The ambitions of American poker players to have their game of choice
classified as a "game of skill" to circumvent the current
US assault on Internet gambling received a sobering shock this week
when a top American gambling administrator told a journalist working
for the Las Vegas Sun "...they don't have a chance in hell."
Sun journalist Jeff Simpson wrote that recent claims by some online
gambling websites and bodies like the Poker Players' Alliance that
online poker could be exempted in the future from the Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act were raised in a conversation with American
Gaming Association president Frank Fahrenkopf.
Apparently Fahrenkopf, referring to Alliance president, Michael Bolcerek's,
statement that he had a meeting with officials in Key West, Florida
resulting in the officials understanding the legitimacy of poker as
a game of skill, told Simpson that "....they don't have a chance
in hell," to get a poker exemption from the new UIGEA.
According to Fahrenkopf the American Gaming Association is pushing
for a study to discover if the online gaming industry has the technology
available to keep problem gambling at a minimum and to keep underage
curiosity seekers out of the industry.
However, Fahrenkopf believes that even if the industry does have the
technology the legalization of online gambling is still not inevitable.
He believes that the tax rates that individual states would put on
Internet gambling sites would be too high to appeal to offshore operators.
In related news, PokerHelper.com reports that the new “face
of online poker” is Al D'Amato, former New York Senator. The
website says that D’Amato is to become chief lobbyist and spokesman
for the online poker lobby working with the Poker Players Alliance.