Las Vegas Review-Journal
Former World Series participants visit Capitol Hill to oppose measures now before Congress
WASHINGTON -- Three poker champions on Tuesday came to Capitol Hill to lobby against legislation that would outlaw Internet poker and other forms of online gambling.
If Congress prohibits Internet gambling, poker should be exempted from the ban, said Howard Lederer of Las Vegas.
"I think it's time that Washington understand that there is a difference between ... throwing dice and playing poker. One is a skill-based game and one is a pure game of chance," said Lederer, a world-renowned player who has won two World Series of Poker bracelets.
Lederer appeared at a news conference sponsored by Poker Players Alliance, which describes itself as a grass-roots organization of more than 20,000 American poker players.
Michael Bolcerek, president of Poker Players Alliance, described the anti-Internet gambling legislation as a "burgeoning threat."
In previous years, the American Gaming Association has remained neutral on legislation to prohibit Internet gambling.
But association President Frank Fahrenkopf said the group's position on Internet gambling may be modified at a board meeting later this month in Las Vegas. Fahrenkopf has said some board members believe technology now exists to effectively regulate Internet gambling.
Former World Series of Poker main event champions Chris Ferguson of Los Angeles, and Greg Raymer of Stonnington, Conn. also appeared at Tuesday's news conference to announce their opposition to bills in the House and Senate to prohibit Internet gambling.
"Why should (poker) be prohibited just because it's on the Internet, when it is not prohibited otherwise?" Raymer asked.
Today the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security is scheduled to discuss a bill by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., that would outlaw the $12 billion-a-year industry of Internet gambling.
Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, has introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of credit cards or checks to pay for online wagers. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., hopes to attach an Internet gambling ban to legislation in the Senate.
Radley Balko, a policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute who also appeared at the news conference, said anti-Internet gambling legislation is being couched as lobbying reform in the wake of the scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Goodlatte has blamed Abramoff for the defeat of his bill six years ago. Calls to Goodlatte's office were not returned.
"I'm not here to defend poker per se, but ... the basic principle that monitoring what American citizens do in their own home with their own money on their own time just isn't the federal government's responsibility," Balko said.
Gregory Wierzynski, Leach's chief of staff, said Leach's bill is not an attack on poker players.
"It doesn't do anything to delegitimize poker online. It delegitimizes betting on poker online," Wierzynski said.
