The following reminder that Nevada will be the place of political buzz this weekend comes via Lupe Soto, Nevada State Director of the PPA. While there are plenty of tournaments to play and press releases to spin — not to mention all the NL/PLO to heavily pimp! — it really would be a shame if these four key influencers of current national conversation rolled through Las Vegas, the poker capital of the world, and weren’t made to address the issue of online poker (and our right to play it with American money transfered through our own bank accounts without use of a sketchy third party payment processors). Because when it comes down to it, Pete Lubrano was right — “they took our fugkin jobs!” And right now before the federal government, right here (our state is ready to go!), are measures to give back these jobs and create thousands of others while guaranteeing freedoms and protections and net-positive taxes ftw … we all know the talking points.

And if online poker isn’t gonna be at least a bullet point to the national conversation now … well then, really, perhaps poker players will be getting exactly what we deserve?

dan,

This Saturday, February 4, 2012, the Nevada Republican Presidential Caucuses will be held throughout the Battle Born State. These caucuses will elevate Nevada into the national political spotlight, with all four candidates making appearances in the state in the next few days.

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Have you seen this new reality show on CNN called “The Republican Tea Party Debate”? LOL, the new season is just getting underway, but already I’m looking forward to seeing who gets voted off the island. The first episode last night was full of groaners and OMGs and gawkable moments … the characters are about as good as any Real World/Survivor crew I’ve ever seen before. You can already tell Michelle Bachman is gonna be the Omarosa and Rick Santorum the Puck.

The poker-player’s candidate, Gary Johnson, apparently didn’t make the cut … but poker did enter into the debate when Mitt Romney challenged Texas Governor Rick Perry’s record on job creation … essentially calling him a luckbox.

Not quite the “licensed and regulated online poker” stuff we mighta hoped for … but hey.

Unfortunately, not only do these two look-a-likes reveal an inherent conservative opposition to “regulation” that the Barton Bill will have to overcome, but also they seem to be talking 5-card draw or maybe 7-stud with the four Aces analogy — as if they’re totally unaware that much of the country is playing Pot-Limit Omaha.