Poker Pros Head to Capitol Hill

Greg Raymer, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson joined Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance, on Capitol Hill yesterday during a lobbying trip to help convince lawmakers to stop trying to outlaw Internet poker.

The three poker pros talked with members of Congress and attended a press conference sponsored by the PPA. The timing of the lobbying trip was no accident.

Today at 2 p.m. EST, the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security is scheduled to hold a hearing on Rep. Bob Goodlatte's "Internet Gambling Prohibition Act."

Witness scheduled to testify are Goodlatte, Bruce Ohr, the Chief of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice, John W. Kindt, a professor at the University of Illinois who has written many articles on casino gambling, and Sam Vallandingham, Vice President and Chief Information Office for the First State Bank.

A link to the live broadcast of the hearing can be found at judiciary.house.gov.

Goodlatte's bill is an update on the Wire Act, an anti-gambling bill that is more than 40 years old. When introducing his bill, Goodlatte claimed that online gambling is used for "money laundering and other criminal enterprises."

"For too long our children have been placed in harm's way as online gambling has been permitted to flourish into a $12 billion industry," Goodlatee said. "The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act brings the current ban against interstate gambling up to speed with the development of new technology."

The lawmaker doesn't differentiate between online casino gambling and online poker. Raymer, Lederer and Ferguson told anyone who would listen that poker is a game of skill and should not be considered a casino game.

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