Due to the terrific efforts of the entire poker community, we have seen some nice victories, including the Department of Justice’s revised interpretation of the scope of the Wire Act as not applicable to poker and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruling in the U.S. v DiCristina case that poker is a game of skill and is not illegal gambling under the Illegal Gambling Businesses Act. We clearly have the momentum in this fight.
Unfortunately, as the saying goes, for every two steps forward, we do have the occasional step back. The step back to which I am referring was delivered by the 2012 Republican Party Platform Committee. The just-released GOP platform contains a plank calling for a ban on online poker. Here’s the text, from page 32 in the section entitled Making the Internet Family-Friendly (view here):
“Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support the prohibition of gambling over the Internet and call for reversal of the Justice Department’s decision distorting the formerly accepted meaning of the Wire Act that could open the door to Internet betting.”
As we all know, the DoJ decision the plank calls for reversing is the very one that determined that the scope of the Wire Act does not include poker. Also, as we all know, our opponents are including poker in “gambling” activities they seek to ban. Some have even taken to calling the activity “poker gambling.”
It is unfortunate that the authors of the plank are at odds with many House Republicans who are leading the charge for licensed and regulated online poker, but it is even worse that they are so out of touch with the actual voters. Let’s all be sure to do our part through Election Day to ensure that all lawmakers understand where the people are on this important issue. More…
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth 1,000². Since ESPN is being cool with their vids, I certainly have no problem pimping their pimpage of tonight’s WSOP episode:
OK, I’m excited. If the Scotty Nguyen episodes did anything, they did make coverage of the action that’s already been covered a little more Must-See TV. Can’t wait to see what semi-real storyline they concoct!
UPDATE: Oh, right … and also the Republican National Convention. Tonight’s Politics after Dark stand-n-go lineup includes: George Bush, Laura Bush, Joe Lieberman, Fred Thompson, John Boehner, Michele Bachmann, Mike Duncan, and Jo Ann Davidson.
Hmm, tough call — but without Sarah Palin speaking tonight, I think Scotty Nguyen and Creepa have the edge.
Poker is having an affair with politics and the mainstream media, and it seems to be one of those flings…not sure where it started or where it will end, or even what it means, but enjoying it nonetheless.
Sure, the UIGEA was the first to act, but it was the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) who bought the drinks and started the bigger conversation. Most recently, the poker lobbying organization did something that didn’t seem like a big move in the beginning but is turning out to be an ingenious one. They established two charity tournaments to benefit the Paralyzed Vets of America, one to be played at each of the political conventions. The Democratic National Convention was the stage for the first, where none other than Ben Affleck won it. The second event will take place tomorrow in Minnesota, close to the site of the Republican National Convention. Both events are getting wide mainstream media coverage, i.e. Bloomberg, Politico, The Wall Street Journal, and The Denver Post.
The poker/politics affair goes even further, as poker has also become the analogy of choice for many writers and reporters well outside of the poker community. Terms like “poker face” and “all in” are finding their way into articles about Barack Obama and John McCain, either because Obama has been known to play poker or simply because poker is a good analogy. For example:
Chicago Sun Times: Does Barack Obama Really Have a Poker Face?
