“We’re going to do everything we can to legalize online poker,” said US Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) to a crowd of mostly women Friday night at the Golden Nugget. She was the opening speaker at the Women in Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and wanted to let nearly 300 attendees know that she hasn’t wavered in her position against government interference in online poker, and now is the time for Washington DC to get Americans back online.

Berkley, who declared her intent to run for US Senate the day before Black Friday, was one of the few representatives to call the UIGEA “a travesty” at the time of its passage and one of the first to jump on board to co-sponsor Joe Barton’s (R-TX) post-Black Friday online poker bill.

“There’s no reason people shouldn’t be playing online. It will be good for the 26 million poker players … it will be good for our country, and it’s going be good for our economy,” she said. “We’ve got to get this piece of legislation passed!”

Have a listen to what all she had to say in Las Vegas before heading back to DC:

Shelley Berkley at the Women in Poker Hall of Fame 2011
4:58

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There’s a lot of excitement in the online gambling industry over the possibility that Internet poker could be legalized to help the U.S. deficit, via the Debt Super Committee. J Todd looks seriously at the potential it could happen, plus takes time to remember a somber anniversary.

The State of Nevada continues to move forward in preparation for monitoring satellites on WSOP.com federal legislation that may or may not fully legalize online poker and/or slots. The Nevada Gaming Control Board put out drafts of certain amendments to state gambling regulations yesterday that look to accommodate fully legalized online poker.

These regulatory revisions come as a Nevada law passed and signed earlier this year mandates … and just a sidenote LOL to think that PokerStars was paying some of the lobbyists who helped push it to passage. (Can we say somebody got played?)

The Nevada Gaming Control Board issues a draft of regulatory proposals intended to establish the state regulation of internet poker pursuant to Assembly Bill 258 of the 2011 Nevada Legislature. Regulation 3.100 Regulation 4.030 Regulation 5A Regulation 8.130 Regulation 14 (Added: 08/24/11; Remove: 09/23/11)

These proposed new rules cover procedure for applying for a license, establish the scrutiny licensees and their b2b providers and other affiliates will face (and a one-year appeal process for those who get denied), sets a standard for tax rates to be set by a state gambling authority, and limits legal wagers to poker — differentiating poker from other games not because of skill but because it’s played against other players, not the house. There’s also something in play for what it means to transfer ownership of an unlicensed business as one applies for a license.

We’ll have to address later state vs. federal licensing and regulation, and how those two could or could not work together.

The above proposed regulations go up for public comment next month. Today — in a meeting moved from Carson City to Las Vegas — NGC (Nevada Gaming Commission) and GCB (the state Gaming Control Board) considered proposed amendments to Regulation 4 on matters of “suitability” … i.e. who can do business with licensed operators. Google Translate doesn’t yet have a setting for RegulatorSpeak, so I’m still trying to figure out what it all means in practicality for different companies and individuals … but I’m pretty sure Ray Bitar won’t be working for Caesars anytime soon, though I’m not sure if Chris Ferguson ever might-could get a non-poker job at a casino as an entertainer who cuts fruit by throwing cards.

Other poker and more-than-poker amendments working through the regulatory approval process in Nevada cover mobile-gaming technology, server location requirements (they no longer have to be on premises), interactions allowed on interlinked slot machine systems … and sets up a system for regulators to communicate with online gaming providers via email. You can track the progress of NV regulation drafts here, and see what language ends up in effect here.

See also:
Nevada casino regulators propose new rules for Internet gambling should US legalize it [Washington Post]

They should have an Apprentice for politics … how fun would it be to watch The Engineer going up against one of those caged models from PETA, an NRA gun fanatic, a GLBT advocate, and maybe a Mason? They could compete in events such as fundraising, petitioning, street protests, cocktail-party schmoozing, direct lobbying, and YouTube … LOLZ, that’s kinda how it is these days as Washington DC tries to make the most of an American Idolized electorate in a social media assembly.

(Go Rich Muny! TID!)

It seems we are indeed making a strong showing for this month’s YouTube Town Hall question; there are actually two online poker questions — one about the Barton Bill (H.R. 2366: the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011) and the other about the Campbell Bill (H.R. 1174:  the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act). However, I’m wondering if either would be selected for YouTube debate, because as far as I can tell, the poker questions are the only ones attached, by number, to specific bills. My guess is few Members would use their YouTube airtime to pimp a single bill that hasn’t even been heard yet in committee . They’re looking to address concepts that may or may not mean something to voters — like freedom and fiscal sensibility, or something grand-sounding like “comprehensive tax reform” — not specific legislation with amendments still being written and a name that won’t even fit on Twitter.

But still, whether or not the online poker questions make it to the next round you can be sure Members are at least taking note of what voters are <s>thinking</s> thumbing.

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It really would be kinda selfish to hoard all the knowledge in poker, let alone any insight gleaned from all the uninformed and/or misinformed Twitter-fueled forum banter. Things are moving so fast these days in poker it’s hard to keep up, let alone have time to post after filtering through the muck. Actually, that probably explains the continued love/hate in poker for QuadJacks … accuracy shmacuracy, if there’s new hubbub in poker, Zac and Marco and crew are on top of it, and occasionally the middle of it — with informed insiders and ignorant blowhards alike contributing — while SrslySirius makes a rap video.

But a few recent stories of particular significance that might otherwise get buried amid PokerStars/WSOP/WPT press releases, 2+2 NVG threads, and the mashup of Jungleman cheating buzz:

Ring-fenced funds: Full Tilt debaucle explained
ALDERNEY
Check out this story in Poker Player Newspaper about a regulatory matter of new relevance called “ring-fenced funds”. It helps one understand a little better why Full Tilt found themselves in tighter straits than PokerStars post-Black Friday (even though PokerStars is the big boy the DOJ most wants) … and leaves one to wonder why senior executives and on-duty attorneys representing both Party Gaming and PokerStars flew in from Gibraltar, Israel, and the United States to observe the proceedings firsthand. Perhaps they thought they were coming in to witness an execution?

Online gambling goes national
WASHINGTON DC
Big talk all over the internet about a piece in the New York Post that points out how stars seem to be aligning for online gambling legalzation in the US — from the Kyl/Reid letter requesting DOJ assistance in squelching offshore operatives and state initiatives alike, to a Boehner aide taking on a VP role with the American Gaming Association, to a warming friendship between House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Venetian pooh-bah Shelly Adelson.

It all supports my belief that online gambling will indeed be a national issue in coming months (assuming people behind a rumored Senate bill want it to be). There’s no mention, however, of the player-friendly Barton Bill, nor much anything about poker specifically — the writer talks of “gambling” — which suggests this story could be a plant by media operatives for the AGA, who we know, of course, represent Big Casinos and likely have Harry Reid’s office on speed dial. It also supports contentions that the effort to bring back online poker (thanks PPA and Joe Barton!) will likely become a push for full-on legal online casinos as bills move forward.

Nevada regulators prepping for Poker+ …
LAS VEGAS/CARSON CITY
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to many, Nevada Gaming authorities are in the midst of sweeping changes to state regulations — with very specific language updates on matters of foreign partners, “suitability”, server location, mobile gaming platforms, slot machine networks, money transfers, tax collection, you name it … The new rules currently taking shape in Nevada touch on just about every issue brought up in the online gaming political sphere over the past five years. Whether revolutionary or standard as far as procedure goes, if you really wanna know what the future of online gambling (and therefore poker) will look like — and/or place your bets on who the corporate winners will be* — follow the public work of the Nevada Gaming Commission and State Gaming Control Board here in coming weeks.

* for entertainment purposes only: smart bet is Caesars, William Hill, and Cantor-Fitzgerald.

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This irregular link-dump has been brought to you by The Palms Casino Resort & Spa, home of the best big-little half-no-limit half-PLO game in Vegas.

Play Late!

ACTION ALERT: Pokerati Game — 1/2 NLH/PLO — gets underway tonight at 7pm! Goes until whenever …

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Full Tilt Poker finds some cash to pay their obligations! Unfortunately, their players were not included! Also, online gambling news from Greece, California, and Fair Play USA.

The 250th installment of online gambling’s longest running show, Perspectives Weekly, brings you industry news from Full Tilt Poker and the suspension of their Alderney gambling license. Plus, we look at the new Fair Play USA coalition pushing for legal Internet gambling in America and remember a very special anniversary.

By letter to federal Attorney General Eric Holder dated July 14th of this year, US Senators Jon Kyl and Harry Reid have made known their views on Internet gaming. Or rather: they’ve let the AG know what they want the Department of Justice to do without exactly saying what their position is. (Thanks to Chris Krafcik for circulating the letter.)

This letter, from two senators coming from very different camps on the Internet gaming issue, is a very interesting document both for what it says and for what it doesn’t say.

What it says is that the Department of Justice has been lax in pursuing foreign private Internet gaming operators and that this has “led to a signficant and growing perception … that the Department of Justice thought that the case [against operating Internet poker and other Internet gambling websites] was uncertain enough that it chose not to pursue enforcement actions.” The senators state that it’s important for the DOJ to pursue “illegal Internet gambling” in the United States “aggressively and consistently.” Most notably in this paragraph, Senators Kyl and Reid assert that Internet poker websites have been offering online play to Americans for many years “with apparently no repercussions.”

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Presidential hopeful Gary Johnson (R-NM) came to the WSOP this year to show his support for online poker efforts, as well as drum up support for his White House run.

He took note of online poker matters shortly after April 15, he said, and couldn’t help but see the similarities between online poker and other issues he’s fought for over his political career — from ski-helmet laws or marijuana reform. He was at the PPA booth shortly before the start of the main event, and I got to chat with the two-term former governor of New Mexico about the Republican shift in support of online poker, where online poker fits in the scheme of national issues (right up at the very top, he says, as an example of American freedoms under attack), and how those who believe in smaller government can support the concept of more regulation. Apparently you can regulate online gambling without regulating the whole internet. And regulations work best, he explains, when a guy like him gets to be “dictator”. (If Obama thought he had “socialist” problems … yeow.)

Pokerati Raw: Courting the Poker Vote
Gary Johnson at the WSOP

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Johnson calls on poker players to realize that their passions go beyond just poker and are more of an American issue — like pot — and the immediate solution is to donate to his campaign.

He’s pitching himself as “the people’s president” … and thus is letting poker players know that he can be their guy in DC. For what it’s worth, I didn’t leave with the feeling that this will be a special day having met the future president … but I did leave with the sense that Johnson would help make the issues of online poker players — the basic ones, the simple right to play for money online — part of the national debate.

Check out his campaign website at GaryJohnson2012.com … and here’s a special donation page set up just for you.

The Barton bill has raised the hopes of poker players, but not everyone is so enthusiastic about the proposed legislation. Also, more Black Friday fallout from across the Atlantic. Plus, regulated online gambling has been put on hold in Washington, DC

Barack Obama was taking questions from the masses today in 140 characters or less. It really is a rather unique evolution in political communication. It’s not too different from standing on a soapbox back in the day … except here the crowd is millions strong, and – bo has enabled his @replies.

The PPA rallied the troops to make sure that of the millions tens of thousands of people jumping up and raising their hands with a question, at least one that got heard was about online poker:

Don’t forget today at 2PM EDT, President Obama will be hosting a Twitter town hall and answering questions tweeted to him. Please take a moment to use Twitter to submit a question asking the President if he supports licensing and regulating online poker by clicking here. To follow the Town Hall as it happens, please click here.

Let’s make our voices heard. Tweet your question to President Obama now!

Proud to play,
Drew Lesofski
Director, Grassroots and External Affairs

I sent mine in. No answer … but we’ll see if @BarackObama maybe includes @Pokerati in his next #FollowFriday.

UPDATE: Follow this guy, New York Times politics blogger, to see what questions got asked and how they got answered.

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Crap, I’m never gonna get to that Deep Purple concert before Smoke on the Water … stepped away from the Pokerati Game @PalmsPokerRoom for a bit, and sure enough the draft of Joe Barton’s online poker bill — one crafted with more input from players (via the PPA) than squabbling online poker entities, and supposedly supported already by Harry Reid, has leaked out.

You’ll have to tell me what’s in it … I gotta go to the concert — and I’m sure the Senate Majority Leader from Nevada won’t be able to resist manipulating it in some way by the time it moves outta the house … but feel good overall that it will be more player-focused from the start than any that preceded it … simply because Black Friday put so many other battles amongst potential supporters to rest … and we’ll have to reassess, but I really think the conditions look strong for now as opposed to later. And I say that even though I’ll bet that Barton’s staff didn’t take my suggestion and include any provisions for splashing pots with concert tickets in the Pokerati game. (Didn’t they see I still have a 214 area code!?) Hey, special-interest politics is about compromise, right?

Maybe I’m wrong, but I just think the masses of poker players are in a better spot for such negotiations in 2011 than we were in 2010 … especially if this 101-page bill I skimmed is more than just smoke-and-mirrors on the water, which now it has no reason to be.

Click here to download a copy of the Barton online poker bill … so hot off the not-for-publication-yet presses, it’s listed as HR _______.

US Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) will be in Las Vegas for Friday’s shuffle-up-and-deal … and possibly to unveil his new online poker (only) bill.

The Texas Republican has taken the baton from Barney Frank (D-MA), by way of John Campbell (R-CA), to lead the charge for licensed and regulated online poker in the House, with a new bill his office says he plans to “drop” either Friday or closer to the July 4th weekend.

It’s still probably too early to make decent predictions, prognostication, and prop bets — haven’t even seen a draft yet — but the forces lining up this go-round are indeed different than before.

This time we’re talking about an online poker-only bill, with a different committee path, and a conservative Republican — perhaps looking to put a bipartisan feather in his cap before the ’12 elections — charged with rallying support on his side of the aisle.

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The Poker Players Alliance continues to evolve, with Rich Muny, aka @TheEngineer2008, appointed Vice President of Player Relations. Now it is officially The Engineer’s job to communicate for the PPA on various blogs and social media forums, from Twitter to 2+2 — pretty much as he has been doing since long before April 15, only now he’ll be the guy responsible for filtering through internet noise to make sure the PPA is hearing poker players’ legitimate concerns as various bills and political stuff moves forward.

Read the full press release below:

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I know it runs counter to conventional poker(ati) wisdom that this could be true, but, well, it kinda is:

Republicans offered some hope Tuesday to online poker players sidelined by the Obama administration’s “Black Friday” crackdown.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is planning to introduce legislation that would legalize and regulate online poker and said he hopes the measure can pass both chambers of Congress this session.

“Poker is a game of skill,” Barton said in defense of the sites during a press conference outside the Capitol.

He suggested those who believe poker to be a game of chance should try playing with their own money against world champion Greg Raymer, who stood behind him at the press conference.

Shockingly, too, most Pokeratizens will probably find this curious:

Barton said he has spoken to the leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, including Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), and hopes to move a bill through the committee in the near future. Barton said the bill is being finalized in consultation with the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).

OK, that’s enough from me — I’m just a morlock, and I’ll probably be locked up for this, but hey…breaking news!

Via genes @ Big Bill Quick’s joint…who’s kind of got his headline wrong, unless I’m so drunk I can’t read the news.