Guest Post – Tuscaloosa Johnny | Poker From The Rail

Guest Post – Tuscaloosa Johnny

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Here in the states, poker players had an extra consideration during our last presidential election than other citizens. While the legal status of online poker is obviously takes a backseat to issues concerning the economy and global politics, we always had in our minds to wonder what would happen to the backdoor way the government jammed through the legislation.

With the new administration taking over next month, it’s time to examine what the future holds for online poker players in the U.S. of A. “Tuscaloosa” John brings us his analysis of what we can possibly expect wants the new president is sworn into office.

Comments at always welcome.

After Obama takes the oath, will online poker be legalized?

By Johnny Kampis

We will soon inaugurate a new president and welcome a plethora of new Congressmen and women to the capital. The question for poker players is with the historic elections of 2008, will we see a reversal of the government’s previous stance on online poker and see it legalized?

From a political party standpoint the climate is certainly more favorable. For one, we have an admitted poker playing new president in Barack Obama and are sending out the highly conservative Bible thumping George W. Bush. Granted, Obama has a lot more important issues to worry about when he takes office (such as the tanking economy), but when online poker comes up down the road he is likely to be more in tune with the opinions of poker players than our previous Republican leadership.

By sheer numbers things are also looking up. Democrats are, of course, more liberal leaning in general and more likely to vote for pro online poker legislation, and we now have more of them in the Capitol building. The House of Representatives will have more than 250 Democrats in place come late January, which are about 20 more than there were during the 110th Congress. The current Senate is split evenly among Democrats and Republicans, but the 111th Congress will seat about 10 more Democrats than members of the Grand Old Party. While there is no supermajority in either the House or the Senate, with a Democratic controlled Congress and Democrat president, online poker stands a better chance of being legalized in this country than it did even a year ago.

John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, is prepared for a long fight, but he said support is building.

“Years ago when these fights were going on on Capitol Hill our issue would lose by votes of 10 to 1. Most recently we had a vote in the Financial Services Committee where the pro Internet poker vote carried the day,” Pappas said. “So we’ve made significant strides in changing the hearts and minds of lawmakers, but there’s a lot more work to do and we’re not going to be happy until the laws are changed in our favor.”

In the last two years nine bills have been introduced that would have either delayed or clarified the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to exclude poker and set up a regulatory body for it, Pappas said.

“We’ve been kind of building support and allies in Washington, D.C. to champion the cause that regulation is the answer. Prohibition – much like Prohibition in the 1920s failed – will fail when it relates to Internet poker,” he said.

Before leaving office, Bush has given his stamp or approval on rules pushed by Congressman Spencer Bachus, D-Ala., that will make banks enforce the UIGEA. Financial institutions have until December 2009 to comply with the legislation.

Pappas said that how this will affect online poker players and their ability to move money into poker sites remains to be seen, but that it doesn’t look good.

”It’s simply going to be an issue of how the banks interpret the rules and how they will enforce them. All indications show that because there is no definition of unlawful Internet gambling that they will simply block all transactions that could be perceived as being unlawful or not, and that would obviously include poker. We would argue that there is no federal statute that says playing online poker is unlawful, therefore, we don’t believe it should be blocked, but a bank isn’t going to make that determination. Because there’s so much vagueness in the federal law they will err on the side of caution and block everything,” he said.

He’s hopeful that the PPA can work to roll back the regulations with the new administration. Pappas noted that Bush has put through a number of what he calls “midnight rules” before leaving office that the new administration might find objectionable. He said the PPA will work to make sure that if any of these rules are done away with that the UIGEA is a part of it.

Pappas believes that it doesn’t matter if there is a Republican or a Democrat in the White House – that the legalization of online poker is inevitable.

“I think that just over time, whether it was a McCain administration or an Obama administration, we’re continuing to build support and I think people recognize the failures of trying to prohibit this activity rather than recognizing that it exists and are seeking to control it through appropriate administration. I think clearly the Obama administration provides a lot of hope for the PPA and what we’re trying to accomplish, but I think it’s a matter of time regardless of who is sitting in the White House. We’re going to accomplish this one way or another.”

What can you do? For one, join the PPA.

“The most important thing is they get on our mailing list and then when we send out action alerts, we ask them to contact their member of Congress or to send a letter or make a phone call or go to a meeting or whatever the activity is that they respond, and that they don’t think, hey, I’m still playing online what do I care? In politics the squeaky wheel gets the grease and if poker players remain silent then lawmakers have no interest in protecting their rights. They are going to go ahead and respond to the folks who say we should take all gambling off the Internet entirely. If they are making the most noise in Washington they are going to win the day, and I think poker players have a real ability to make some noise in Washington and the PPA is trying to facilitate that so being a part of our organization will be very important to the success of our goals.”

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