as signs of an endemic problem. Also bad that there are forces in Congress — a Democrat no less — wanting to further paint gambling as evil. The good side is that this pending legislation pulls out slot machines as something different, and points out that the government is aware of its own abilities to make money via different forms of recreational gaming.
Either way, gambling in all forms clearly is becoming a hot minor issue in the upcoming election year — one that many congresspeople may find easier to take on that some of the country’s more pressing concerns.
News Clip on Bill to Ban Military Slot Machines (12/17/07)
In the spirit of political compromise, I think at least a few of us would be willing to say, fine, pull slot machines from military bases … and make online poker more legal so we can replace the revenues lost from the removal of military slot machines. That would be a win-win, right?
In case you are a little confused as to why we are saying not to pass certain governmental regulations relating to the UIGEA now (as opposed to in 2006), below is an email exchange I had with our good friends at the PPA earlier today explaining what is and isn’t in play.
Ahh, now I get it!
While bills to undo the UIGEA are picking up steam, the Treasury Department is still trying to figure out how to enforce it. And they have to decide on Wednesday if one proposed system of blocking financial transactions will work. Thus, click below to see the letter I just sent out in opposition (with a little help from the PPA). If you would like to do something similar — you have to do it pretty much in the next 24 hours — click here (and scroll down toward the bottom) for instructions on doing your non-lazy-poker-player patriotic duty as an American citizen opposed to bad, non-sensical regulations, policy, and law.
Some interesting developments in the off-the-table workings of the online poker world. Millions of votes and billions of dollars at stake:
BARNEY FRANK’s bill is picking up steam — with 44 cosponsors. Not sure of the party breakdown, but the willingness of others to sign on suggests undoing the UIGEA could be a good “sensible government” issue that, frankly, is easier to deal with than so many other pressing political concerns.
Meanwhile, the conservative anti-gambling forces are starting to organize their troops and take fighting against us a little more seriously. Poker enemy FOCUS ON THE FAMILY is calling gambling “out of control” (via Citizen magazine) — possibly because our political successes are a chance for them to raise funds regardless of the results.
They do, however, remind everybody that you have until DECEMBER 12 to let the feds know what you think about the online gambling issue. (Anyone got a link to a email-your-rep thingy?)
And here’s an interesting article from a decidedly non-poker source about how the UIGEA has been responsible for getting rid of spam. While ZDNet’s RYAN NARAINE guest-posting expert on INTERNET SECURITY makes some good points about how some semblance of internet regulation was able to put poker spammers temporarily? out of business, he carries on to show he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about:
[The UIGEA] effectively caused the death of numerous black hat SEO companies–comment spammers. Perhaps the UIGEA measure against processing of payments proved too difficult to overcome. Not being a lawyer I can’t say exactly how UIGEA caused this death. No matter, US online gambling operations were effectively destroyed.
Spam decreased. The underlying cause for that was that the clients weren’t there due to the inability to process payments because of the online Casinos law.
Not only black hat SEO companies suffered, many spam operations lost clients. There is nearly no more Casino spam in our mail inboxes. Isn’t that grand?
Um, yeah. Wanna make a wager about the casino spam? It just took a break … the pathetic side of the industry shifted around about, that’s all. But by his grand logic, we could get rid of all spam by banning all sorts of stuff on the internet. This is semi-true, but would require the U.S. enforcing its laws beyond its borders … which is part of the problem we currently face.
Anyhow, his GADI EVRON’s semi-informed ignorance is indicative of the types of landmines the poker politicos will have to avoid this year.
They paint it as an issue of a power shift away from professional moralists such as the Family Research Council, and essentially mock their arguments defending the UIGEA as non-nonsensical and unAmerican. Gotta say I like the way this hand is shaping up, particularly as the non-poker congresspeople are starting to see the issues in play being about far more than just poker.
Says Andrew Leonard from Salon.com:
As congressional hearings go, this one gets a five-star rating from How the World Works. There were professional poker players referencing John Locke and John Stuart Mill, Tennessee legislators getting medieval on the Family Research Council, and a discussion of the odds against James Bond drawing an inside straight in “Casino Royale.” All this against a backdrop featuring a mighty clash between states’ rights and international treaty obligations.
Watching the Annie Duke testimony (and related non-poker people arguing both sides of pending anti-UIGEA legislation) left me rather impressed. And then I started thinking about Duke’s good work with the Ante Up for Africa charity tourneys … and thus I came to the conclusion … wow, Annie Duke is doing some good stuff these days.
So that has me wanting to know … who currently is the best ambassador in poker? I hate the phrase “good for poker” … that’s the topic of another post, on how it actually hurts the game … but whether it be from a business, political, or game-play perspective, what known poker celeb is using their status to the best of their abilities to make the game better for us all.
Scroll along the right-hand sidebar to let us know your thoughts on who is really representin’.
Reason Magazine has taken note of Annie Duke’s newfound lobbying prowess, too. They were impressed by her ability to cite John Locke and John Stuart Mill.
It’s true that sometimes Beltway outsiders are the ones who can stir things up on the inside. Good stuff. I was about to say how come her Ultimate Bet cohort Phil Hellmuth hasn’t stepped up to the poker politics plate … but on second thought, really, considering what he might have to say and how he would say it, maybe that is for the best.
Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held the Hearing on Establishing Consistent Enforcement Policies in the Context of Online Wagers. Errr, it was about online gaming.
John Conyers (D-MI) chaired the hearing; he has every potential to be a co-sponsor of one or more of the bills up for consideration in Congress, and he visited the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) convention a few weeks ago.
Robert Wexler and Shelley Berkley, both of whom introduced bills supported by the PPA, spoke at the hearing. And representing the PPA was Annie Duke. Her testimony was excellent, and when confronted by members of Congress like Goodlatte, she held her own.
The video of Annie’s testimony (with the introduction by Conyers) is worth listening to…
In this week’s episode:
Sweden, Germany, and France…
What a big week for online gambling, with lots of great news mostly coming out of Europe! Sweden wants into the industry… Germany says any ban on internet gambling is impossible… and even France knows it’s time to surrender.
EU Trade Commissioner in the United States…
Why should we care that the EU Trade Commissioner was in the United States this week? Because this man flew all the way across the ocean to tell the US Congress they’re a bunch of schmucks! Peter Mandelson urged US Legislators to overturn the UIGEA.
Barney Frank, Ron Paul, and Radley Balko…
We all know Barney Frank… many know Ron Paul… but who the heck is Radley Balko? We feature a video from June of this year where Mr Balko testifies in a Congressional hearing about online gambling. You simply must see this video!
This story on Channel 8 has nothing to do with poker … but really it does.
It’s about energy drinks (yum!), and newfound health concerns associated with them. Pokerati has long contended, as the hedline suggests above, that the boom-time business of possibly addictive, taurine-infused pharmaceuticals sold at convenience stores (to kids!) for upwards of $3 a can is just waiting for a little government intervention … because there’s simply too much money being made for the politicos to not want their cut.
What we’re not good with here at Pokerati is time. Whether that will take five months or 15 years to happen, we’re not so sure. But I do find it especially interesting that the Channel 8 story above says that last year there were more than 4 billion cans of lightly carbonated liquid meth sold … which would make the energy drink biz a $12 billion industry. Does that number ring a bell? It should … because it was the estimated value of the online poker industry shortly before the passage of the UIGEA.
You see what I’m getting at? Poker is about math. So is politics …
(And some people wonder why I don’t sleep.)
Part 1:
Click here to watch Part 2. Brought to you by APCW.org.
That’s hard to say — in the sense that Beltway political wonks still say passage of relevant poker legislation is unlikely. But as it pertains to raising awareness, educating legislators, and, in the long run, raising necessary monies … it seems like yes, indeed, great things pokery happened in Washington DC this week.
Click here to see the various media coverage garnered by this poker-rally lobby-fest.
There are some curious strategic matters in play here. After all, considering the current state of the world, it’s not like the non-poker populace is gonna be saying, “Yeah, you know what, better regulation of online gambling is what this country really needs right now.” Or … “We didn’t have these sorts of problems when PartyPoker was in power.”
So to some extent, poker finds itself in a Catch-22. We need to be aggressive and heard to create change … but at the same time, our best bet for passing pro-poker legislation is probably to slip it in under the radar. Like Bill Frist did with the UIGEA — only less dirty-handed. And that’s why this most recent PPA effort seems to have been a good one. No screaming, just talking … but presumably saying the right things to the influential non-masses with the ability to push through some “simple” and “sensible” changes before dealing with the bigger, more perilous issues of our day.
ALT HED: Make Poker Not War!
So wow, so much is going on right about now. A lot of smart people doing a little bit more than just geeking out about poker and the industry’s/game’s/lifestyle’s future. Wish I could be everywhere:
We’ve got the Global Poker Thinking Society getting together at Harvard — featuring Howard Lederer, Charles Nesson, and Crandall Addington.
And then this weekend is the California Poker Conference — where speakers include WSOP Commish Jeffrey Pollack, PPA Executive Director John Pappas, and some influential old-timers such as Mike Caro, Lou Kreiger, Barbara Enright, and many others.
And then on the next day, Pappas heads back to Washington DC, where he’ll be hosting the Poker Player’s Alliance DC Fly-in — a little Beltway lobbying fest on behalf of pro-poker legislation. This is the one I really want to be at — and we’ll try to stay on top of things from afar — because twisting Congressional arms enlightening our representatives is a lot of fun. I gotta say, it also kinda makes me proud to know that our success wooing Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) as a co-sponsor to HR 2610, the Skill Game Protection Act, kinda inspired it.
JP: We had a really great meeting in August with Congressmen Pete Sessions in his Dallas, Texas, office. It was myself and a number of our local PPA members, including Clonie Gowen, who’s a Dallas, Texan, and Robert Williamson III, another Dallas, Texan. We went in and sat down with him and talked to him about the Wexler bill and why it just didn’t make sense that a game of skill is being outlawed on the Internet. And it really resonated and it really came through and what I saw was, wow, this is something we need to replicate, this is something we needed to do more of. Based on that meeting, I thought we needed to get people out to Washington. Whether we make 20 meetings or 200 meetings, I think it’s going to be a worthwhile event.
Very cool! (And well done, Pokeratizen politicos!) Good times, all around. And indeed, we should do more of that.
I’ll be in Vegas … assuming I make my flight, which leaves in — yeow! — four hours, to do the TV Co-hosting thing with Tom Schneider for the inaugural Poker Bowl. This should be a pro-studded affair … even Doyle Brunson will be playing, along with Greg Raymer, Scotty Nguyen, reformed self-colluder ZeeJustin … and Absolute spokesman Mark Seif. Like seriously, we have so much to talk about!
And so little of it to do with how to play 
in middle position.
Anthony in McKinney-ish writes in with more:
Ok, I swear I’m not an email attention whore, but the hits just keeepp ooonnnnnn coming with this Absolute thing.http://www.pocketfives.com/06D9EA78-E38F-49D3-AFA1-2B4B128CE7E7.aspx
Not to make it all about blogging, but poker players should be proud of the “citizen journalism” at work in this case. When “former” chief operators of a company are allegedly the ones pegged as playing with “superaccounts” … that clearly can’t be a good thing. Absolute looks to have done themselves in here. Short-term greed catches up with the offenders. This page now seems like a sadly ironic case of Strong Means Weak.
So as the evidence against Absolute becomes more and more solid, it raises a lot of other questions, including:
Big questions for online poker. How different folks with a vested interest in the answers react to this situation will tell us a lot about what kinda players we really are dealing with in this biz.
UPDATE: PokerListings is currently refusing to send players to Absolute and Ultimate Bet:
PokerListings.com has temporarily suspended the listing of the Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet poker rooms as a result of serious problems with both historical and current payments due PokerListings for services rendered. We are aware that our decision not to list these two brands may be an inconvenience, but as a trusted guide and resource, we do not believe it is appropriate to continue listing them.Sincerely,
The PokerListings.com Team
