Internet poker players want new deal

The Poker Players Alliance is betting $3 million that it can overturn an Internet gambling ban or at least carve out an exemption that would legalize and regulate online poker.

The alliance, chaired by former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, New York Republican, says it plans to spend that much on lobbying in this session of Congress. The group gets its money from the Interactive Gaming Council, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based trade association for online casinos, as well as from its poker-player members.

The alliance is up against some tough competition. The National Football League says gambling threatens the integrity of its games and has made preserving the Internet ban a priority in Washington. Last year, the league hired a full-time lobbyist and started a political action committee to make campaign donations.

At issue is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which Congress passed at the end of 2006. The law aimed to curb online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments by credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers.

At least half of the $16 billion Internet gambling industry, which is largely hosted on overseas sites, is estimated to be fueled by bettors in the United States.

In the last congressional session, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, pushed unsuccessfully to repeal the ban. The Massachusetts Democrat plans to try again soon, a committee spokeswoman said.

The colorful and outspoken Mr. D’Amato was a natural choice to lead the Poker Players Alliance even though it was his former Republican colleagues who pushed the 2006 gambling ban. As a senator, Mr. D’Amato organized poker games with staffers and lobbyists in his office.

“We’d order pizza or Chinese, and we would play until the session was over. Sometimes it would end at 10:30, 11,” he recalled in an interview. “And maybe we’d play an hour or two later. It was a lot of fun. And in those days, we were even allowed to smoke cigars in federal buildings.”

Mr. D’Amato lost his re-election race to Democrat Charles E. Schumer in 1998. Since then, a lot of poker playing has moved to the Internet.

“How dare you come into my house and tell me what I can and can’t do on the Internet,” Mr. D’Amato said, citing online activities from business transactions to Facebook participation, even bragging about the number of friends he has on the social-networking site — more than 700.

“The Republican conservatives, who basically say” — at this point, he shifts his tone to a mock nagging voice — “‘We want less government,’ come in and intrude, and they say, ‘No, you can’t do this.’”

“It’s a cause for personal choice and freedom that I’ve always thought epitomizes what this country’s about,” added Mr. D’Amato, who plays poker Monday nights at Oheka Castle, a hotel and estate on Long Island.

The NFL sees things differently.

“We are opposed to more gambling on our games, which is what would occur if the 2006 law was overturned,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an e-mail.

“We understand that illegal gambling currently occurs, but there is little we can do about that,” he said. “However, we can exercise our right to oppose Internet betting on our games. … Gambling on our games — online or off-line — threatens the integrity of our games and all the values they represent.”

Story Continues →