Poker Players Push for a New Deal on Internet Gambling

WASHINGTON — You've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em — and that means poker is a game of skill and not luck, a panel of lobbyists, academics and gamblers argued Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

The distinction involves a pot potentially worth tens of millions of dollars.

Federal law classifies poker as "a game subject to chance," and for such games it bars the transfer of funds from a financial institution to an Internet gambling site.

That means online poker players can't use credit cards — a major obstacle for the use of increasingly popular Internet gambling sites. While Internet gambling is illegal in the United States, offshore poker sites have used MasterCard and Visa as international modes of wagering.

Leaders of the Poker Players Alliance, claiming 800,000 members nationwide, visited congressional offices and sponsored the Wednesday's forum in an effort to convince lawmakers to change the law. Professional poker champions Chris Moneymaker, Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, Andy Bloch, Vanessa Rousso, Chris Brown and Victor Ramdin were among those making the pitch.

High-stakes card tournaments televised by ESPN have made national celebrities of many players of Texas Hold 'Em and other poker variations.

"We're poker players. We're here to speak to our legislative representatives," said Charles Nesson, a professor at Harvard Law School and founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. The current law is "a disreputable piece of legislation," he said.

The Poker alliance supports a bill sponsored by Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., called the Skill Game Protection Act. It would exempt poker, mah-jongg, chess, bridge and other games where contestants compete against each other rather than the "house" from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

"Poker is a game, not a crime," Wexler said. "Millions of Americans enjoy competing with each other in games of skill on the Internet. We should protect the freedom of law-abiding adults to participate in these great American pastimes."

These "games of skill" would not violate the federal law against "bets and wagers" on the Internet, Wexler explained. The current law already exempts horse and harness racing, fantasy sports and lotteries.

In a prepared statement, Wexler said his bill creates safeguards to prevent minors from participating in Internet gaming, excludes players in states that forbid Internet game participation, combats fraud and money laundering, provides assistance to persons with gaming addictions, and protects the privacy and security of persons engaged in these games.

Keith Whyte, director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, disputed the contention that poker is primarily a game of skill and not luck.

"Poker is clearly gambling," he said in a telephone interview. "The majority of the outcome depends on chance."

But Whyte said his organization is taking no position on Wexler's legislation and has traditionally remained neutral on whether any particular form of gambling should be legalized or not.

Some of the Poker alliance members expressed doubt that Wexler's amendment distinguishing skill and luck will work.

"I don't think this is an argument that's going to get a lot of legislative traction," said Radley Balko, senior editor of Reason magazine. "For people pushing this (online gambling) ban, this is a moral issue."

The poker proponents are supporting two other legislative remedies.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., has introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2007, which would amend federal tax codes to regulate — and tax — online gambling.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007 to license and regulate online gambling sites while also banning Internet gambling on sports. The bill allows states to opt out of the licensing system if they want to ban all Internet gaming or certain types.

Sitting on the Capitol Hill poker panel, Lederer — known as "the Professor" because of his scholarly demeanor at the card table — said poker is "a wonderful form of entertainment that massages your mind."

Lederer decried the current law as "leaving it up to the banks to figure out what is legal and what is not" — punishing the financial institutions that allow credit cards to be used for online gambling without setting strict parameters. The result, the panelists said, is overly strict interpretation.

Attorney Kenneth Adams advised the alliance to create "a group of single-issue voters" for whom legalization of online poker is the defining issue on how they cast their votes. Then "make sure the poker voters go to the polls," he said.