Pro Poker Players Speak Out About Gambling Act

While the online poker world continues to hold its breath after the recent industry shakeup, many of today's top professional poker players expressed their opinion on the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Amir Vahedi: It would have happened sooner or later, but I wish the multimillion dollar websites that made all the money would have spent more money for lobbying in Washington. It takes money to make money. It's wrong that they took money, made a profit, and then forget about the rest of us. I really wish that the companies would have been a little more thoughtful and taken steps ahead of time to avoid this situation.

Sean Sheikhan: My thoughts are that if companies started paying money out to lobbyists and the politicians, there would be no problems.

Gavin Smith: I think the legislation sucks. I think it's kind of a backhanded way to get things done, but I think in the end people will speak up. In the short term, I think tournament fields are going to get smaller and some sites will be less successful on the Internet, but in the long term I think poker will come back.

Men "The Master" Nguyen: It has happened, so there is nothing that can be done now. I don't think it's good for poker or bad for poker. In the end, I think more people are going to go and play live action in casinos.

Thor Hansen: It was a bad day for poker I believe. That's my feeling. It's going to be a problem for everybody and I can't believe they let them do it. The casinos will do well in the short term, but there is no doubt that the Internet did a lot of good things for poker. Poker became so big because of the Internet, so it's kind of sad for those of us who love the game.

Daniel Negreanu: For the most part, I think they [Bill Frist and his supporters] can take their bill and shove it where the sun don't shine.

Tom McEvoy: I think that any poker player that votes for even one Republican Congressman or Senator that voted for this bill -which is practically all of them - should have their head examined. Senator First is a hypocrite of the first order. He has well known presidential ambitions and once compared playing poker with the use of crack cocaine.

I think that we need to fight this legislation every step of the way, and think of ways to circumvent it wherever possible.

Shannon Shorr: The new gambling laws are both frustrating and devastating. We can now only sit back and see what kind of effects the laws will have on our respective ways of life.

Todd Brunson: When will the government learn they can't push their morality onto the general public? It didn't work with Prohibition in the last century and it won't work with banning Internet poker today. The government is supposed to be protecting our rights, not taking them away! Legalize it, regulate it, tax it.

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