Land of the Free? Not for Poker Players

In 2006 the Bush administration allowed Bill Frist to slip unwanted and unwarranted language into an unrelated anti-terror bill designed to make it harder for legitimate foreign businesses to operate here in the United States.

The language in question made it very difficult for US banks to process transactions involving online gambling sites, including poker sites, yet oddly offering a loophole for horse race better.  Even more odd when Frist described his rationale in the context that gambling 'destroys families.'  Anyway this piece of law finally took effect recently, and now American banks are forced to spy on account holders and report 'suspicious' activity that may be related to online gaming to the authorities.

Last month all this came to a head when the Department of Justice and the FBI, presumably bored having solved all the crime in this country, decided to seize the domain names of the major online poker sites including Full Tilt and Poker Stars, effectively shutting them out of the US market, perhaps for good.

Online poker players, some of whom had tens of thousands of dollars held with these trusted international companies, found themselves unable to play and unable to access their money.

The fall out from this move was dire to say the least.  Millions of people all over America lost their hobby, many lost a valuable source of income, jobs were lost, accounts were frozen, and once again the United States government wasted valuable tax resources for no good reason, all while telling us we are so broke we have to lay off teachers and cut health care benefits from seniors.

After some negotiation Poker Stars obtained permission from the Department of Justice to release players' funds, and as of right now Full Tilt poker has failed to return money to American players.  And that's where poker legend Phil Ivey steps in.  As a paid spokesperson for Full Tilt, he has received some flak for their lack of effort to pay out.  Yesterday Ivey released as statement via Facebook that he was going to sue Full Tilt for failing to return his money, and he was going to sit out of the World Series of Poker this year; a huge sacrifice for a professional poker player.

It's a real clusterfuck, I tells ya.  While Republicans talk about less government interference, the fruits of their overbearing right wing crazy now comes back to bite us in the ass.  Like so many stupid Republican decisions, here we are paying the price for their ineptitude once again.

It is time to license, regulate and tax online poker.  Allow Americans to play the game they invented (okay so sure it's not entirely an American invention, but there is no question poker would not be as big or available in this format if it was not for American inventiveness!).  Tap into the real tax revenue available here to help our budget crisis.  And for the love of god, stop wasting tax dollars with stupid busts like this, if we are broke as the Republican party would have us believe, conserve money and spend it where it will do us some good, rather than harassing millions of good honest tax paying Americans.

Finally, thank you Phil Ivey for using your celebrity to draw attention to this asinine situation.

Celebrity Apprentice: Joan & Melissa Rivers

I've always thought that Joan Rivers was a scary apparition. An iconic and sad reflection on American society: One obsessed with money, looks and fame. And her daughter always seemed to me to be a pathetic hanger on, riding her mothers coat tails in lieu of any personal talent.

But my opinion of these two freaks began to change a little as I watched them on the Celebrity Apprentice. Joan was genuinely funny, and pretty quick witted for someone I can only assume is about 100 or so.

Her daughter on the other hand was everything I expected her to be: An entitled spoiled little princess bitch, who has almost no talent.

The mother and daughter duo proceeded to pretend they were above the show and acted crazy like they both could use some considerable therapy. Joan attacked the sexist asshole and full time control freak Clint Black for being a complete tool. But then just episodes after claiming that she was going to burn all his CDs, became friends with him.

Professional poker player, and psychological genius Annie Duke, played them both like a couple of children in an adult world. Despite their claims that they 'knew' her game (and likening her first to Hitler, and later to Satan), they got PWND; royally.

This past week, Melissa was as useless as ever and played the role of whiny brat. When that didn't work for her she began spouting wild and paranoid allegations (everyone was apparently out to get her because she was just SO good).

Ultimately Donald Trump gave Melissa Rivers her marching orders, and she proceeded to act like the spoiled little media whore her mother raised her to be. She threw a tantrum which included yelling at the producers, and refusing to give an exit interview.

In a move of solidarity, her mother claimed she too would leave the show.

In all the years of the Apprentice, I have never seen such pathetic grandstanding. And I've seen the Queen of crazy Amaroso on the show.

What made me laugh really is that the Rivers contingent made a number of allegations about Annie Duke's class and various other personal insults, while pretending to be above such good-for-nothing poker scum.

Unfortunately for them, what they did display is their true colors. They are both total assholes, and are the center of the universe that exists within their own minds. If the whole world is not revolving around them, they want a public inquiry to investigate why not.

Annie Duke does not have their 'star power' but what she has is far greater; a brilliant mind. She owned them both from beginning to end. She kept calm and used her poker/psychological skills to outwit them, and use their own egos against them. She became the greatest ever Celebrity Apprentice fundraiser in the history of the show.

Meanwhile, the Rivers family displayed a complete lack of class, and furthermore were willing to put their own egos above the importance of raising money for their respective charities.

As far as I am concerned I hope they both remain off the show, and indeed off my TV indefinitely. My metaphorical hat is off to Annie Duke for destroying them in such an entertaining way.

My money would be on Annie to win the whole thing. It really is her competition to lose at this point.

George Bush Pushes Online Gambling Ban

The clock is ticking on the Bush administration. But with every passing minute George Bush seems bent on pushing through as much damaging legislation as possible, aimed at hurting Americans, and hurting the Obama administration (as if he hasn't done enough of that already).

While there are many issues to highlight, one that particularly annoys me is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). It's designed to outlaw most forms of online gambling, despite a clear majority of Americans not wanting such a law.

I think this specific law is one that just stands out as an example of all that is wrong with the Bush administration. On day a group of Republicans led by Bill Frist stick a last minute addition to the must pass SAFE Ports Act of 2006. There was no debate, no reason to do it, just a personal agenda based on corruption and a general disdain for the democratic process.

Bush signed it into law in the beginning of 2007, and companies all over the world lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Americans lost yet another of the many rights that Bush has robbed them of during his term.

But now in the latest development the Bush administration is pushing the final portion of this law into effect, despite the protests, the fact it does not have the will of the people behind it, and even the banks have asked not to be placed under further pressures (it's not like they need any more in the current economic climate).

This law would make banks operate as police officers, looking for 'gambling' transactions that the government does not approve of. Of course they approve of day trading and horse race betting, but other forms of gambling from industries that didn't bribe enough Republicans, are left out in the cold, along with the American people. Again.

So the question remains, just how many stupid laws can Bush pass before he is kicked out of office? We can only hope that Obama is able to reverse as many of them as he possibly can.

If you care about your right to play poker in America, consider joining the Poker Player's Alliance. Membership is free, and over a million Americans have signed up to demand their rights. You'll see a logo on the right side bar. Click it for more information.

Vote Poker!

When you vote today, keep in mind your right to play poker in America!

The Poker Player's Alliance have published this helpful guide to poker friendly politicians in your area.

So when you vote for Barack Obama today, remember to vote for poker friendly local and state politicians too. And consider too that old man McCain has made it clear he is not in favor of online poker. Plus, keep in mind Sarah Palin could be the next president if you squander your vote.

I'm ZCT, and I approved this message.