Headlines: Poker, Law, and Politics (10/19/07)

articles:
Tennessee Congressman Joins IGREA Roll (Online-Casinos, 10/19/07)

Internet Gambling Act Should Be Scrapped: Joe Saumarez-Smith (Bloomberg, 10/19/07)

Regulation, not isolationism, needed for poker (PokerListings, 10/18/07)

Poker Players Lay Down Their Chips In Ohio Valley (WTOV-9, 10/19/07)

W.Va. raising stakes as casinos start dealing poker today (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/19/07)

West Deptford Man Admits Running an Illegal Poker Operation (South Jersey News, 10/18/07)

26 face gambling charges after poker games raided (The Record, 10/19/07)

Interview with subscription-based poker room PurePlay CEO Jason Kellerman (Part Time Poker News, 10/18/07)

blogs:
Absolute Poker and Online Poker (Bill Rini, 10/19/07)

excerpts:
Tennessee Congressman Joins IGREA Roll (Online-Casinos, 10/19/07)
“The latest American politician to join the fight against the unpopular Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by signing on as a co-sponsor for Congressman Barney Franks’ HR 2046 Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act is Representative Steve Cohen. Representative Cohen hails from the Memphis – Shelby County in the state of Tennessee and becomes the 39th sponsor of a move to license, regulate and tax online gambling in the United States which has been slow to gather momentum but continues to gather political support.”

Internet Gambling Act Should Be Scrapped: Joe Saumarez-Smith (Bloomberg, 10/19/07)
“A year ago last Saturday, President George W. Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and online gambling was banned in the U.S. At least, that was the intention. Twelve months later, there are just as many people gambling online, if not more. Many bettors don’t even know the law was changed, partly because it was tacked on as an amendment to a measure aimed at increasing port security.”

Regulation, not isolationism, needed for poker (PokerListings, 10/18/07)
“The ubiquity of the Internet, and its potential for facilitating human connection, has impelled governments to attempt to regulate and limit access to it. In China, for instance, the ruling party rigidly monitors what its citizens view, and during the recent uprising in Myanmar, the military junta in power cut off Internet access altogether.”

Poker Players Lay Down Their Chips In Ohio Valley (WTOV-9, 10/19/07)
“With a snip of a ribbon, poker games were officially under way at Wheeling Island Racetrack & Gaming Center Friday morning. Both Wheeling Island and Mountaineer Race Track & Gaming Resort were given the official OK to start poker play Friday. About 80 new employees at Wheeling Island began their first eight-hour shift after a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony. Bob Marshall, president of Wheeling Island Racetrack, said the poker room will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

W.Va. raising stakes as casinos start dealing poker today (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/19/07)
“Pennsylvania remains one of the states where no one is supposed to profit from hosting card games. State police in Westmoreland County raided a volunteer fire company’s Texas hold ’em tournament in August and charged a Derry attorney, Larry Burns, with unlawful gambling for running the games. He faces a Nov. 28 preliminary hearing. No poker or other table games are permitted in Pennsylvania’s slot machine parlors, so West Virginia casino operators sought and won permission from the Legislature to offer them and try to one-up their new competitors in the battle for customers.”

West Deptford Man Admits Running an Illegal Poker Operation (South Jersey News, 10/18/07)
“A West Deptford Township man pleaded guilty today to operating an illegal poker gambling operation. Anthony Sigafoos, 41, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to a one-count Information which charges him with conducting an illegal gambling business. Judge Rodriguez released the defendant on a $25,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 18.”

26 face gambling charges after poker games raided (The Record, 10/19/07)
“Twenty-six people face gambling-related charges after police raided two illegal backroom card games, one in a Waterloo apartment and the other at a Guelph hotel. Poker — in this case Texas Hold ’em — isn’t illegal, police said yesterday. But making money off a game by charging players or taking a share of their winnings is.”

Interview with subscription-based poker room PurePlay CEO Jason Kellerman (Part Time Poker News, 10/18/07)
“You bill the room as legal poker, yet subscription-based live poker league National Poker Challenge has run into problems with state officials in Washington and Arkansas. As your room grows, do you anticipate similar issues? When we were developing our model back in 2004, we hired many of the world’s leading gaming attorneys to ensure we developed it in a way that would not run afoul of gaming laws. Our model is a non-gambling model, from a legal perspective or otherwise. Because we’ve structured it as a non-gambling model, we do not expect to run into the same issues as the National Poker Challenge.”

blogs:
Absolute Poker and Online Poker (Bill Rini, 10/19/07)
“I’ve always believed that the best way to change the emphasis was to legalize and regulate online gaming. The UIGEA is the kind of thing that helps the shady operators stay in business. First, as one of the sites still accepting US players Absolute is already operating outside of the law. No matter how egregious their crime there is little likelihood anybody will ever bring the guilty to justice. Second, in a highly regulated environment money gets spent on security to avoid having to pay the kinds of fines that the government can impose.”