The American Gaming Association can be a powerful ally in the cause to legalize poker.  It is great news that it has stepped up its efforts and begun lobbying Congress to legalize poker.  So lend a hand and call your Congressperson, donate to a good cause, or just convince someone else to do one of these things.  The more help the better.

In a tad of good news, which we all need these days, Absolute Poker (and Ultimate Bet) announced that they have reached an agreement with the Department of Justice that will permit them to return funds to players whose accounts have been frozen.  In the words of Absolute Poker itself:  “Absolute Poker has reached an agreement with the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”).  Under the agreement, the US Attorney’s Office has agreed to provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds, currently held by third party processors, to players located in the US. This provision is an important step to returning US player funds.”

Let’s hope this is a small step in the path to some truly great news in the coming months.

I love thinking about unintended consequences of actions.  Killing online poker is not good.  But some good may come from it.  People are hooked on poker.  It’s embedded in us more so than it has been than, say, 1860.  So where to play?  Especially if you live in an area that does not have local legal casinos?  Charity poker again.  I predict a boom in charity poker tournaments.  And perhaps some sort of charity cash game (maybe a fixed buy-in like a tourney but whoever after a fixed period of time has the most chips — but not all of them — gets a big prize.  And you can walk away earlier for smaller prizes).  This seems to be a win-win.  Charities get more money.  People get to play.  And the bars/restaurants that host the games get revenue.  Mark my words.  Take it to the bank.  Bet on it.  Charity poker will boom in the next 6 months.

Just passing on a piece from Professor I. Nelson Rose.  Worth a read.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified today at a Department of Justice hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee.  Basically, he punted on all major issues.  But it was nice to see that he testified that there is at least some skill in poker.  Better yet, it was great to hear multiple members of the Congress bombard him with pointed questions.  Let’s keep up the PPA’s push and persuade even more Congresspeople to push the internet poker agenda.  Public enemy #1 was killed.  Time to kill poker enemy #1.

Seems like there are a lot of great articles being written these days.  Check out this one from the LA Times about confusion in poker law generally and the hypocrisy of the federal government in its action.  (The author slips in a discussion of how the federal quagmire may be an opening for California to start an intrastate system.)  Hopefully, you enjoy this article too.

Excellent investigative article about the history of Absolute Poker and how it decided to deal with the changes in poker law landscape the past few years.  I found it a different type of read than the typical poker articles, and obviously timely.  Enjoy.

A nice article posted on CNN about small-time poker players, and one in particular that is doing something about the present situation.  Check it out.

I’ve posted on this before (I think) years ago, and certainly thought about it after living in NYC for decades, but rather than reinvent the wheel I’ve decided in these troubling times simply to pass on another bloggers post.  At the end of the piece he questions why the SDNY is pursuing the action and not the jurisdictions in which state law specifically outlaws online poker.  I cannot be certain – only US Attorney General Holder knows the answer – but I would harbor a guess that the SDNY took action for a variety of reasons, including that Manhattan is the home of numerous large banks that have been hampered by the UIGEA’s requirements, the SDNY often takes the lead in pursuing advanced financial fraud, and NY federal law (precisely because of the first two reasons) is more developed than most jurisdictions on financial issues.  One other point about the post.  The allegations include bank fraud (i.e., lying to the banks about what the companies did) as opposed to admitting it was poker-related.  This is a significant distinction as proving poker is a game of skill will not remove the bank fraud allegations.  In other words, the sites still could be shut down.  Well, at least Absolute Poker.

Straight from the Government’s mouth:  This “Office expects the companies to return the money that U.S. players entrusted to them.”  Check out the “good” news here.