Headlines: Poker, Law, and Politics (01/15/08)

articles:
Poker players say police dealt them bad hand (SF Examiner, 01/15/08 – CA)

PPA State Director Lee Rousso Running for Governor (CardPlayer, 01/14/08 – WA)

Challenge to German gambling ban (BBC News, 01/15/08)

Country fails to meet UK’s ‘white list’ (Antigua Sun, 01/14/08)

blogs:
San Mateo Police Raid Small-Stakes Poker Game (Reason, 01/14/08 – CA)

excerpts:
Poker players say police dealt them bad hand (SF Examiner, 01/15/08 – CA)
“Amateur poker players present during Saturday’s bust by San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office deputies and state gambling-control agents say they were shocked to learn they were playing alongside undercover officers and baffled by the arrests of two of their friends.”

For more selected coverage of the San Mateo Poker Raid, click here.

PPA State Director Lee Rousso Running for Governor (CardPlayer, 01/14/08 – WA)
“Lee Rousso, attorney and Poker Players Alliance state director for Washington State, will announce that he’s running for governor at 2 p.m. PT on Seattle’s 710 KIRO radio station. Rousso is the attorney who’s fighting Washington State’s law that makes it a felony to play online poker there.”

Listen to Lee Rousso’s radio interview, click here.

Challenge to German gambling ban (BBC News, 01/15/08)
“Europe’s betting industry has made a formal complaint to the EU against a German ban on online gambling. Under the law which came into force on 1 January, online gaming and betting are prohibited, although horse racing is allowed. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) says the ban breaks EU law and is totally impractical.”

Country fails to meet UK’s ‘white list’ (Antigua Sun, 01/14/08)
“An extensive review of Antigua and Barbuda’s Internet gambling regulations has failed to earn the country a place on the United Kingdom’s Internet gambling “white list”. According to a release from the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sports, a decision has been made not to ‘whitelist’ either Antigua and Barbuda or the Canadian Reservation of Kahnawá:ke, though Tasmania will be added to the UK Gambling Commission whitelist list at the end of the month.”

blogs:
San Mateo Police Raid Small-Stakes Poker Game (Reason, 01/14/08)
“Police in San Mateo County, California apparently first spent months investigating the small-stakes poker game. From this firsthand account, it looks like a couple of the officers were playing regularly for several weeks before sending in the SWAT team, guns drawn, last week. If California is like most states (and I believe it is), a poker game is only illegal if the house is taking a rake off the top.”