America’s online poker enthusiasts descended on Capitol Hill this week with two messages for Congress: Poker’s good for the brain, and stop jeopardizing our games already.

The multiday lobbying visit by members of the the Poker Players Alliance, which counts more than 800,000 professional and amateur players on its rolls, arrived about a year after politicians enacted a restrictive anti-Internet gambling law.

The players’ goal for the fly-in: to boost support for a couple of bills, which so far enjoy support from only a handful of politicians, that would roll back those restrictions in favor of more tailored regulations. One proposal would expressly carve out poker from any ban on online gambling, placing it in a category with “games of skill” like backgammon, mahjong and bridge.
cards

“Certainly I think the growth of the game has been hurt,” Howard Lederer, a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, said of the current law’s impact at a public forum organized by the PPA here Wednesday. He’s known as the “Poker Professor” for his commentary and analysis in card-playing circles and is one of the founders of the online card room Full Tilt Poker.

That’s unfortunate, Lederer argued, because “yes, it can be used as a vice, but for most of us it’s a wonderful form of entertainment that actually massages your mind, gets you thinking.”

To be sure, the online gambling bill doesn’t specifically outlaw online poker games nationwide. Congress’ intent was to clarify that forms of offline gambling already considered unlawful by state and federal laws are also illegal when shifted online. (Bets on horse racing, lotteries, fantasy sports and games that don’t involve exchanges of anything of “value” are exempt.)

The law requires banks and payment processors to take certain steps to block transactions stemming from “unlawful” forms of gambling and, in some cases, would force Internet service providers to block access to offshore gambling sites.

The trouble with that tactic is, it’s not always clear what forms of Internet gambling are “unlawful” from state to state–and how poker fits in.

With the risk of hefty fines and criminal penalties if they don’t do their part, payment processors seem to be playing it safe, opting to stop accepting transactions from online poker and bridge sites even when it’s not clear laws are being broken, poker enthusiasts said Wednesday.

Click here to go to the article and read more.

Author Contact Info: Anne Broache, CNET News Blog