“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
[audio: https://pokerati.com/podcast/pokerati-raw/ShelleyBerkley_wiphof.mp3]

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Here are my thoughts on the most interesting stories in the gaming sector over the past week or so:

1. New Jersey Moves Forward on Intra-State Gaming – Yesterday, Monday, November 22^nd, the New Jersey State Senate passed S490, the succinctly-named “An Act permitting Internet wagering at Atlantic City casinos under certain circumstances and amending and supplementing the Casino Control Act.”The vote was 29-5 in favour. This bill authorizes Internet wagering at AC casinos; it would allow New Jersey residents and persons located outside of the US to place wagers on casino games by means of the Internet. All games that are permissible in a bricks and mortar AC casino could be offered over the Internet under this bill. S490 also provides for the imposition of a tax on such intra-state Internet wagering, monitoring and regulating the Internet offerings, and licensing fees. Now the bill will be taken up by the State Assembly’s Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee. New Jersey has elections in November of each odd-numbered year, so there is still considerable time to see this bill through to passage by the Assembly. It is looking more and more like the legislative i-gaming action in the US for the next little while will be at the state level and perhaps not in Congress. [NJLeg.state.nj.us]

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2. Quebec Launches Government Gaming Site – Loto-Quebec’s new Internet gaming site, www.espacejeux.com, went online last week. (It looks terrible, which is to be expected of a government-run casino site.) as of next week, Quebecers will be able to wager up to Cdn$9,999 per week on sundry interactive games. The poker offering will eventually share liquidity between Quebec and British Columbia, but only Quebecers are supposed to be permitted on Loto-Quebec’s site. [Montreal Gazette]

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3. New Zynga Game – Zynga, the popular social gaming developer, released CityVille. I haven’t played yet, but apparently it’s SimCity meets FarmVille. It will go live globally in the next few weeks. More proof that Zynga (and the social gaming sector, more generally) are key things to watch in the gaming industry as we go forward. [TechCrunch]

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4. The Status of Congress – Congress is currently in the lame-duck session between election day and the start of the 112^th Congress in January. Frank Fahrenkopf, President of the American Gaming Association and as keen an observer of the gaming industry in the US as anyone, said during G2E in Las Vegas last week that he doesn’t see online gaming legislation passing during the lame-duck session, but he left open the possibility that Internet gaming legislation could pass. No surprise, but Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) thinks that, if anything passes during the lame-duck, it may be limited to legalizing Internet poker only: [Las Vegas Sun; Las Vegas Review-Journal]

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5. Las Vegas Cut-and-Paste Lawsuits – Righthaven LLC is a firm in Nevada that has sued dozens of parties over posting content on the Internet from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Some have alleged that Righthaven’s actions have been abusive. Comes now Righthaven with an indication that it will narrow its litigation campaign after a Nevada judge ruled that a realtor’s use of part of an LVRJ article constituted fair use. (The realtor reproduced 8 sentences of a 30 sentence news article on his blog.) See: http://www.scribd.com/doc/39767798/Righthaven-v-Realty-One-Order This is fascinating enough by itself, but the Nevada attorney who is a principal of Righthaven (Steven Gibson) is the same lawyer that is a member of the law firm Dicknson Wright PLLC, an international law firm with a respected gaming practice and now with a Las Vegas office. [Wired]

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Attorney Stuart Hoegner regularly follows international gaming law; you can follow him @GamingCounsel on Twitter.

We’ve been saying for awhile how critical Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is for any regulated online gambling legislation to stand a chance at making its way into law. And despite non-denial denials from his office regarding plans for a forthcoming poker-only Senate bill, the Reno Gazette-Journal is reporting that Reid is now saying something more directly suggestive of his online poker intentions:

[Gaming] executives said Reid, D-Nev., told them he would support the legalization of online poker in the United States but drew the line there — he would not support any other form of online gaming — during an Aug. 16 meeting at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa [in Reno].

This falls in line with what Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) told the same paper earlier this month — that Reid’s position against online gambling had “softened dramatically” — after she and Nevada’s two other representatives made a serious push on Reid to support Barney Frank’s HR 2267. Berkley and Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) are Frank bill co-sponsors, and Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) “cautiously supports” it.

The problem Reid’s supposedly running into now are non-Harrah’s B/M casinos in northern Nevada asserting online gambling is a threat to business and Nevada tourism … thereby costing the state jobs. And as outdated and arguably inaccurate as that argument is — we’ve heard it before, from the same Vegas ops and Indian tribes that now support online gambling — anything that opponents can spin against Reid as anti-jobs probably isn’t something the senator would want to risk heading into November, as he faces a statewide election in the state with the highest unemployment in the nation. At a minimum, wading into such waters would require a lot more money for internet ads to smear Sharron Angle out of contention.

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Check it out … pretty good interview by Gambling Compliance with Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) about the status of current online gambling-related legislation, what it took to change Harry Reid’s mind about supporting internet gambling, why she has concerns about the McDermott taxation bill, getting excited by early signs of a Las Vegas recovery, and why she and the whole city loves 69 (about 6:40 in) … but needs a little more to get the big money people coming.

She also lets it be known, without officially confirming nor denying anything, how this former Vegas cocktail waitress may have her sights on running for U.S. Senate in 2012.

Rep. Shelley Berkley speaks to GamblingCompliance.

The Rumble at the Rio had its press conference/weigh-in ceremony today in the Rio Pavilion hallway to introduce Liv Boeree (representing UltimateBet) and Melissa Castello (representing PokerNews), who will be fighting each other on July 1 for publicity charity. ESPN filmed it, and the poker media was out in force to cover it. Almost every poker media outlet was there to take photos or gather notes to publicize the event.

It is significant to note that only about 25% of those reporters were anywhere near the Poker Players Alliance press conference yesterday. PPA Chairman and former NY Senator Alfonse D’Amato spoke, along with NV Rep. Shelley Berkley and PPA board members Greg Raymer and Linda Johnson, to announce National Poker Week.

Who says the poker media doesn’t have integrity/priorities?

Thousands of players taking to the felt today. Whether going for a bracelet, just trying to survive Day 1, or making an otherwise interesting showing, some folks catching eyes today, in action you may want to follow:

Ret. Sen. Al D’Amato seems to be today’s guest of honor at the WSOP. While shuffle-up-and-deal duties have been relegated to active Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), the Chairman of the PPA will be playing in the $1,000 NLH-Seniors event. If he goes deep, it could screw up a bunch of schedules something fierce. Event coverage here.

Phil Ivey, of course, is always a player to watch – especially when he’s advancing, as he did in his first round of the $5,000 NLH-Shootout. While it’s obviously premature to get trip-bracelet possibilities, he only has to beat two tables. Take a look at the field and you tell me who has the best odds of doing exactly that. Jen Harman also advanced in her first match. Might she be able to finally make a showing for the ladies? Strange tourney, btw, with 6-handed tables in the second round, playing down to a 5-handed SNG for the bracelet.

While multi-tournamenting isn’t unheard of at the WSOP, doing two Day 2s at the same time kinda is. Nam Le went deep (but fell short of cashing) in the $10k PLO while going even deeper in the $1,500 NLH. In that event, he’s one of 25 players left, from a starting field of 2,715.

Of the 25 players who remain in $10k PLO, dare I say I’m rooting for Richard Austin? Kinda funny for the kid who wants nothing to do with cameras and interviews or even just basic biographical info to go deep yet again. Austin didn’t want to play nice with WSOP officials after winning his bracelet in the $5k PLO. Possibilities include that he is a) shy b) the second coming of “Ricky Zilem” c) just a punk-bitch a-hole or d) a DOJ narc. Think about it … supposedly undercover Treasury agents at the WSOP and elsewhere in Las Vegas where large sums of money are exchanged amongst gamblers is nothing new. But this year, totally unconfirmed and hardly reliable word has it, whoever’s really behind the payment processor crackdown has a posse of undercover Feds sprinkled throughout the Amazon room … and you gotta think at least a few of them would know a thing or two about pot-limit Omaha, right? Event coverage here.

Finishing the Sunday tournaments plus a preview of the Monday doubleheader and a reminder that Sen. Al D’Amato and Rep. Shelley Berkeley will be at the Rio to announce National Poker Week, also be sure to go to www.pokerpetition.com and add your name.

Iacavone In Control

Michael Iacavone is the reported chip leader (1,605,200) when play resumes in the $1,500 NL Holdem as the remaining 26 players come back at 2pm to play down to a winner. Joe Bartholdi (1,040,000), Nam Le (500,100), Mohsin Charania (471,000), Alex Jacob (433,000), and Raymond Davis (401,000) are the notable names also returning to capture a bracelet.

Schwartz Still Swinging a Big Stack

Another field with a long day on Monday will be the remaining 25 players left in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship who return at 1pm today as they’ll eventually be streamed over the Internet on ESPN360 and wsop.pkr.com. Noah Schwartz (1,220,000) remains the chip leader, with Markus Golser (621,000) and Robin Keston (606,000) leading their respective tables. Recognizable names returning include: Matt Graham (586,000), Barry Greenstein (467,000), Josh Arieh (356,000), Richard Austin (331,000), Howard Lederer (326,000), Padraig Parkinson (259,000), and Vitaly Lunkin (220,000).

More Shooting at the Rio

Some more names that won their first table in the $5,000 NL Holdem Shootout: Danny Wong, Davidi Kitai, Amit Makhija, Roland Isra and David Pham. The remaining 30 players return at 2pm for the second round with the final five winners returning Tuesday for a five player final table.

Filippi 8-Game Leader

153 players return at 2pm Monday for day 2 of the $2,500 Mixed Game event with Amnon Filippi the chip leader with 90,000 in chips. Other notables with chips: Andy Black (58,000), Thayer Rasmussen (48,425), Jon Turner (41,725), Sorel Mizzi (39,525), and JC Tran (34,700).

Monday’s Tournaments

Today’s a pair of events for the 50+ crowd, with the $1,000 Senior’s NL Holdem World Championship, won last year by Dan Lacourse for $368,832 in a field of 2,218. The 5pm tournament is the debut of the $2,500 Razz event. The WSOP Staff Guide projects a field of 2,440 for the Seniors’ event, and a field of 300 projected for the Razz event.

More updates during the day at www.wsop.com and Pokerati should have some new stuff during the day, check back often.

Overheard and confirmed. Political geeks are in luck. Not only is it rumored – and close to being 100% confirmed – that Rep. Barney Frank will be visiting the 2009 WSOP on July 5 to do a little “shuffle up and deal” business, but other political figures and friends of poker will be arriving on Monday, June 22.

PPA Chairman and former NY Senator Alfonse D’Amato will be gracing the Rio on Monday for a yet-to-be-announced morning press conference. After, he is scheduled to join Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley for Monday’s “shuffle up and deal” honors. D’Amato will then look for his seat, as he will be playing in Event 43, the $1K Seniors NLHE tournament, starting at noon.

Fully understanding that the likelihood of D’Amato going deep in this tournament is slim, can we not agree that seeing him at a WSOP final table would rock our worlds?

Go Al!

Good article in Congressional Quarterly about Barney Frank’s online gambling regulatory framework bill and Rep. Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) HR 2268, which sets up associated tax collection measures.

TRIVIA: Does anyone know the bill number for the UIGEA? Free satanic spade swag-shirt for the first correct commentor.

The article points out what a significant move it is by Harrah’s to be so publicly behind these legislative measures, and the relevance of Rep. Shelley Berkeley’s (D-NV) full-on support. (She previously supported only studying the issue.) Overall, the non-partisan piece is far more optimistic than most of us poker-biz “professionals” … but even CQ knows they’re just guessing. What it does, however, is establish the baseline, from where Congressional dialogue on online gambling will be starting. (So we’ll have to deal a lot with addiction and protection-of-minor issues, but not so much with 1/3 of them attempting suicide the first time they suffer a bad beat.)

For those that want to get an early jump on Monday’s story in the Washington Post about attempting to legalize online gambling, preferably poker, it’s now available here.

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.

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…