If you’re like me, you set the Tivo to record Lost and the Celebrity Apprentice on Thursday night and buckled down to watch the final debate between Democratic Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton before Super Tuesday. Next week will feature nearly half of the United States voting for one of the five front-running candidates. With a critical issue like the future of online poker hanging in the balance, it’s important to catch yourself up to speed on the candidates’ standpoints. PocketFives.com went straight to the source for objective information: Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas. The PPA sent out 300,000 e-mails early Friday morning to members in states that vote on Tuesday.

Democratic Ticket
On the Democratic side, voters will choose between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton
Clinton, according to the PPA e-mail, “has recently expressed that she supports the industry’s position: to study Internet gambling to see whether it can be fairly regulated so that individuals can safely participate in it and American businesses can compete in the international market.”

Pappas comments to PocketFives about Clinton’s willingness to study the issue: “An open mind to regulation is something we won’t frown upon. The PPA’s position has always been that a study is nice, but regulation is better. Other countries have gone down the path of regulation and so there really isn’t that much to study. The reality is that politicians like to point to something as a reason to support it. Clinton’s study could be what they need to support regulation.”

Barack Obama
Barack Obama was elected Senator from Illinois in 2004. The PPA e-mail and an article in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper state that Obama “has recently expressed that he worries that the Internet is ‘a Wild West of illegal activity,’ and supports a study of Internet gambling and supports regulation to address the worst abuses.”

He certainly does not provide as ringing of an endorsement for a study as Clinton, but as Pappas points out, “One of the interesting things is that he’s a renowned poker player. He was known to play in regular games when he served in State Legislature in Illinois. From my understanding, he still plays and still enjoys the challenge of the game. There’s an opportunity to have him understand the difference between poker and gaming against the house. The latter seems to be where his concerns with gambling have been.”

Republican Ticket
On the Republican side, the debate centers around three candidates: Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Mitt Romney.

Mike Huckabee
Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, has the most negative views towards online gambling of any Presidential candidate. The PPA’s e-mail highlights Huckabee’s response to a questionnaire from the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling: “Last year, Congress voted overwhelming to criminalize most forms of Internet gambling. This year some members of Congress are promoting legislation to legalize Internet gambling. If such legislation passed, would you veto it? Huckabee answered ‘yes.’”

Pappas, however, doesn’t believe that Huckabee’s stance against online gaming is permanent: “He has an evangelical background. Their stance typically isn’t in favor of gambling whether it’s regulated or not. We believe that whether or not you like gambling, the way to deal with it is to regulate it, not to tell people they can’t do it and drive it underground. Politicians change their minds as the political winds blow. As the PPA grows in power and people begin going to the polls caring about this issue, viewpoints can change.”

John McCain
Arizona Senator John McCain recently picked up an endorsement from PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato (who supports McCain on his own, not as a representative of the PPA). The former Senator from New York knows McCain well. According to the PPA press release, McCain is on the fence on online gambling: “The New Hampshire Republican primary winner does not have a specific position on Internet poker, but does appear to have been influenced by his fellow Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, who is a vigorous opponent of our rights. McCain, however, has always been willing to consider both sides of an issue and may simply need to know how strongly PPA members feel.”

Pappas is not concerned about D’Amato’s support of McCain. In fact, he views it as an important opportunity: “He knew McCain; they served together in the Senate. He believes McCain has qualities to be a strong leader for America. I can only hope that, should McCain be elected, we’d have some insight into his thought process. If you have someone that’s on the fence on your issue, then what better way to educate him than to surround him with people that understand the benefits of regulation, like D’Amato? We have a great open door to be able to engage him on the issue.”

Mitt Romney
Finally, Mitt Romney is in contention for the Republican nomination. The former governor of Massachusetts lacks a “formal position” on online poker. However, according to the PPA release, Romney “has contorted his issue positions wildly in a bid to gain support from social conservatives. As part of that effort, Romney tapped Tom Coates, Vice President, Truth About Gambling, Iowa, to his ‘Faith and Values Steering Committee.’ Coates, in turn, is vigorously opposed to gaming of any sort.”

Altering a candidate’s stance on certain issues is common in this stage of a primary, notes Pappas, since candidates are desperately seeking their party’s nomination: “The idea that a candidate has a values committee isn’t unusual, either. There’s a certain segment of the populous that is evangelical. Many Republicans are going to cater to that populous to gain the party’s vote. It’s difficult to nail down a candidate’s position until we figure out who our final two candidates are. Right now, the nominating process is about pandering to special interests.”

If you’re in a state that holds a primary on Super Tuesday, February 5th, then get out to the polls and vote. We’ve given several resources below for you to check out and educate yourself further on each candidate.

Election Resources
Clinton Website: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
Obama Website: http://www.barackobama.com/
Huckabee Website: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/
John McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/
Mitt Romney: http://www.mittromney.com/

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On April 26, 2007, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced H.R. 2046, the “Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007,” that provides for the licensing and regulation of lawful Internet gambling by the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. On June 7, 2007, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) introduced H.R. 2607, a companion bill to H.R. 2046 that would impose a fee on companies licensed to provide online gambling services in the United States.
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A bevy of police officers knocked, then waited a few seconds before using a ram to break through a double deadbolt lock on a body shop in Upper Allen Township, startling the almost two dozen men on the other side of the door.
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Representative Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) sent out a letter to his fellow U.S. Congressmen this week urging them to support legislation that would regulate and tax online gambling in the United States.

U.S. law currently aims to prohibit U.S. residents from gambling on the Internet, and McDermott points out that governing what adults choose to do online is difficult.
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Dear Honorable Representative_______________;

I am a resident of Massachusetts a registered voter and a member of the Poker Players Alliance. I am contacting you because I am very concerned about the current bill (H.4307, s. 15(h)(2)(i)) that sits in the committee of which you are a member, The Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
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Barack Obama has warned about the dangers of gambling — that it carries a “moral and social cost” that could “devastate” poor communities. As a state senator in Illinois, he at times opposed plans to expand gambling, worrying that it could be especially harmful to low-income people.
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Retired cop Mike Rose chomped on an unlit stogie and took one last peek at his cards, then shoved the remainder of his poker chips toward the dealer.

“All in,” he announced.

Another player called the bet. Rose shook his head ruefully, turned up a losing hand and muttered, “He just caught me bluffing.”
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The federal government has long considered Internet gambling illegal, though many gambling advocates say the law against it — designed to combat bookmaking activities by the mob in the 1960s — didn’t envision the Internet and applies only to sports betting.
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Jean Carr has well-coiffed white hair, and her preferred beverage is orange juice. She’s also a regular player at the Twin Falls Poker League.

“It’s a very entertaining game,” the Twin Falls woman said, citing the challenge of play as one of her reasons for frequenting the league’s Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments, held eight times a week across Magic Valley. She also appreciates the friendliness of the league’s players. “They all treat me with a lot of respect.”

That might be because of Carr’s conservative style of play – “I don’t bluff” – or it might be the nature of the league’s participants, who are quick to teach beginners the game and slow to get upset over a lost hand or newbie mistake.

“This is a good place to learn, because it’s free, the people are really nice, and they’ll help you,” said Brian Fife of Twin Falls. He has played cards since the late 1970s, and said the variety of skill levels among the league players make the game challenging even for experienced participants.

The league was started about a year and a half ago by Magic Valley newcomer CR Larsen, owner of Ground Round in Twin Falls, where the group meets on Sunday evenings. He had played in poker leagues in other areas of the country, and when he discovered there wasn’t one here, he organized one.

“The first week there were 21 people that played, just three tables of seven people,” he said, of the kick-off tournament in October 2006. The biggest tournaments recently attracted between 80 and 90 participants.

Keeping it legal

As he put the league together, Larsen kept the state’s gambling laws in mind.

“I decided to leave out the aspects the state considers gambling,” he said, meaning that participants aren’t risking any money or property in the games. They don’t buy in. “It doesn’t cost anything, it’s a form of entertainment like karaoke.”

The daily free tournaments are great practice for players, while the league earns money by charging the bars a fee for holding the games there. Once a month, players have a chance to take home some cash by participating in a charity game, which – as Larsen interprets state law – is allowed if at least 5 percent of the proceeds go to a charity.

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A raid on a poker operation in the San Mateo Highlands has the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office battling accusations that it overplayed its hand.

Participants in the game argue it was a friendly, low-stakes affair — not the den of iniquity portrayed by authorities. After a three-month undercover investigation, 15 officers from the Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Justice poured into the house Saturday afternoon with guns drawn.

They arrested organizer Bert Cardenas on charges of fraud and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and participant Trish McCoy on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The minor was McCoy’s 13-year-old son, who allegedly participated in some of the games.

The raid shocked some participants, who argued it was overkill for a social game with buy-ins of $25 to $55. News has since spread to Web sites such as Reason.com and Boing Boing, where it has sparked criticism and discussion about the laws surrounding home poker games.

Police and neighbors, however, say the operation was getting out of hand and needed to be shut down.

A Sheriff’s Office news release following the arrests charged that Cardenas organized the poker games “to fraudulently obtain money from the unwitting participants.” While private poker games are legal, the organizer is not allowed to collect any money from the participants.

Cardenas allegedly collected $5 from every participant for “refreshments,” and he took extra money from buy-ins for a “freeroll” tournament that police believe paid out less than Cardenas took in.

Philip Travisano, a San Mateo graphic designer who regularly played inthe games but wasn’t there Saturday, said he’s not surprised to hear of the raid. “I’m not clear on all the laws, but it was my impression that to take a rake or a fee to play a home game was illegal.”

Travisano took issue, however, with police’s description of the participants as “unwitting.” He noted that the games were advertised openly on Meetup.com and drew a diverse crowd of professionals from around the area.

“As far as Bert, I know he was doing it for the love of poker, not making profit on this,” Travisano said. “There was no cheating, no shills, nothing fraudulent going on.”

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