Many of us have played both live and online poker.  And continue to do so.  Which got me to thinking which I’d prefer.  And I want to know your thoughts.  Would you rather live within 30 minutes driving/public transportation to a good live poker venue but have online poker be deemed illegal ornever be able to play live poker because it’s just too far from home even for a weekend trip but have online poker be declared legal and be regulated, with no blackout period?  Tougher choice than I first thought.  Anyway, let me know your thoughts and if we get enough that it makes it worthwhile I’ll post the results with some insights.   Happy holidays!

Upset about the revised scaled down plans the Foxwoods group offered for a casino in Philadelphia (which would be the second casino in the city), Pennsylvania revoked the group’s license.  For now, there are no plans to replace Foxwoods any time in the foreseeable future.  That said, big bucks have a way of making people see straight.  PLB is betting that Foxwoods has not crapped out yet and that some compromise plan will be agreed upon.

From us at PLB, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

As every poker-playing Seattle resident knows, it is a felony(!) to play online poker in Washington state.  An intrepid man named Lee Russo has been engaged in a multi-year war to end this injustice.  He has not been successful, including a recent loss at the Washington Supreme Court (which is the highest court in the state).  After what he and the PPA call “long and careful consideration,” he has decided not to appeal further.  This marks the end of any short-term hope of overturning the law through the judicial branch.  Can’t fault the guy.  His next “best” option was to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.  And his chances of having that appeal heard, let alone winning, are about as good as sucking out for that inside straight-flush against quads by hoping there’s a misdeal and that exposed card needs to be reshuffled back into the deck.  Basically, they are not good.  At least Washington has live poker.  More than can be said for some states.  (New York comes to mind…)

Not too long ago Cyprus banned online poker and other “table” games, including slots.  The plan to implement the ban remains on, though it is being delayed by three months to permit the EU to comment.  Curiously, Cyprus has no plans to ban sport betting.  In fact, the state has come out in favor of maintaining sports betting.  That’s right folks, Cyprus has legal sports betting while the U.S. does not.  What makes this especially interesting is that Cyprus is a COMMUNIST state.  I love irony on Christmas.

Party Gaming co-founder, Anurag Dikshit, pled guilty in NY federal court to a 2-year old charge of violating the 1961 Wire Act.  Rather than risk two years in prison he took one year probation and agreed to pay a $300 million fine.  The poker industry’s reactions are mixed:  everything from merriment (because PartyPoker may return to the U.S. eventually) to disgust (because Dikshit’s plea gives legitimacy to a bogus law).  Even the district judge on the matter expressed concern that the law is not being enforced equally because U.S.-based companies, such as FullTiltPoker, are not being prosecuted.  (The half-glass full people read this as the law should not be enforced at all; the glass half-empty people read this as a federal judge suggesting the Department of Justice should prosecute FullTilt and other sites.)  Whatever it is, I am sure Dikshit is happy.  Two years in prison, even a white collar Hilton, is not fun.  He now gets to move on with his life and spend the boatloads of money he has left.  From his perspective, can’t argue with that logic.  Sometimes folding on the turn is the best option.

The poker world had been in a tizzy recently amid speculation of whether Sen. Reid’s proposed poker bill, and its 15-month blackout period, would become law.  Sadly, or maybe not so sadly for others, there is nothing left to discuss.  The bill has been taken off the table.  We may now go back to discussing the merits of intrastate online poker and when (if) New York will decide to cash in on what are predicted to be almost record-breaking Wall Street bonuses by legalizing live poker in New York City.  Okay, maybe that’s just me.

Much has been written recently about the proposed blackout period in the current poker legislation.  Briefly, it would ban all online poker in the U.S. for 15 months until formal and legal sites/regulations are established.  I have held off until now with my thinking on the issue because I did not want to rush a response and because there was a lot of unsubstantiated information swarming around the internet.  Well, here are my thoughts:

(1) I entirely support legal, formal, regulated online poker in the U.S.  Even if that means sacrificing some things we currently enjoy.
(2) I do not want a blackout period.  However, I support a blackout period IF it results in a structured organized online poker apparatus. 
(3) A blackout period is not necessary.  Often legislation is enacted that makes things legal/illegal on Day 2 that were the opposite on Day 1.  For a recent example, take Four Loko.  There is a strict cutoff for making it illegal to sell the drink in New York City.  It is legal on Day 1 and will be illegal on Day 2.  I see little justification for why regulations governing how poker sites are run (21 and over, taxed, GA issues, etc.) cannot be implemented overnight in a software update (or maybe at most over the course of a few days of maintenance).  Heck, most of the changes already exist.  The paperwork for sites to register/get approved to can occur in the interim between legislation passage and the effective date as well.  [NOTE:  Sites voluntarily leaving the U.S. market to better chances of governmental approval is a separate issue.]  And so this now brings me to my main reason for opposing the blackout period…
(4) Call me a cynic, but you may also eventually call me a prophet.  I have strong concerns that once the blackout period goes into effect the legislation will get stalled/changed/repealed/etc. and we will be stuck in a land of no poker and existing legislation that affirmatively makes it illegal to start a site.  Purgatory.  Heck, hell.

Onto other news.  The Kentucky-iMEGA litigation continues.  Kentucky recently filed an opposition to iMEGA’s stance that the state lacks standing (which means having a legal leg to stand on as an injured party) to sue.  This is a standard development in litigation and one that likely will not be resolved for at least a couple of months.  Stay tuned.

Who can keep this straight anymore?  Well, PLB’s going to try.  Senator Reid says that his comments were taken out of context and that his poker bill is NOT dead after all.  Stay tuned for the next 180 by someone.

Also, California’s poker push is picking up some momentum.  Check out the same link above.

So much for the short-lived optimism (of some) surrounding the possibility of Senator Reid proposing online poker legislation.  Sen. Reid announced today that he will not be offering legislation to legalize online poker during the lame duck session of Congress.  The worst part for poker enthusiasts is that many of poker’s Congressional opponents, such as Spencer Bachus of the Financial Services Committee, Dave Camp of the Ways and Means Committee, and Lamar Smith of the Judiciary Committee, are the ranking members of those respective committees.  That means they will be those committee’s chairs next year, and in prime position to blunt any attempt to repeal the UIGEA.  You may go back to bashing Congress now.