Top U.S. and international poker magazine Bluff issued a statement
this week condemning the actions of U.S. legislators in approving
a proposal that would make financial transactions with online gambling
companies illegal.
The magazine's president, Eddy Kleid said: "Having been
unable to gain enough support to pass the bill on its own merits,
Republican leaders strong-armed their way into piggy-backing the bill
on the must-pass Port Security Act."
"Why ban online poker? Apparently, it's OK to play other online
games for money on AOL, but for some reason, which no one in Congress
is willing to explain, poker is different. It doesn't matter that
a majority of Americans oppose the legislation, that 23 million American's
play poker regularly, or that poker is a game of skill. Needless to
say, the poker community is very upset at the moment."
Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance, the group
representing all of the major poker pros and over 110 000 poker enthusiasts,
confirmed that his members were angry, and added: "Passage
of the *Unlawful* Internet Gambling Prohibition by Congress came as
a great shock to all, not just the manner in which it was attached
at the last minute to the Port Security Act, but the substance of
a law that never gained required consensus in years of Congressional
debate.
"Poker players in America will be hurt by this act of political
trickery, and for what purpose? To act as an angry 'nanny state,'
dictate morality, and tell Americans how they can spend their own
money, and what they can access on the internet.
"Yes, in the land of the free, we are deputizing banks to monitor
your each and every debit and credit, and censoring the internet like
the Chinese government. Poker is an 'American tradition' loved by
over 70 million Americans and deserves the same free pass that was
provided to horseracing, state lotteries, and fantasy sports. We deserve
another deal."