Legislation

The federal elections in the United States are less than 45 days away. This is the time, once every four years, when elected officials actually listen to voters. If you are a poker player and you want the right to play poker online, then you need to take two minutes to go to the Poker Player Alliance website and fill out this form, which will be sent to your Congress person and both of your Senators. This is a new legislative notice, if you have written in the past, please do it again today. Might I suggest that you add a line or two at the beginning of the pre-packaged message. Here is what I wrote:

"This year, I am a single issue voter. You either fully support my right to play poker online or you are against me. No half-ass political double-speak. If you fully support the right of all Americans to do with their money and time whatever they see fit, then you have my vote. If you don't, then your opponent gets my vote. I wanted to keep it simple, so you understand. You are for us or against us and my vote will reflect your position. If I do not hear from you before the election or if you send some non-committal bullshit about further studies, I am voting for the other guy. I hope we are clear on this issue."

Just when all the cynics were lined up to disregard, dismiss and trash talk the U.S. Congressional hearings from last week; it appears there is new legislation has been introduced in the United States Congress that would effectively prohibit the enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act.

The new legislation, H.R.5767, would prohibit the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System from "proposing, prescribing or implementing any regulations related to the current ban on Internet gambling, as required by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006" (UIGEA). The bill was introduced April 10th by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas).

The new legislation appears to be in direct response to the testimony heard before Congress last week that "financial services institutions would face serious regulatory burdens in attempting to enforce UIGEA and related regulations" and the unmistakable fact that the UIGEA has not prevented millions of Americans from engaging in internet gaming.

Once again U.S. poker players (and other interested parties) are reminded to let your voice be heard either by directly contacting Congress or by using the Poker Player's Alliance directed action letters.

While the long term fate of online poker in the United States and other countries around the world awaits the slow and tedious process of governmental regulation.....There is good news for residents of the State of Nevada, including those in Las Vegas. The State of Nevada may be acting to legalize online poker.

Long before the US Federal government passed the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA), the State of Nevada was looking into the legalization and regulation of online gaming. The Nevada Legislature as early as 2003 tasked the Nevada Gaming Control Board with studying the question of Internet gambling and State regulation.

The Gaming Control Board has closely followed the development of software technology to locate and identity all gamblers using internet access to gaming sites; as well as age and identity verification technology. They are as aware as anyone that the necessary computer systems are available to control and regulate online gaming. While the Federal legislative process has dragged over the past year the State legislature has not pursued the idea of legal online gaming in Nevada, at least not until now.

Several poker sites in the EU and around the world have commenting recently about the lack of US poker players on international websites. Since the UIGEA passed the US Congress over a year ago the number of poker players in the United States with access to international online poker sites has dropped and continues to fall.

The fact is that the US market still makes up a large majority of players but that number is dropping while numbers in our countries continue to rise. While it would seem a balance has been reached with players in and out of the market. The non-US sites note that players from the United States tend to have more disposable income to invest in the game and they have more consistent access to the internet.

The regulations to stop poker deposits from being made are currently being semi-enforced in the US makes the market going forward unclear. If these regulations are legislatively sustained and poker players in the US find it more difficult to make deposits, such problems will affect poker player's bankrolls worldwide. The global pool of poker dollars has been diminished by the US Federal Laws and do not seem to be recovering with new sources in other countries.

Indeed some localities are pressing laws similar to those proposed in the United States. If you live in any country or provence considering such restrictive legislation; learn this lesson from the US poker players: Speak up early and continue to make your displeasure with any poker restrictive legislation. It is easier to stop a law then it is to change it once it gets on the record.

It has been a year since the US Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. In that year there has been zero enforcement because there are no actually rules or procedures for enforcement. Sure many companies have left the US market out of fear and business necessity but why exactly would a country like the US want or need to enforce it's laws based on fear and intimidation.

But this is a poker blog not a political forum, so let me just add. I have not been affected by the US ban, except that there are fewer players on several of my favorite sites and I play for seats in poker tournaments not in the US. I like the US but you never know when they will decide to start arresting poker players for using online sites in defiance of their law that has no rules.

Strange way to run a country?

Congressman Robert Wexler is the latest member of the US Congress to stand up for poker and the right of US poker players to play poker online.

Now I know everytime I write one of these "SPEAK UP" articles, I hear from a few readers who finally take the step and write, call or email their congressman. But I also know how many poker players feel like no one is listening. For those players, please take one minute to read what Congressman Wexler has to say about that issue:

"It's hard to feel a ground swell in Washington over few issues or many issues, it's hard, but the bottom line is there are thousands of poker players in every Congressional district in America. If people who are interested and enjoy playing poker, if one one-hundredth of those people take a small amount of time to contact in one way or another their member of Congress and say, "Hey, Mr. or Mrs. Member of Congress, why in God's name would you vote to prohibit me, an adult, to choose to play whatever game I want to play on the Internet?" The more people engage in the political process in that fashion, the more compelling it will be, and Congress will react. What I think most Americans don't appreciate, letters DO matter to members of Congress. Emails DO matter, form letters, personal letters DO matter, telephone calls do matter. There has been an article or two about this issue. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal, there have been articles on others, and it is just anecdotal. But I got a bigger response from just being in one line in an article about a poker issue than I have in just about any other issue I've been involved in, in my twelve years in Congress."

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Stand Up Poker Players!

Two Clicks and You Can Make a Difference.

The last two WSOP champions have come from the state of California.

California has more card rooms than any other state in the USA, including Nevada.

California has had legalized poker longer than anywhere else in the USA and has sustained the game when even the Las Vegas casinos had little interest in spreading a poker game.

You might say Texas Hold'em came out of the backrooms of the Southwest but it has been California that has sustained poker during all of the dark times when the government sought to limit our ability to play our favorite game.

So it should come as a shock to all Californians, all Americans and all poker players around the world that one of California's liberal United States Senators is opposed to poker and online poker in particular.

For those not familiar with California politics. The state of California is the first state in the history of the United States to send two women to the U.S. Senate at the same time and these two Senators are both very liberal democrats.

One would assume that such politicians would be for personal freedom and personal responsibility but in the case of Senator Dianne Feinstein this is not the case. Take a look at this form letter that she sends to anyone who writes her about the online poker ban:

I have written here several times about the need for poker players around the world to make their voices heard on matters of legalization and criminalization of poker, both online and in card rooms. Governments, governmental agencies, boards and committees all have one thing in common, they received and respond to input from voters and donors.

My experienced advice is: If you have not written to your congressman, governor, prime minister, gaming commission or whomever or whatever controls the laws on poker in your jurisdiction -- Write that letter today.

If you have already expressed your views -- Do it again! Why Again?

Well, today I got the third letter from my Congressman on the subject. Why three? Because after the first response (a form letter), I wrote again, I thanked him for his response and I expressed my views in a different way. Soon thereafter, I received the second level form letter and I wrote again, this time asking a specific question. This third response had to be drafted by one of his staffers and I am now on their radar screen as someone who is deeply and continuely interested in legislative action and someone who will vote, campaign and perhaps even contribute to a candidate who strongly supports my views.

They will listen but you have to keep talking. It's true of politicians in the US, in France, in Turkey, in Canada. Anywhere someone is trying to take away our rights, there are elected officials who will listen, if only in their own self-interest; exactly the same motivation as those politicians who passed the restrictive laws in the first place.

Speak Up for your Poker Rights.

At the time of this posting, the Poker Players Alliance stand 470,770 strong.

With more news everyday from around the world, what exactly is the state of online poker today?

Clearly when considering a worldwide regulatory environment there is not enough space in one blog, one article or one book to cover all of the issues but let's look at some recent developments.

The big three in online poker remain: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Party Poker but the numbers have been changing.

PokerStars leapt to the top of the market when Party Poker left the US market after the passage of the UIGEA. But most industry watchers credit the continuing #1 position to the PokerStars sponsorship of the European Poker Tour.

Full Tilt Poker, on the other hand, while still in a solid second place is now often tied with the former leader Party Poker. Full Tilt continues to enhance its market share via its ever growing sponsorship of Full Tilt Professionals.

Party Poker continues to build its brand worldwide, diligently avoiding confrontations with any individual government's regulatory system; while focusing attention on those markets that remain open.

Make sure you all get out and do your part!

OK. So technically Ayn Rand is dead. But apparently people still buy a boatload of her books and the institute that bears her name continues her individual-centric philosophy. I have to admit I was never a Rand fan. Somehow celebrating the full stomached in a dog-eat-dog contest seemed a little...well...callous. But to be a good poker player, you have to admit to Rand-esque behavior, otherwise you're just one more fish for the snacking.

In a turn of events that can hardly be a surprise, The Ayn Rand Institute sent out a press release trashing the UIGEA.

I'm beginning to feel for Congressman Barney Frank. Not only does he find he's aligned with conservative Charles Murray relative to the UIGEA - now he has to share a bed with a dead Objectivist biatch.

It's not that I'm unpatriotic, but after the passage of the UIGEA I did find myself humming "Oh Canada," wearing my Team Canuck Poker hat, and checking out the cost of living in the lands to the north. But after reading about the legal winds blowing in Ontario, I think I may have to scale that new 700 mile fence and head south.

As online gaming companies respond to the new US legislative terrain, they are falling into two camps. Publicly traded companies are taking the safe route and divesting or blocking access in the US. The private companies tip toe on. This makes sense when you consider the added risk of being a public company; the regulatory environment, the added burden of shareholder liability, and the comparitive ease of prosecution.

Excapsa (UltimateBet's parent company) was one of the anomalies. They were publicly traded and yet continued to affirm their committment to the US market. Well the other shoe dropped; they are public no more. PokerStars is another company that is still dallying in the US market. It came as no surprise that PokerStars postponed its planned $1.6 billion IPO to go public last week. It was a choice: give up the US or stay private.

It's not like the public companies are less loyal or are behaving with knee-jerk reaction. They just knew that as publicly traded and regulated companies they had bigger bulls eyes painted on their chests. At the first sign of a carve-out for poker - or the legal test case that determines poker is not a game of chance - they are poised to serve us once again. Build it and they will come (back).

For me, online poker was a godsend. I live in Texas where you can kill people "if they need killin'," but there are no casinos. As a mixed game player, it's hard to track down too many home games where players actually want to play with more than two cards. Online, you don't have to worry about when the player next to you decided to take a shower last. Online sites never make color-up mistakes:) And I love playing in my jammies.

There is one edge that B&M casinos offer; the visual. It's not the physical tells I'm hoping for, it's the people. When I saw this T-shirt in Tunica, I thought it summed it up nicely. "People are strange," especially poker players. And I love seeing that.

I like seeing that Mike Matusow has a sense of humor about his nickname "The Mouth" and that he used this globe as a chip protector. It's the globe that 2005 WSOP runner-up Steve Dannenmann gave to him. He gave it to him because Mike liked the one Steve had and Mike kept singing "He's got the whole world in his hands."

Instead of some vague bill that no one can interpret relative to online gaming, I was thinking Congress should have made webcams manditory for online gamers. But then I started to realize just what I might be seeing. I then thought of an amendment that would require players to at least wear their best "date" underwear. But then enforcement became an issue. The banks aren't excited by enforcing this law - I can't imagine too many people volunteering to enforce my underwear statute.