Wendeen H. Eolis

The deed has been done. Congressman Barney Frank (MA) has introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA) of 2007 into the United States House of Representatives. IGREA is a cleverly constructed piece of legislation.

IGREA is an innovative frontal assault on UIGEA

Reciting part of Henry Wadsworth Longefellow's poem the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank stopped short of telling me when he would gear up for an attack on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). I figured it out remembering additional verse from Longfellow's memorable words: "on the 18th of April in Seventy-five." He let me know I was on track with the April 18th target date to get cracking in the halls of Congress, explaining that the legislators would all be back in Washington after a two-week recess.

Since the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, politics and poker have become inextricably intertwined, far beyond the imagination of legendary New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, in the 1959 Broadway musical.

Editor's Note: This story is part of material that may be incorporated in Ms. Eolis' forthcoming book, Power Poker Dame (publication 2008).

PPA confirms today, the accuracy of Poker Player's report of February 16th.

A heretofore shy Poker Player Alliance is set to confirm that Senator Alfonse D'Amato will chair the PPA. The three-term former Senator has given the signal of "I do," as in, I formally accept your offer of the chairmanship of the PPA. The PPA can hardly wait to bring out the band and take to the floor for the first dance. A fancy print announcement could come as early as tomorrow, before dawn.

"Signed or unsigned, the deal is sealed," insists my confidential source, a key player in the global gaming industry. The die has been cast; former New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato has been tapped to sit as the Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance.

In an exclusive report to Poker Player yesterday afternoon, I wrote about the highly anticipated deal that will call for former Senator Alfonse D'Amato to sit as the chairman of the Poker Player's Alliance.

It bears more than a mere mention that several bloggers saw that report and jumped on it. While I believe the celebrants are on the right track, the jubilation is a tad premature.

The key players continue to jockey for position in timing the announcements to various media, but the die has been cast; former New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato has been tapped to sit as the Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance. The PPA has grand plans, on behalf of an outraged poker community, to fight for a poker exemption to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. This legislation attempts to end online betting by American-based players. The PPA is putting big chips in the pot with expectations that Mr.

Editor's Note: This story is excerpted (and adapted) from Ms Eolis' forthcoming book, Power Poker Dame (publication 2008)

Editor's Note: This story is excerpted (and adapted) from Ms Eolis' forthcoming book, Power Poker Dame, to be published in 2008.

As a child I blurted out whatever questions came into my head. More often than not, they were basic and simple questions designed to challenge my parents' authority: "Why are you asking?" and "What do you mean?"