Pokercrat FeedChipping Away at the UIGEAEthan2009-09-03T05:49:14Z2009-09-03T05:49:14Z<p>UPS PWNAGE <a href="http://pokersoup.com/thread/show/786">picked this up in the forums</a> but I wanted to highlight it here for posterity.</p><p>You can read the full story <a href="http://www.pokerroad.com/news/posts/developing-news-court-clarifies-uigea-44-states-breath-a-little-easier">here</a>. The US 3rd Circuit Court upheld the letter of the law, but since the law does not specifically prohibit online gambling, they decided it's really up to the states to decide whether or not online gambling is really illegal. Woo hoo!</p><p>Why?</p><p>Because only 6 states (plus DC) actually prohibit internet poker. The rest have no specific laws on the matter and, let's face it, probably can't get their shit together enough to actually pass a law on it. Especially if enough of us are watching and we let 'em know it.</p><p>If we can break the unholy (seriously) matrimony of the religious right and Las Vegas casino interests, the UIGEA will fall eventually and online poker will be what it was. This is just one more chink in the armor.</p>Ethan2009-09-03T05:49:14ZMore on Poker as a Skill GameEthan2009-05-05T06:20:59Z2009-05-05T06:20:59Z<p>Riffing off the discussion <a href="/blog/artofcards/show/is-poker-a-game-of-skill">on this post</a>, I thought I'd draw your attention to <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_12273771">a recent op ed</a> by Gary R. Reed, the Colorado director for the Poker Players Alliance: </p><blockquote><p>Poker is not gambling. For us in the Poker Players Alliance or elsewhere to go on allowing the uninformed to lump it in with gambling in general is a disservice to the game and to us. Gambling is games of chance played against a fixed statistical disadvantage.</p><p>Poker is no such game. No fixed disadvantage exists prior to the cards being dealt and the actions or lack of same of the players determines the odds, statistics and chance surrounding any given hand. In other words the house will not take from 6% to 20% of your money given that you play long enough to make those odds apply. </p></blockquote><p>I like his quick definition of gambling: a game of chance played against a fixed statistical disadvantage. That's quite useful for us, since it draws a clear delineation: roulette and craps? Gambling. Poker? Skill.</p><p>I think the issue that non poker players have trouble with is that there is still <em>chance</em> involved in poker. They see some guy on ESPN spike a one-outer on the river and think it's all luck. But chance is not the same thing as luck. Luck is beating the odds. You have to be lucky to win at roulette. Before a single roulette player sits down, the house has already won. Over the length of the table's service, it <em>will</em> make the house a profit. If it did otherwise, it would be broken.</p><p>Chance is different. It just means that there is some probability of an event happening. The skill comes in figuring out when your chances are good and getting your money in. Simple, right?</p><p>To highlight the difference, think about this: if you want to make poker into gambling, a game of luck, just deal every hand face up and play as normal. Now you're gamblin'! But that's just silly and no one would play it.</p><p>So here's my longer definition of where to draw the gambling/not gambling line:</p><ol><li>Given the current state of the game-any game-is it possible to determine a best move to take?</li><li>If so, and you take that move in each case, will you come out ahead versus other players in the long run?</li></ol><p>If you can answer yes to both of those, then you're looking at a skill game, folks. Chess is really obviously a skill game. Given the state of the game, which is perfectly represented by the layout of the chess board, it is possible to determine a best move to take.</p><p>The state for poker is a lot harder. There's the betting action and the flop/turn/river just to start with. Then there's each player's past history, their mannerisms, position, etc. But given all of that information, it is still possible to determine the best move. And if you take it, you will win in the long run.</p>Ethan2009-05-05T06:20:59ZAnti-UIGEA Bill To Be Introduced This MonthEthan2009-03-05T06:22:04Z2009-03-05T06:22:04Z<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE51J50E20090220">Reuters, on Feb. 20th</a>:</p><blockquote><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democratic lawmaker will push legislation this year to repeal a U.S. ban on Internet gambling that has hurt trade ties with the European Union, a congressional aide said.</p><p>"The bill introduction should happen in the next month," a spokesman for House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said.</p><p>On Thursday, Reuters reported the EU could file a complaint about U.S. enforcement of the gambling ban at the World Trade Organization.</p></blockquote><p>Many of you are already aware that Barney Frank is one of the most vocal opponents of the nanny state shout-out to the "values voters" known as the UIGEA. It went in to effect on Jan. 19th, the last day of the Bush Presidency; banks and credit card companies have until October to start actual enforcement. Hopefully, before that happens, a more receptive Congress will be able to overturn the previous law.</p><p>I realize this may not make the top 10 issues facing the nation for quite some time, so you're not going to hear too much about outside of the poker community. But seriously, why are we sending money overseas and giving already beleaguered financial institutions more headache to deal with?</p>Ethan2009-03-05T06:22:04ZUIGEA is Now In EffectEthan2009-01-22T06:57:14Z2009-01-22T06:57:14Z<p>As of Jan. 19th, banks are now required to try to block monetary transfers to illegal online gambling businesses. Anyone having more trouble than usual transferring money?</p><p>Read more <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/unlawful-internet-gambling-enforcement-act-credit-card-1282.php">here</a></p>Ethan2009-01-22T06:57:14ZMajor Win for Poker Players in PennsylvaniaEthan2009-01-19T04:21:30Z2009-01-19T04:21:30Z<p>A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that poker, specifically Texas Hold'em, is a game of skill. This is great news! One of the reasons that poker is much more regulated than, say, Bridge, is that lawmakers think that poker is a game of luck, not skill. They must think that anything involving cards is based on luck. This isn't casino war here, people! Fortunately, <a href="http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/pennsylvania-judge-rules-poker-is-a-game-of-skill-941/">a judge agrees</a>:</p><blockquote><p>In a ruling handed down by Pennsylvania Judge Thomas A. James Jr. in Columbia County on Friday, it was ruled that Texas Hold?<cite>em is a game of skill and therefore not gambling under state law. The ruling sets an ???excellent bar</cite>? for future poker litigation, according to Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas.</p><p>The basic question, according to Judge James??? ruling, is whether poker is dominated by chance or skill. He commented <cite>?Simply, if chance predominates, Texas Hold</cite>?em is gambling. If skill predominates, it is not gambling.<cite>? In Pennsylvania, video poker machines are not allowed because their outcomes are primarily due to chance, not skill. In the case of Texas Hold</cite>?em, however, Judge James explained that extensive literature exists that describes winning strategies to play the game. He even cited Mike Caro?<cite>s ???Secrets of Winning Poker</cite>? by saying, <cite>?the money flows from the bad players to the strong players.</cite>?</p></blockquote><p>Go read the whole thing - the case revolved around something familiar to many on this site - a home poker game staked out and busted by the police. The good news is not only that the defendants were acquitted--as a result of this, it will now be harder for people running honest home games to be convicted.</p><p>I wish I knew enough about law to speculate on whether this decision will have national implications.</p>Ethan2009-01-19T04:21:30ZNegreanu: Don't Risk it on a Coin FlipEthan2008-12-06T07:14:43Z2008-12-06T07:14:43Z<p>I ran across <a href="http://www.mlive.com/grpress/sports/index.ssf/2008/11/poker_survival_trumps_math_in.html">this article</a> and wanted to pass it on and see what others think about it:</p><blockquote><p>In tournament play, it's generally advisable to avoid risking large sums of chips in coin flip situations, like pocket sixes vs. A-K.</p><p>After all, the pocket pair only is a very slight heads-up favorite. Why risk your tournament life on a near 50/50 proposition?</p></blockquote><p>(snip)</p><blockquote><p>In tournament poker, a big chip stack is something that should be protected and not gambled away.</p></blockquote><p>The full article has a good example explaining the statement. It makes sense to me - the difference between two places can be huge. What do you think?</p>Ethan2008-12-06T07:14:43ZYesterday's Election = Great for Online PokerEthan2008-11-06T06:28:10Z2008-11-06T06:28:10Z<p>In case you are living in a cave, Barack Obama and Democrats across the country won yesterday, and won big. For poker players, this is nothing but good news. Remember that it was a Jim Leach from Iowa and Robert Goodlatte from Virginia, both Republicans, who authored the UIGEA. Bill Frist and John Kyl, also Republicans, pushed it through the Senate.</p><p>Democrats Robert Wexler and Barney Frank, two of Congress' most staunch online gambling advocates, won their house races handily. They both are pushing legislation favorable to our cause.</p><p>Frank is pushing <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h6870/show">HR 6870</a>, aka the Payment Systems Protection Act, which will stop the Treasury from enforcing any of the UIGEA's provisions until the language in it (such as the first three words, "unlawful internet gambling") can be defined.</p><p>Wexler is introducing <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2610">HR 2610</a>, the Skill Game Protection Act. This will protect online betting for "poker, chess, bridge, mahjong or any other game where success is predominantly determined by a player's skill."</p><p>So we've got two bills, both of which will legalize online poker. With the widened Democratic majorities in both houses and an intelligent, sane President who has no debts to pay to any fundamentalist types, these bills should head right through. Hopefully Congress will get to them in January. Unfortunately, I'm sure Congress will also have a lot of work to do, and these bills may not make it to the floor for some time.</p>Ethan2008-11-06T06:28:10ZAn Obama Presidency May See the UIGEA DefeatedEthan2008-10-08T20:01:32Z2008-10-08T20:01:32Z<p>From an interview with Las Vegas gambling attorney Anthony Cabot, via <a href="http://www.online-casinos.com/news/news7641.asp">online-casinos.com</a>:</p><blockquote><p>However, the imminent US presidential election could impact efforts to overturn the UIGEA, he opined. "If (Arizona Sen. John) McCain is elected, the Internet gaming ban would never be repealed."</p><p>But if Illinois Sen. Barack Obama becomes the next president, the equation could change, Cabot said, given that some big Obama supporters, such as Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, oppose the ban.</p><p>"I think if Senator Obama was elected, it would be more likely to be repealed," Cabot said.</p></blockquote><p>This makes sense. The ban was enacted in 2006, when Republicans still controlled both houses of Congress. It was written, sponsored, and passed by them as a giveaway to both the religious right, who sees it as immoral, and the various gambling coalitions (sports, horse racing, etc.). Since it is likely that the Democrats will extend their current leads, it will be much more likely that the UIGEA will be repealed or altered in a favorable way.</p>Ethan2008-10-08T20:01:32ZHeavy Hitters Step Up in UIGEA BattleEthan2008-09-09T05:50:17Z2008-09-09T05:50:17Z<p><a href="http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news/news/imega-adds-top-attorney-for-uigea-appeal-in-us-courts-september-31088.htm">This is good news</a></p><blockquote><p>The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) just announced the addition of one of Washington DC's most accomplished attorneys to their legal team, Stephen A. Saltzburg, who is professor of law at George Washington University. Saltzburg has been working with iMEGA's legal team as it gets ready for its appeal case being heard by the US 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.</p><p>"Prof. Saltzburg is simply one of the best," said Joe Brennan Jr., Chairman and CEO of iMEGA in a press release on their site. "His experience speaks for itself. We are fortunate to have a true heavyweight advocate in our corner."</p><p>Saltzburg joins lead counsel Eric M. Bernstein, noted First Amendment and Internet Law attorney, and Edward Leyden, iMEGA's president and chief counsel, as an integral part of iMEGA's legal team in its showdown over UIGEA with the U.S. Department of Justice.</p></blockquote><p>It sounds like Brennan will have a strong voice in Saltzburg. Stay tuned, I'll be sure to keep my eye on this.</p>Ethan2008-09-09T05:50:17ZPokerStars Releases Mac ClientEthan2008-09-09T05:36:34Z2008-09-09T05:36:34Z<p>Just a quick note: <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/download/mac/">PokerStars has released an OS X client</a>. If you use a mac most of the time, you now have more options than Full Tilt! Woo woo!</p>Ethan2008-09-09T05:36:34ZSouth Carolina, Where Go Fish is IllegalEthan2008-08-25T04:48:12Z2008-08-25T04:48:12Z<p>Clearing out my Google reader feed for all things poker related, <a href="http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-law/article/4898/judge-sides-with-investigators-in-south-carolina-poker-trial">I came across this</a>:</p><blockquote><p>Five men will face a judge in South Carolina at the end of August to fight gambling charges levied against them when they were swept up in a raid in October 2006. Police cited 23 players in the raid at a home outside of Charleston, where they were playing a $20 poker tournament.</p></blockquote><p>Sound familiar? Get ready for the best part. The law that they ran afoul of has been on the books for 200 years and apparently would make Chutes and Ladders illegal:</p><blockquote><p>Those five men are fighting the charges with the hope of changing the 206-year-old South Carolina law that makes it a crime to play any type of game that uses cards or dice, including board games like Monopoly and traditional card games like bridge and poker.</p></blockquote><p>No pop-o-matic bubble for you!</p><p>The Mount Pleasant 5 asked the case to be thrown out, but the judge <a href="http://www.onlinepokerwebsite.net/articles/51/1/1094/Judge-Refuses-to-Dismiss-Absurd-Poker-Case-.html">denied their request</a>. I really hope these guys take down that antiquated law.</p>Ethan2008-08-25T04:48:12ZAbsolute Poker Cheater FoundEthan2008-08-25T04:31:40Z2008-08-25T04:31:40Z<p>He's in Costa Rica, with a <a href="http://www.gambling911.com/poker/poker-cheater-found-just-bought-yacht-brand-new-suv-mansion-081908.html">yacht and a mansion</a>. But Absolute still won't hold him culpable:</p><blockquote><p>AJ Green (also known as Allan Grimard) has been located in Costa Rica. You might recall that Grimard was implicated in the notorious "Absolute Poker In-House Cheating Scandal"...</p><p>The source also revealed that Grimard has a huge yacht and is building a gigantic mansion in Los Suenos, Costa Rica, a posh Pacific coast resort area.</p><p>Green was a low level supervisor at Nine.com before joining the Absolute Poker team. Thus far, company officials have refused to hold Green culpable of the cheating even though all fingers were pointed his way.</p></blockquote><p>You'd think Absoute Poker would want to come clean right away and do some damage control. Instead, they try to sweep it under the rug, which only makes them look like they have something to hide.</p><p>I wonder how long AJ Green will be able to stay out of the authorities' hands.</p>Ethan2008-08-25T04:31:40ZAnother Review of Automated Poker TablesEthan2008-08-04T17:10:27Z2008-08-04T17:10:27Z<p>I <a href="/blog/pokercrat/show/computerized-automated-poker-tables-roll-out-world-yawns">blogged about this earlier</a>, so when I ran across <a href="http://wp02.miomia.net/wp02/2008/2694.html">this review of the Poker Pro tables</a>, I thought I'd point everyone else to it.</p><blockquote><p>The touchscreens are hard to operate with fingers, but the corner of your ID card works well. You have to double-tap a selection to bet/raise/fold, so accidental bets aren"t a major problem. But it can occur. A player who was trying to "clean" his screen by rubbing it with the corner of the card went all in once, and I witnessed several new players run out of time trying to enter the right bet amount, via a calculator interface.</p></blockquote><p>The reviewer has some good things to say too, so go take a look.</p>Ethan2008-08-04T17:10:27ZYet Another Reason to Hate the UIGEAEthan2008-07-28T02:28:45Z2008-07-28T02:28:45Z<p><a href="http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news/news/uigea-online-gambling-ban-creates-opportunity-says-irish-govt-study--30997.htm">It's sending industry overseas</a>:</p><blockquote><p>An Irish government committee set up in 2006 to review how to improve regulation of gaming and casinos, which would apply to both live and online poker games, has stated that Ireland could benefit from the restrictions the United States placed on Internet gambling with passage of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), if the right reforms and legislation were made.</p></blockquote><p>Not that I have anything against the Irish, or other countries trying to cash in on Internet gambling. It's just stupid when profitable industries that start in the USA are forced to move out.</p>Ethan2008-07-28T02:28:45ZBarney Frank, our Ace in the HoleEthan2008-07-18T06:00:25Z2008-07-18T06:00:25Z<p>Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun, even though I usually <em>hate</em> poker puns. Truly though, he is. I wrote about the Massachusetts congressman recently--he's the guy who is trying to reverse the UIGEA. He doesn't play poker or gamble. Instead, he's against the UIGEA based on his views about personal freedom, summed up thusly:</p><p>"If it affects me, mind your own business. If affects others, let the government get involved."</p><p><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/07/13/unlikely_ace_for_online_gambling/">Here's a great article</a> on who he is and what he's trying to do. And if you've got a few extra bucks, <a href="http://www.barneyfrank.net/">donating</a> to his campaign is probably a good idea.</p>Ethan2008-07-18T06:00:25ZThe machines are coming for us all: Polaris wins!Ethan2008-07-12T22:32:48Z2008-07-12T22:32:48Z<p>You may have read about Polaris last year, when the poker-playing AI program narrowly lost its match against two poker pros. Well, it's back, and <a href="http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208802992">this time it won</a>, with a score of 2 wins, one loss, and one draw.</p><p>Polaris was designed by the same team of computer scientists that <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1144079">solved checkers</a>. To solve a game, you have to build a database of every possible state and the best move to make in that state. This means that you have to know the complete state of the game at all times. Chess, othello, and mancala could also potentially be solved, although chess has orders of magnitude more possible states than checkers. Unlike these games, poker can't be solved since it you can't know the full state of the game all the time. This makes it a fascinating problem for computer science nerds like me.</p><p>What's interesting about this match is that Polaris is now learning and switching strategies:</p><blockquote><p>Before the Las Vegas match, this newest version of Polaris had only played two matches against champion poker players, resulting in one loss and one victory. Polaris repeated the pattern of improving as it learned, falling to humans in the first two rounds, but defeating them in rounds three and four. "Repeatedly, I heard players exclaim that they had never seen a human do that before," said Bowling. "Switching strategies really threw the humans for a loop."</p></blockquote><p>Don't throw in the towel yet, though. The match Polaris played was quite contrived and was heads-up, which is a much simpler problem to tackle than multiple players. I'll be curious to see how well it will do multi-handed.</p>Ethan2008-07-12T22:32:48ZAB2026: Good NewsEthan2008-06-28T00:03:58Z2008-06-28T00:03:58Z<p>California Democrat assemblyman Lloyd E. Levine's bill to legalize and regulate online poker in California passed committee yesterday. You might recall that I blogged about this earlier (<a href="http://pokersoup.com/blog/pokercrat/show/online-poker-rooms-in-california-inch-forward">Online Poker Rooms In California Inch Forward</a>). The original bill was just intended to investigate the possibility of legalizing online poker, but Assemblyman Levine reworked it to directly make it legal. <a href="http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news/news/california-intrastate-online-poker-bill-clears-another-legislative-hurdle-30950.htm">Full story from pokerpages</a>.</p><blockquote><p>The California Gambling Control / Intrastate Online Poker Legalization Act (authored by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys) was approved by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee on Tuesday June 24 on a 6-1 vote, with amendments to move forward on drafting regulations and generating projections for potential revenue.</p><p>The Attorney General's Bureau of Gambling Control, the state Gaming Control Commission and the Legislative Counsel will now recommend a structure for the system, analyze potential revenue and draft regulations to be included in the bill's language as it moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee in August, its final stop before a Senate floor.</p></blockquote><p>Just one more committee, then on to a vote! Take that, federal regulations!</p>Ethan2008-06-28T00:03:58ZUIGEA: Bad NewsEthan2008-06-27T21:50:29Z2008-06-27T21:50:29Z<p><strong>Update:</strong> <a href="http://pokersoup.com/blog/artofcards/show/turns-out-we-arent-the-only-ones-who-hate-the-uigea">A bit of background</a></p><p>Looks like Peter King's (R-NY) amendment to H.R. 5767 that would have blunted the worst effects of the UIGEA <a href="http://luckynumbers.kansascity.com/?q=node/143">failed due to a tie vote in committee</a>:</p><blockquote><p>The King amendment responded to concerns raised by U.S. financial services companies about the burden and ambiguity in the proposed rules to implement UIGEA.</p><p>The updated bill would have required federal regulators to adopt formal rulemaking processes to define unlawful Internet gambling activities, to create a list of unlawful Internet gambling businesses, and to conduct an economic impact study on the costs for compliance.</p><p>The bill would have also forced the agencies to take into consideration the Paperwork Reduction Act and Regulatory Flexibility Act, current laws the proposed rules to enforce UIGEA failed to address.</p></blockquote><p>Basically, the current UIGEA rules are not properly defined and are largely unworkable, creating a burden on the financial institutions that will have to do the police work to enforce it. Peter King sought to define the rules in a workable manner, which of course would have meant relaxing the regulations.</p><p>Also via Lucky Numbers, we find anti-gambling Alabama representative Spencer Bachus <a href="http://luckynumbers.kansascity.com/?q=node/144">displaying his fundie cred</a>:</p><blockquote><p>Bachus issued the following statement: </p><p>"Today"s vote was a victory for young people because illegal Internet gambling brings the casino into their bedrooms and dorm rooms, sometimes with tragic consequences.</p><p>"Whatever else is said about it, illegal Internet gambling is a federal crime and a crime in all 50 states. Its most vulnerable victims are the young people who by the tens of thousands have been exposed to the risk of becoming compulsive, addictive gamblers."</p></blockquote><p>The only explanation I can think of really is the fundie angle: the right-wing religious groups need their red meat to keep voting for him, so he's helping them out.</p><p>Meanwhile, the vast majority of normal people who want to play poker online can't, thanks to this guy and his warped reality. Memo to Rep. Bachus: people will gamble anyway. Just like the war on drugs, the UIGEA will be ineffectual and costly to implement.</p><p>Of course, if you really wanted to help young people out, you could increase their educational opportunities. I'm sure Rep. Bachus would support more federal funding for education.</p><p><a href="http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Spencer_Bachus.htm#Education">Oh, wait</a></p><p>Yup, he voted against an additional $10.2B for federal education and HHS projects (subsequently passed, then vetoed by Bush), and against $84 million in grants for Black and Hispanic colleges.</p>Ethan2008-06-27T21:50:29ZTime to Start Playing on Absolute PokerEthan2008-06-21T00:59:35Z2008-06-21T00:59:35Z<p>With a bad beat jackpot <a href="http://sports-odds.com/poker/062008-bad-beat-jackpot-approaches-the-million-dollar-mark.html">nearing $1 million</a>, it might be worth it to spend some of your online hours there:</p><blockquote><p>This jackpot shattered all industry records, including the largest Bad Beat Jackpot record of $739,621 previously held by Party Poker. But the big question everyone is asking now is whether the AP jackpot will reach the million dollar mark before someone wins it? </p></blockquote>Ethan2008-06-21T00:59:35ZSee, Poker Isn't Only About Evil GamblingEthan2008-06-20T03:59:55Z2008-06-20T03:59:55Z<p>And I thought poker was the devil's work:</p><blockquote><p>The Budding Ivey Foundation was founded by Phil Ivey and his mother Pamela Simmons Ivey to continue the noble efforts of Ivey"s late Grandfather, Leonard "Bud" Simmons. Simmons, a true Statesman, was dedicated to helping his fellow citizens by showing them the ways to help themselves.</p></blockquote><p>Full story <a href="http://pokerroad.com/news.php?id=460">here</a>. Sounds great if you've got $1000 to burn for a good cause. I wonder if it's tax deductible.</p>Ethan2008-06-20T03:59:55Z