US Poker Groups Fighting State To State | internet gambling

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US Poker Groups Fighting State To State | internet gambling and online poker
by No Luck Needed member ttwna2k for NoLuckNeeded.com

“If there is really anybody who wants to put someone in jail for playing penny ante poker online, please come forward,’’ Pappas

Barney Frank’s congressional committee is scheduled to hold a hearing early next month to examine the US ban on Internet gambling. The discussion coincides with efforts by the Poker Players Alliance to ramp up its lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C. and in state capitols to legalize on-line poker, but it is clear that in Massachusetts and New York, at least, their efforts to reverse the UIGEA’s effects face an uphill battle.
Rep. Frank has scheduled an April 2 hearing before the House Financial Services Committee that he chairs to examine the enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Passed in 2006, the law targets banks that process payments by US players to gambling web sites. Hundreds of groups and activists on both sides of the issue have already weighed in with letters and written comments.

Meanwhile, the Poker Players group, which has been supportive of Rep. Frank and boasts former New York Sen. Alfonse D’Amato as its chairman, has been gearing up for a major push of its own. The group has been beefing up its Washington staff while also putting together a nationwide political network. The PPA is now rallying supporters against state proposals in both Massachusetts and New York that would criminalize online gambling.

In Massachusetts, the PPA has teamed with a group of Harvard University professors and students in a bid to nix a state proposal that would hand out a two-year jail sentence and a $25,000 fine to anyone caught gambling on-line. Ironically, the provision is tucked away in a high-profile bill by Gov. Deval Patrick that would legalize casino gambling in the state.

The PPA plans to protest the proposed crackdown tomorrow outside the State House before a hearing on the governor’s bill. Inside, Harvard Law School Professor Charles Nesson plans to urge state lawmakers at the hearing to strike the internet gambling penalties from the casino bill.

“Everyone we have talked to, from state legislators to casino operators, their consensus is that this provision does not belong in this bill,’’ said Andrew Woods, a Harvard Law School student and a spokesman for a group of Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society. “It is hypocritical to attach this to a casino gambling bill. You can get a couple of DUI’s (driving under the influence) before you can get two years in jail in the Commonwealth.’’

Of course, for those hoping to see Internet gambling someday legalized in the US, the big show will be Frank’s hearing early next month in Washington. Frank has stated he wants to show how the new law, which targets banks that process payments to gambling websites, will be unenforceable. An estimated 23 million people gambled online in 2005, about a third of them in the US.

The Massachusetts congressman has also argued the new rules will put another burden on banks and financial institutions already grappling with the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis. “The hearing is going to show – I want to show – that is not the regulations weren’t done well. It’s that they can’t be done well given the inherent nature of the issue,’’ Rep. Frank recently told the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The hearing, in turn, could prove critical in whether there is any movement this year on Rep. Frank’s counterproposal, a bill that would legalize but also regulate online gambling. The House chairman has said he is waiting to see a groundswell of support for a repeal of the ban before he moves his own bill forward. So far, Rep. Frank’s proposal for has attracted 50 co-sponsors. John Pappas, the PPA’s executive director, said he hopes the hearing will demonstrate the kind of support Rep. Frank has signaled he is looking for. The group has worked hard at cultivating ties with the key congressman, holding a private fundraiser for him last fall. “That would be a launching point to say here is an alternative,’’ he said.

As it prepares for next month’s hearing, the Poker group has been adding more muscle to its own organization. The group, which claims to be nearing 1 million members, recently hired Drew Lesofski, a former top aide to the governor of Nevada, to oversee the PPA’s grassroots organizing efforts. The group also recently named directors for all 50 US states. “We need eyes and ears on the ground to help us,’’ said D’Amato, the group’s chairman.

As it builds a nationwide network, the PPA is starting to mount some major legislative initiatives on the state as well as federal level. In California, the group is touting a move by the State Assembly to study legalizing and regulating Internet gambling. Given California’s role as a trend setter in national politics and public policy, a move in the direction of legalization could have national impact. It is a proposal that mirrors Rep. Frank’s efforts on the federal level.

By contrast, the Poker Players Alliance is playing defense in two other influential states, Massachusetts and New York. In Massachusetts, the group’s push to stop a proposed criminalization of Internet gambling is picking up some key support from the Harvard-based Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society.

Nesson, the Harvard Law professor, has written to Gov. Patrick and Sheldon Adelson, head of the Las Vegas Sands casino company, to argue for striking the proposal from the casino bill.

The PPA, in turn, is hoping to turn out 100 members for tomorrow’s State House protest. Like its efforts in Massachusetts, the PPA is also fighting a defensive battle in New York as well, with lawmakers there weighing a new law that would force internet service providers to block content from gambling web sites and which would target companies that advertise or do business with the sites.

That is akin to current laws requiring ISPs to block out child pornography. “If there is really anybody who wants to put someone in jail for playing penny ante poker online, please come forward,’’ Pappas commented.

Posted:30.04.2009, 09:44

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