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Washington — Slipped into the 92-page Republican Party platform are two sentences that drive poker players nuts.

In those slim lines, approved in 2004, the party spells out its opposition to Internet gambling — that $15 billion industry that in just a few short years has turned half the guys (and a number of women) you know into poker-playing geniuses.

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The Pascua Yaqui Tribe filed suit Tuesday against Club Royale, a new poker room at 2665 N. Campbell Ave., seeking the club’s closure and alleging that it engages in illegal gambling.

The suit also names Harold S. Lee, founder of the Tombstone-based International Card and Game Players Association, with which Club Royale and a couple of non-tribal poker rooms in the Phoenix area are affiliated.

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The Republicans’ last two national party platforms opposed Internet gambling. Online poker players want a new deal at this year’s convention next month.

The Poker Players Alliance, which spent $1.2 million lobbying during the first half of 2008, aims to legalize virtual versions of the game now played under the table. Dozens of people listing poker as their profession have contributed $353,802 to federal candidates this election cycle. And the group will sponsor events at both conventions.

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Police made 33 arrests and confiscated thousands in cash in a raid last Tuesday night on an alleged gambling operation in Shelbyville, authorities said. One of those arrested was a Franklin County woman.

Participating in the raid were the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Shelbyville Police Department, the 17th Judicial Drug Task Force and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

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Several months after being granted standing to sue by a judge in New Jersey, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association has indicated that the deadline for the organization to file its brief in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is at the end of September. iMEGA President Ed Leyden told PokerNewsDaily.com, “We’re diligently working on preparing our case and we will file by the end of next month.” iMEGA is suing to declare the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act unconstitutional on the grounds that it violates privacy rights in the United States. iMEGA was formed in 2007 “with the goal of working constructively and cooperatively with government at all levels, and other concerned citizens and corporations, to continue the remarkable growth of the Internet, and to promote innovation, openness and freedom as the path to even greater benefit of this medium for all,” according to its website, iMEGA.org.

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Anyone who says that the internet gambling boom in the United States is subsiding would be stating the exact opposite of a recent report issued by comScore Media Metrix. The company, which “is a global Internet information provider to which leading companies turn for consumer behavior insight that drives successful marketing, sales and trading strategies,” according to its website, released a summary of July’s online traffic in the United States. Glancing down the list of “Top 10 Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.),” you’ll notice “Online Gambling,” which ranks as number seven on the list. All in all, the number of unique visitors who visited internet gambling sites increased by 5% from June to July, 2008.

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But the owners of the popular Greeley bar said the state officials were out of line with the raid.

“This was a poker club,” Miner said. “It wasn’t formed by our bar, it was a bunch of friends. The house didn’t take a cut of the money, we didn’t force anyone to buy drinks, and we made sure we met all the state requirements.”

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A former United States Senator and the Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, Alfonse D’Amato has extensive experience with and insight into both US politics and online gambling. At the opening keynote of the Next Generation in Gambling Conference in Montreal, he offered some insight into how the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was made into law.

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SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. — Police said an illegal gambling operation is no longer in business in Shelbyville after a raid and dozens of arrests.

Officers said that several times during the week, people would line up outside a small building for a chance to play high-dollar poker.

The building was dubbed Little Tunica by police, and officers said with full admission price, people got access to poker and a full buffet of food.

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