Let's just dive in to the coverage of what happened at this weekend's World Series of Poker* tournaments, OK?
vent #24, the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, was won by Guelph, Ontario's Mark Radoja, who got his first WSOP bracelet and a very nice $436,568 payout for his play. It took three days and eleven hours of final table play to crown the 25-year-old winner, who described himself as a "Sit N Go Grinder."
35-year-old Chris Viox from Glen Carbon IL took Event #25, the $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8 or Better championship. On his way to the top, Viox passed by poker commentators Norman Chad and Mike Sexton and collected $200,459 to go with first new gold bracelet.
The Ukraine's Oleksii Kovalchuk won his first WSOP title and $689,739, bringing the second bracelet of the year to the homeland with his victory at Event #26, the $2,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship. Kovalchuk, who's only 21 has been playing since 2007 and has $706,633 in career WSOP winnings.
Dan Idema came in as the runner up in Event #27 last year and apparently learned a few lessons because he's now the winner of the $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em Championship in 2011 after beating two bracelet winners and six other highly-accomplished Limit Hold 'Em players. For his victory, Idema collected $378,642 for first place. When asked how it felt, he stated "It’s a tremendous honor. A lot of great players have gold bracelets and it’s such an honor to be part of the world."
Andy Frankenberger left Wall Street to become a poker pro and has sense made his name as one of the smartest players out there. This was affirmed when he won Event #28, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Championship. He netted $599,153 for a few days' work, which was likely quite a bit nicer than his old life of 18 hour days and equity derivatives trading.
If Rep. Joe Barton had his way, it would be legal for Americans to bet money on online poker.
The Texas Republican, senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and an avid poker player, is readying a bill that would legalize online poker and create a new federal regulatory agency to oversee the websites.
But Barton isn't the only lawmaker pushing the issue on the federal level.
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., will reintroduce legislation to tax licensed Internet gaming in the United States. His measure is a companion to legislation introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., that would legalize and regulate online gambling.
"Legalizing, regulating and taxing Internet gambling just makes sense," McDermott said. "Right now, the U.S. loses billion of dollars to off-shore gambling and illegal gambling rings because of an unrealistic and virtually unenforceable policy."
A spokesman for Barton on Monday said the bill is still being drafted and he expects it to be released next week, at the earliest.
"He is very serious about getting something done," said Sean Brown, communications director for Barton, who has faced angry, poker-playing constituents upset by the U.S. Department of Justice's April crackdown on PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
Federal officials claimed the websites violated a 2006 law banning payments for online gambling and requiring payment processors to block payments for online wagers.
Online poker is not illegal in the United States, but processing payments is.
While the bill would legalize online poker, other forms of Internet gambling and wagering would remain illegal. Barton describes his measure as a "consumer protection bill."
Under the legislation, online poker sites would have to be registered in a state where gambling is already allowed, such as Nevada. The Nevada Gaming Commission would be in charge of ensuring the sites operate within state guidelines.
Barton's bill would also create a new regulatory body to oversee Internet poker at a federal level.
"The current prohibition of online gambling has failed and made countless American vulnerable to fraud, identity theft and money laundering," said McDermott, who first introduced his legislation in 2009.
His revised bill's provisions include an incentive for states and tribes to participate in the form of a 6 percent tax on gambling deposits; two new revenue set-asides designating 25 percent of the funds for foster kids; and 0.5 percent reserved for historic preservation and the arts.
Tax incentives would be used to encourage illegal sites to operate within the law, while Internet gambling would not be part of the current tax exemptions given to the horse and dog racing as well as jai-alai.
McDermott said the revised legislation "would help states collect much-needed revenue."
Did you know that Bodog's online poker room hosts a weekly $100,000 guaranteed tournament on Sundays? And you can get on the action for as little as $1 thanks to our aggressive satellite schedule? These massive tournaments take place at 4pm EST and feature some of the biggest and best action online.
Who came out on top in the weekly $100,000 guaranteed online poker tournament held this past Sunday, June 19th? johall111 took first place this week, earning $25,000. They were followed by BLACKJACKPOKER ($15,000) and Jamalshabazz , who rounded out the top three spots while taking away $9,500. Here's the rest of the final table results: ILoveHoes ($7,000); wausau ($5,500); D0ES0N ($4,500); bad4_yourhealth ($3,500); p0cket00 ($2,200) and sneakyninja ($1,700).
In addition to our show-stopping Sunday events, Bodog hosts its regular weekly tournaments to players, and here's the winners of last week's events!
June 13 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: BIONIX420 ($3,251.87)
June 14 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: ccg411 ($3,236.75)
June 15 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: phatcat ($3,448.50)
June 16 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Sysmex12 ($3,403.12)
June 19 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: GREENKEEPER ($2,662.00)
June 19 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack McGidd ($3,750.00)
Bodog's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool and with more players getting in on the action every week, that means there's more to be won Play poker online at Bodog and get your share!
We're keeping you up to date with the players that make up Team Bodog at this year's World Series of Poker* Main Event. This time around, we're talking to Matthew Pazar, known as Paz5050 at the Bodog online poker tables!
How often do you play poker, online and live?
Once or twice a week.
What are you most looking forward to about your trip with Bodog?
Playing in th WSOP and going to Vegas for the first time.
What's your biggest tournament win to date?
$13,000 so far!
Why did you choose to qualify with Bodog?
It's the site I started playing online poker with.
How did you qualify for the satellite that you ended up winning?
I bought directly in.
Matt will be joining the rest of Team Bodog at this year's WSOP Main Event and you can follow the coverage on The Beat.
Playtech, the Isle of Man based online software provider, announced a lucrative partnership deal with the California Online Poker Association, a coalition of 31 land poker rooms and 29 tribal groups in the US state.
Playtech will provide COPA with online poker technology and software, and will allow members to enjoy play-for-fun poker until such time as legislation changes and play-for-money online poker is allowed in California.
This deal will see Playtech poised on the threshold of online poker in the United States, and will see the group returning to a market with which it is very familiar. A separate deal was also signed with SciPlay, a joint venture between the London listed Playtech and Scientific Games Corp.
Until changes are made in California's legislation to introduce legalised and regulated intrastate online poker, free poker will be offered to players, allowing them to familiarise themselves with the brand.
Playtech has ample experience in regulated online poker industries, providing its software to operators in markets such as Italy and France.
COPA Pushing for Online Poker Reforms
The California Online Poker Association is a key supporter of Senator Lou Correa's Senate Bill 40, which aims to legalise online poker in the state.
The powerful Moronga Band of Mission Indians also forms part of COPA, and its spokesman, Robert Martin, said that the timing of Black Friday could not have been better, as it shows how important it is to introduce regulated intrastate online gambling in California.
Now that the operating agreements are in place, said Martin, the association is in a position to launch live internet poker as soon as the reforms are made on a state level.
Shares in Playtech rose on the London Stock Exchange, following the news that it had signed the deal with COPA.
Phil "The Poker Brat" Hellmuth, who has won a record 11 championship bracelets in World Series of Poker events, remains shy of a dozen after two runner-up finishes in this summer's competition in Las Vegas. This week, Hellmuth finished second in the Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship (Event No. 33 of 58 WSOP events). That earned him $273,233. The winner of the $10,000 buy-in event, poker instructor Eric Rodawig, earned $442,183.
In contrast to his nickname, Hellmuth told Rodawig at the finish, "You played well."
Hellmuth later said on Twitter: "Absolutely Played my heart out, but fell short of the 12th bracelet one more time: 2nd place again. Not as depressed this time though …"
On June 12, Hellmuth was second to five-time WSOP gold bracelet winner John Juanda in the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw Lowball Championship. Juanda won $367,170; Hellmuth earned $226,907.
After that one, Hellmuth tweeted congratulations to Juanda but said on Twitter that he felt "unconsolable." Hellmuth had Juanda down by a chip margin of about 2-1 several times.
Hellmuth, 46, won the Main Event at the WSOP in 1989 at age 24. In that event, he beat Johnny Chan heads up and denied Chan in his bid for a third consecutive Main Event title. At the time, Hellmuth was the youngest Main Event champion ever. In his career, he has won about $6.7 million at the WSOP.
Still to be witnessed this year is how Hellmuth will make his arrival for the Main Event, which starts July 7.
Last year, Hellmuth entered the Rio hotel and casino wearing mix martial arts gloves and a hooded, black and gold fighter's robe. In recent years, he has arrived costumed as Julius Caesar, World War II Gen. George S. Patton and a NASCAR driver.
This year saw a new game entered into the World Series of Poker* festivities with Event #29, the $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed 10-Game Mix Championship. How does it work? the following games are played in rotation: No-Limit Hold'em; Pot-Limit Omaha; Deuce-to-Seven Triple-Draw Lowball; Limit Hold'em; Omaha High-Low Split; Razz; Seven-Card Stud; Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split; Badugi and No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Lowball. It's a challenging event, to say the least and it was won by Chris Lee in his first ever WSOP cash. He walked away from the final table with $254,955.
Event #30, the Seniors No Limit Hold 'Em Championship was won by James Hess from Encino, CA. He earned $557,435 in prize money – that's the biggest payout ever for what is commonly known as the seniors poker world championship. As Hess just turned fifty a couple of months ago, this makes him the youngest in history to claim this particular bracelet.
Event #31, the $3,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Event, was won by Sam Stein of Henderson, NV. He claimed $420,802 for the victory, making it his second Omaha-related cash at this year's event. Stein finished third in this year’s $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship which took place just two weeks ago, and won $264,651 for his performance in that event. At just past the halfway mark of this year’s WSOP, Stein has just over $690k in tournament winnings – could there be more coming?
The $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold 'Em Tournament that's tagged as Event #32 in the schedule was won by Kirk Caldwell, a Canadian poker player who works retail. Interestingly, he won his way into the WSOP through a mini-satellite held by his friends in Toronto.
Event #33, the $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split championship was a real nailbiter. It was finally won by Eric Rodawig from Arlington, VA.. The 26 banker won $442,183 and got to claim victory over Phil Hellmuth, who finished second for the second time in this year's WSOP. Hellmuth has cashed in every WSOP over the last 16 years and seems to be on a bit of a tear this time around, especially since the last victory for the winningest player in the game took place in 2007.
Keep reading the Beat to and find out what happens when Team Bodog hits the felt in the Main Event!
We're keeping you up to date with the players that make up Team Bodog at this year's World Series of Poker* Main Event. This time around, we're talking to Casper Toft, known as ImDelicious at the Bodog online poker tables!
How often do you play poker, online and live?
Every day!
What are you most looking forward to about your trip with Bodog?
I've been playing in the WSOP since 2007.
What's your biggest tournament win to date?
$210,000 in an online poker tournament.
How did you qualify for the satellite that you ended up winning?
I bought directly in.
Casper will be joining the rest of Team Bodog at this year's WSOP Main Event and you can follow the coverage on The Beat.
Online poker has been offline in the U.S. since a Justice Department crackdown two months ago. Now people are betting a House bill will change that because it gives the cash-strapped government a cut of the pot.
On April 18th (now known as Black Friday among poker players), the DOJ shut down online poker operations in the U.S. when it filed fraud charges against the founders of online poker websites Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Absolute Poker and others. Gambling is illegal in the U.S. — with a few state-specific exceptions — because the law views it as a game of chance. (Actually, gambling that admits it is gambling is illegal. Call it a stock market and you’re good to go.) The poker sites had been able to stay in business by claiming poker is a game of skill and not of chance. In truth, both sides have a point: Poker is a game of chance — if you don’t know how to play.
Now the usually unmatched pair of Texas Rep. Joe Barton (R-As Far Right As He Can Possibly Get) and Mass. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Do I Really Have To Say More?) are hoping to pass a law that makes it once again legal to find out if your three jacks are as good as you think they are. Barton has said he will soon introduce a bill that would legalize poker and create a new federal regulatory body to oversee the sites. (Federal oversight? I thought he said he was a Republican?).
His bill is similar to one introduced in the last congress by Frank. That proposal didn’t make it past Spencer Bachus (R-Maybe Even To The Right Of Joe Barton), the very anti-gambling chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Barton’s bill is expected to get a much warmer reception when it goes through the House Committee on Energy & Commerce which is chaired by … Joe Barton.
The Texas representative, who admits to playing poker off-line, has long said he does not view poker as a game of chance. He says it is different from other types of gambling because players bet against each other and not the house. (Left unsaid is the fact that Barton is from Texas, where poker would be the state religion had someone not invented football.)
Last week Frank and some of his colleagues upped the ante by introducing a bill requiring online gambling sites to withhold individual income taxes on winnings. It would also impose a 2 percent federal tax on these sites, and give states the option doing likewise at a rate of 6 percent. The word gambling is expected to make these new taxes palatable to the GOP where other new taxes aren’t.
Major corporations have also started betting that the government’s desperate need for cash will make poker just the first step towards legalizing online gambling in general. So in addition to paying money to find out if the cards are any good, people soon be able likewise find out if the Card(inal)s are any good.
Nearly 50 players strong, Team Bodog is ready to take on the 2011 World Series of Poker* Main Event. Led by pros Evelyn Ng and Tatjana Pasalic, our online poker room has awarded players from across the US and Europe eats in the biggest and best game out there. While most of our players have won through our satellite tournaments (which some were able to play in thanks to buy-ins as small as a buck with our qualifiers,) there are a few who stand out. For instance, Jeff Fritts aka kilrcrds won his seat with Bodog through the 2010 Bodog Mini Poker Series, where we offered the first available seat for this year's event.
How often do you play poker, online and live?
I play poker probably four nights a week.
What are you most looking forward to about your trip with Bodog?
I'm definitely excited about being in Las Vegas for the first time.
What's your biggest tournament win to date?
Winning this trip and a seat in the Main Event.
Why did you choose to qualify with Bodog?
I've always played on Bodog and I like how I can use the Sports Book on there as well.
How did you qualify for your seat? What's the secret?
Great play and even better looks.
31-year-old poker pro Mark Schmid turned a $1,000 buy-in into $488,283 with his victory in event #34, the $1,000 No Limit Hold 'Em Championship at this year's World Series of Poker*. Hailing from Grand Rapids, MI, Scmid overcame a massive field of 3,144 players and while's cashed in nearly half of the WSOP tournaments he's entered over the last two years, he remains logical about the whole thing.
"There is so much variance in tournaments. You can’t really expect to win a bracelet. There are good players who go a decade without winning one. It’s just such a high variance. So, I did not really expect to do it. I just try to make the best EV (expected value) decision on every hand, and it led to the bracelet."
The runner up in Event #34 was Justin Cohen, from Sydney, Australia. Cohen made his second final table appearance at this year’s WSOP, following his ninth-place showing in Event #25. He is an accountant who was playing at the WSOP for the first time.
Event #35, the $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha championship lasted three days and in the end, Jason Mercier walked away with the $619,575 first-place prize. This solidifies his reputation among Pot Limit Omaha tournament players and with this victory, he crosses the $1,000,000 mark in career WSOP earnings by a wide margin.
The runner up was Hans Winzeler, from Managua, Nicaragua. Had Winzeler managed to win, he would have become the first WSOP winner in history from Nicaragua. Instead, he settled for second place, which paid $383,075.
Playtech, a reputed online software company based in the Isle of Man, recently proclaimed its partnership agreement with the California Online Poker Association.
This Association otherwise known as COPA is an alliance of thirty one land based poker parlors and twenty nine tribal organizations in the region. The California Online Poker Association will be facilitated with gaming technology and poker software by Playtech and this will enable members to play poker for fun till the law permits real money poker play online gambling in California.
It is very evident that through this partnership agreement, that Playtech will still have a strong foothold of online gaming industry in America and is expected to return to the market in a full fledge in no time.
Another exclusive deal was closed with a company called SciPlay, which is a collaborative effort made between Scientific Games Corp and Playtech’s London branch.
It is only when modifications are made in the California’s legislation to both legalize and regulate the intrastate online poker industry and introduce in the region that US poker players can expect to see real money poker games. Until then free poker will be given to players, enabling them to get acquainted with the Playtech brand. A smart move, indeed!
Playtech has abundant experience in legalized internet poker sectors, as it provides technological and software support to companies hailing from France and Italy.
With this entire event taking place on one end, the California Online Poker Association is unflinchingly pushing for a poker reform in California. It is also the main supporter of the Senate Bill 40 introduced by Senator Lou Correa. This bill calls for the legalization of online poker in the state of California.
The mighty Moronga Band of Mission Indians, is also a part of California Online Poker Association, and Moronga’s representative, Robert Martin, Mentioned that the time of the black Friday in the poker industry could not have been better and it also displays how vital it is to launch legalized intrastate online gambling in California.
Since the operating agreements are already made, according to Martin, the California Online Poker Association is in a place to introduce live internet poker immediately after the reforms have been put in place at a state level.
The Playtech shares also reported an increase at the London Stock Exchange after the news of the agreement being signed with COPA was announced.
This is a thought out, clever strategy adopted by Playtech in order to enhance its brand even when online poker is dormant at the moment in the United States of America.
Subsequent to the shutdown of some of the biggest online poker players, the poker industry in the United States of America has been in a tizzy while its online poker players scratch for pickings. Ninety five percent of the shares of US Poker market have completely disappeared and $200 million was also lost in expenditures on marketing and promotional activities for the poker websites, ever since Black Friday took place in the poker industry.
Poker networks, active poker fans and even retired senators have been fighting for the legalization of online poker in the United States of America.
Since there hasn’t been going on much in terms of online poker industry in the US, Republican House of Representative’s member, Joe Barton has used the conversations he has had with active online poker players through his group in a social networking site such as Facebook and drafted an online poker bill to legalize US internet poker. Joe Barton hails from Texas and has made the people’s opinions very clear in the bill.
Being the senior most member in House Energy and Commerce Committee, Barton loves to play poker and according to him there is a definite discrepancy between online poker playing considered to be legitimate and transacting deposits for online poker are not legitimate.
Joe Barton in his early sixties, has drafted a bill that might regulate online poker playing in all 50 states of the United States of America. However, online poker is still fully functioning in those states where gambling is presently legal to enable for licensing through existing gaming commissions. Barton hopes that doubts regarding online poker industry can be clarified quickly, even during the course of this week.
With all this going in, any state could go against the law at any given point and hence prevent online poker through referendum or a state legislature vote, and the bill will also have the consequences of federal agency overlooking the entire poker network.
According to Joe Barton’s spokesman, it was mentioned that the bill would be introduced through the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as the committee is more open to the legalization than the House Financial Services Committee, which was under the supervision of Spencer Bachus, Republican chairman and anti-gambling politician.
Apart from the 10 million American citizens who want to play poker online, the spokesperson mentioned that they believe that Barton’s office will be able to get Bipartisan support.
Poker players could ante up online in states that choose to allow it, under legislation introduced Friday by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.
The bill, which Barton noted has bipartisan support, would require poker websites to obtain licenses from at least one state and the U.S. Department of Commerce to operate legally. The sites would be required to verify a user’s location to ensure that his or her state authorizes online poker.
Barton and the bill’s co-sponsors said at a news conference that their goal is to expand individual freedom and lessen the regulatory burden on banks. It is currently illegal in the U.S. for banks to process online gambling winnings or losses, even though playing poker online is not explicitly barred.
The Justice Department used the law in April to shut down and file lawsuits against several poker websites. The lawsuits were one reason for the new bill, Barton said.
“This is a law that is unworkable,” Barton said. “You shouldn’t have the proceeds of a legal activity being illegal.”
Barton estimated that the measure could generate $3 billion annually, which would come from taxing winnings. It would be split between states and the federal government.
Rob Kohler, a lobbyist for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, a religious interest group, fought a slot machine bill in the Texas Legislature – arguing it makes gambling easily accessible to the low-income folks who could develop gambling addictions.
Online poker, he said, would be worse.
“The proximity goes from having to drive somewhere to sitting around in your living room,” Kohler said.
While Barton’s bill would require websites to screen out minors, Kohler said that it would be impossible to keep all youths out of the games. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., one of the bill’s 11 co-sponsors from both parties, said that no system is perfect.
“If you say that no adult can do anything over the Internet unless you are willing to let a child do it, then you might as well shut down the Internet,” Frank said.
Barton and Frank said they hope to pass the bill before the end of the year, and they don’t believe President Barack Obama would object.
“The president is reputed to be a pretty good poker player,” Barton said. “I can’t believe someone from the South Side of Chicago wouldn’t want to support this.”
A native of the Ukraine, now living in Las Vegas, says he meant no disrespect to the USA when he had the Ukrainian national anthem played at his gold bracelet ceremony after winning $540,136 in an event at the World Series of Poker. But Arkadiy Tsinsis was making a political/poker statement.
Tsinsis said in an interview on the World Series Website that he chose the Ukranian anthem over the U.S. anthem to protest a crackdown on online poker.
In April, federal authorities in New York announced indictments against 11 executives and founders of the three largest Internet poker firms doing business in the USA.
Tsinsis, 34, immigrated to the USA at 16 with his parents.
“I am very proud of my country, now that I live here,” he said after winning the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold ‘em championship Saturday in Las Vegas.
“But with the state of online poker and the way it is right now, I think at these pokers events we should all boycott (the U.S. anthem), not to show disrespect in any way, but to show the politicians … they should do something about this issue.”
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) introduced a House bill that would allow for licensing, regulation and taxation of Internet poker. It would permit individual states to opt out if they choose and disallow use of credit cards to deposit funds in online poker accounts.
By winning event No. 38 in the 58-event World Series, Tsinisis became the third Ukranian to win a World Series event this summer. He said his choice of anthems also was aimed at calling attention to his homeland.
“When I first came to the U.S. and people would ask me where I am from, more than half of them did not even know where the Ukraine is. So I want to put Ukraine back on the map,” said Tsinsis, who has a gaming background in backgammon and a degree in finance from Baruch College, part of City University of New York (CUNY).
Prior to playing poker professionally, he was a highly rated backgammon player. His father is an engineer and his mother is a doctor. He said they initially were not pleased with his gaming pursuits.
“My parents were not happy about this at first, but they were following me (at the WSOP) on the computer. They got to see what was happening back on the East Coast,” he said.
Also at the WSOP:
•On Friday, Fabrice Soulier became this year’s third event winner from France. He earned $609,130 by winning the $10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E Championship.
“I think this is the start of France being a big nation for poker,” said Soulier, 42, who now lives in Las Vegas.
•Mitch Schock of Bismarck, N.D., earned $310,225 with his victory Saturday in the $2,500 buy-in Pot Limit Hold ‘em/Pot-limit Omaha Mixed Championship. The WSOP said he was the first North Dakota resident to win a WSOP event.
“I am going to go back home with the gold bracelet and everyone is going to be patting me on the back and buying me drinks,” said Schock, who has made it to three final tables at this year’s World Series.
Following a wave of federal crackdowns on illegal offshore gambling, U.S. Rep Joe Barton, R-Texas, on Friday introduced a bill to legalize and regulate online poker sites.
The bill, which includes criteria for licensed operators to protect against compulsive gambling, would put the Commerce Department in charge of monitoring the new industry. Either state or tribal gaming commissions would issue the licenses to applicants to run the sites.
Original co-sponsors are Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., John Campbell, R-Calif., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.
Barton said in a statement Friday that strong grassroots support from constituents prompted him to take on the issue.
Public pressure for regulated online gambling has increased significantly in light of the Department of Justice’s indictment and removal of a number of major online poker operators, he said.
In March, Campbell proposed Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act (H.R. 1174) to regulate all forms of Internet gambling activity except sports wagering. A third bill, proposed by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., is also before lawmakers. It calls for taxes and fees to be collected from wagers placed over the Internet.
Michael Waxman, a spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, said the bill offers a path to regulate Internet gambling in a way that is guaranteed to protect consumers, create jobs and grow the economy.
But he said the legislation is heavy-handed in that it unnecessarily prohibits credit card use" for Internet gambling activity. "We want consumers to be given the opportunity to utilize a credit card or any other payment processing tool in their online transaction,'' he said.
“If someone is interested in using funds from their credit card to gamble online, they are not going to be stopped from doing so, he said. “They’ll find less transparent mechanisms to move funds from cards to other payment mechanisms."
The California Online Poker Association, a Morongo Band of Mission Indians-led coalition of tribes and card rooms, days ago noted opposition to any federal gaming legislation, saying it is bad for California and Indian country.
Besides the jobs and “hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenue" that would be shipped out of state to Washington, D.C., or Nevada, COPA said the federal legislation threatens Indian sovereignty, and self-reliance.
“It violates existing laws and state tribal compacts, and would unfairly reward off-shore operators." COPA said.
“Millions of Americans who are playing poker online deserve to know they are playing safely with law-abiding operators," the American Gaming Association said in a statement. "But strong enforcement of illegal operators and unambiguous U.S. laws governing online gambling are equally vital."
Barton's proposed bill will be forward to the House commerce committee for consideration.
Rep. Joe Barton’s introduction of the Online Poker Act of 2011 (HR 2366) to the online poker industry on Friday wasn’t without controversy and criticism. On the one hand, the bill’s introduction to the House of Assembly through the House Energy and Commerce Committee was seen as a positive move towards the end to the outdated Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
The bill also has the support of several top representatives who have fought endlessly to change the current gambling laws in the US, including Barney Frank, Ron Paul and Shelly Berkley.
As a Republican, Barton’s bill has collected the bipartisan support of 11 representatives. The Texan is a keen poker player himself, who said on Friday that “poker is an all-American game, and it’s a game that requires strategy and skill.”
“Millions of Americans play online poker,” he said. “We want to have an iron-clad system to make sure that those who play for money are playing in an honest, fair system where they can reap the benefits of their winnings. To put it simply, this bill is about having the personal freedom to play a skill-based game you enjoy without fear of breaking the law.”
However, the bill has already generated criticism. For one, it has explicitly excluded all other forms of internet gambling that are not already legal under current laws. In addition, credit cards won’t be accepted when players want to deposit funds into their accounts – a provision that is seen as impractical and out of touch with reality.
Also, many have taken issue with Barton’s provision that the only companies that will be eligible for operating licenses, at least for the first two years, are major land based casinos and race tracks that are located in the United States.
Mikhail Lakhitov, a former Red Army officer from Cheboksary, Russia, got his first World Series of Poker* bracelet and almost three-quarters of a million dollars in Event #36, the $2,500 Buy-In No-Limit Hold’em Championship. It was a raucous, fun final table more akin to a bar during happy hour than a serious run for a lot of money>, and it had people's heads turning. One player on the scene quipped "I thought this was poker. Not a scene from Animal House."
This was Lakhitov's first bracelet but fifth cash in the World Series of Poker and prior to his visit last year, he didn't even know bracelets were part of the proceedings. The runner up was Boston's Hassan Babjane, who earned $463,480 in his first-ever WSOP cash.
42-year-old French poker pro Fabrice Soulier won Event #37, the 10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament. Prior to moving to Las Vegas a few years ago, Soulier lived in Paris, France, where he worked in film and television before becoming a poker pro in the early 2000s. Soulier is one of the most successful players to come out of the Aviation Club, which is Paris’ most famous poker room, and it shows – he's earned over $1.1 million at WSOP events with $609,130 coming from his latest victory.
The 2011 World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em champion is Arkadiy “Kamsky” Tsinis, from Las Vegas, NV, who earned $540,136 for the first-place finish in Event #39. This makes him the third Ukranian player to claim a WSOP bracelet and it set tongues to wagging – why the Ukraine and not Poland, Romania, Slovakia, or Uzbekistan? Theories abound, but the important thing is that the 34-year-old poker player and financial analyst who calls Las Vegas home has won a lot of money.
With the unveiling of the Barton Bill, HR 2366 The Online Poker Act of 2011, many advocates of online gambling are asking the basic question, “Is it enough?”. The good news is that it does legalize online poker in the United States. But that’s it. No other forms of online gambling are addressed. There is an irony to the bill since technically online poker is not illegal but funding accounts using US financial institutions is.
Influence of PPA
Of course, this makes sense when you consider that the active, public lobby for the legalization of online poker has been the poker players of the U.S. through the high profile organization the Poker Players Association (PPA). They have testified publically, met with lawmakers and sent out email after email to members and supporters. The group has taken out ads and been about as proactive as a group can be. Barton attended their most recent rally in Washington, D.C. The group has had a major influence.
Additionally, and this is important, the PPA has been careful to distance themselves from other forms of online gambling. First, they have not lobbied for online casinos, horseracing or sportsbooks. Part of this has to do with their focus, but the other part has to do in the manner that they have carefully kept online poker as an activity separate from other forms of gaming.
The primary manner in which the group has distanced itself from other types of gambling has been by consistently stating that poker, unlike casino games, is not a game of chance. Roulette, Keno, slots and other types of casino games are entirely chance or luck based, while poker involves skill and the player has the ability to influence the outcome of a hand and a game.
The PPA talking points are clear on this. When discussing an organizational White Paper they state, “The Alliance works to protect the legal rights of poker players and advocates rational gaming laws at the state and federal level. In this White Paper, the Alliance describes the role that skill plays in determining the outcome of a game of poker, and offers an overview of the scientific studies that address that question.”
With that the PPA clearly takes its stand on the game of poker and then refines its focus by looking at one game, as it states, “This paper devotes particular attention to Texas Hold’em, the most popular poker game and the one to which the most study has been devoted.” Logic of the PPA
What the PPA did was clearly define what sets poker players apart from folks who tend to be seen as just sort of mindlessly spending their money—those who play games of chance. The alliance and others know that games such as Roulette, Craps and slots cannot be played with a true strategy due to the fact that in order for a strategy to be used there must be a way for it to influence the outcome of the game.
But nothing a player does can change whether or not the Roulette ball will land on a given number, or if they’ll roll craps or if they’ll hit the progressive jackpot on a slot machine. All of these outcomes are dictated by Random Number Generators (RNG), which arbitrarily offer a result when the wheel stops spinning, the dice come to a rest or the reels finally line up. Whether a player wins or loses in these games has nothing to do with any kind of tactic since one turn is a separate entity from all others and there’s no way to influence the game.
The PPA did it’s job by setting up shop online, creating lucid talking points, using scientific studies and getting some of the best minds in the game involved. That may be where they were best at proving their point—poker players, the really good ones, tend to be very smart and possess a facility for language, math and complex ways of thinking. These names became the faces of the PPA. Limits of HR 2366
With all of that in mind how good is the bill? Some won’t like it but the PPA does.
In a recent letter on their website focusing on Barton’s bill, the organization “applauded” his online poker legislation, noting, “The legislation addresses many of the concerns raised in previous Congressional hearings, specifically narrowing the focus to only Internet poker, mandating technologies to protect consumers from fraud and limiting underage access, preserving state’s rights, and ensuring Indian Tribes have the same rights to apply for a license as other entities.”
What some people don’t like are the things that the PPA acknowledges as being good, such as:
The exclusive focus on poker
Protecting people from fraud
State and Tribal rights
The limitation of the bill to poker manages to keep the casinos and poker rooms separate. Which, by the way, is the way they are set up in land-based casinos and on the Internet. No one puts poker and slots in the same room in a Vegas casino and online gambling rooms that offer both poker and casino games always have them, at the very least, under separate tabs. Making the legislation poker specific makes sense.
Some are unhappy with the fact that the bill prohibits the use of credit cards for online poker. That one way the bill protects “people from fraud.” And although it may be seen as being impractical, it’s fairly clear that services such as eWallets and vouchers are just as fast and much safer in protecting the user’s financial information.
The third point, the protection of “State and Tribal rights” is certainly important for various reasons. First, it allows the government to track play and taxes. Only casinos and horse tracks in the U.S. will be allowed to apply for licenses in the first two years. That makes it easy for the state governments to control and monitor the sites. Additionally, that means if you hoped to get back to PokerStars, Full Tilt or other poker sites, you’re out of luck. At least for the for two years after the legislation is in place. Looking to the Future
But the effect of the legislation may end up opening up the mark
vent #24, the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, was won by Guelph, Ontario's Mark Radoja, who got his first WSOP bracelet and a very nice $436,568 payout for his play. It took three days and eleven hours of final table play to crown the 25-year-old winner, who described himself as a "Sit N Go Grinder."
35-year-old Chris Viox from Glen Carbon IL took Event #25, the $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8 or Better championship. On his way to the top, Viox passed by poker commentators Norman Chad and Mike Sexton and collected $200,459 to go with first new gold bracelet.
The Ukraine's Oleksii Kovalchuk won his first WSOP title and $689,739, bringing the second bracelet of the year to the homeland with his victory at Event #26, the $2,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship. Kovalchuk, who's only 21 has been playing since 2007 and has $706,633 in career WSOP winnings.
Dan Idema came in as the runner up in Event #27 last year and apparently learned a few lessons because he's now the winner of the $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em Championship in 2011 after beating two bracelet winners and six other highly-accomplished Limit Hold 'Em players. For his victory, Idema collected $378,642 for first place. When asked how it felt, he stated "It’s a tremendous honor. A lot of great players have gold bracelets and it’s such an honor to be part of the world."
Andy Frankenberger left Wall Street to become a poker pro and has sense made his name as one of the smartest players out there. This was affirmed when he won Event #28, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Championship. He netted $599,153 for a few days' work, which was likely quite a bit nicer than his old life of 18 hour days and equity derivatives trading.