Poker: Public Enemy

I can't help but be continually baffled over the current legal assault on our game of poker. I thought that the ban on online poker in the USA was simply a lawmaker's gesture prior to midterm elections - nothing more than a bit of unabashed politicking for those on the campaign trail to boast to their conservative constituents.

I thought it would never really be enforced. Yet it seems that every month the noose around the neck of the online game gets markedly tighter. When two of Neteller's former directors were recently arrested and charged with allowing transactions for gambling purposes, many poker players were without the means to move funds in and out of poker websites.

This followed the trend of major poker sites prohibiting US-based players from logging onto their game site. Home games and tournaments are under unparalleled scrutiny as well. Organizers of charity poker tournaments are scrambling to change location or cancel them entirely as they feel the crunch of Big Brother looking on. Previously friendly and laid-back home games have become secretive because of the horror stories of those that have been "busted." I thought that I might be able to circumvent this absolute craziness by logging onto a poker site that caters to the European market. I was surprised to learn that I was unable to access my account and the money left in it. Instead, I got a message reading, "Your IP address is forbidden by law to access this poker software." The efforts of our legislators reflect the fact that a huge segment of our culture still views poker and gambling in a negative light. They think that our game is predatory, addicting, and dangerous. They hate the entire notion of poker.

How ironic is it that we see poker completely differently? We see it bringing families and people together. We see its camaraderie and enjoyment. We celebrate and love the game and all that it does for us.

Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and others were propelled into superstardom via the coverage of poker on ESPN, the Travel Channel, the Game Show Network, NBC, and other major outlets. While these guys are superstars to many of us, some parents cringe with the realization that their kids idolize a poker player. They still think of poker as a seedy game played only in prisons, backrooms of strip clubs, and in the mean streets of inner cities. Folks, all is certainly not kosher in the state of poker.

I am simply befuddled. With all of the ills in this world and all of the harmful filth that's on the internet, our elected officials spend our tax dollars trying to eliminate online gaming. The internet is riddled with websites that teach kids how to make explosives, websites that outline how to commit suicide and others that glorify and promote anorexia. There are sites devoted to worshiping mass murderers, sites that explain and detail how to obtain and use illegal drugs, and other downright unmentionably disturbing things. Yet it is the game of poker that has somehow grown to become public enemy number one. How can online poker possibly be a priority over those other issues to elected officials in Washington DC and state capitols? Let's hope that in this often senseless and crazy world some of them will come to their senses.