Players seek to eliminate restraint on poker online

WASHINGTON -- Poker is a game of skill and not luck, a panel of lobbyists, academics and gamblers argued Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

The distinction involves a pot potentially worth tens of millions of dollars.

Federal law classifies poker as "a game subject to chance," and for such games it bars the transfer of funds from a financial institution to an Internet gambling site.

That means online poker players can't use credit cards -- a major obstacle for the use of increasingly popular Internet gambling sites. While Internet gambling is illegal in the United States, offshore poker sites have used MasterCard and Visa as international modes of wagering.

Leaders of the Poker Players Alliance, claiming 800,000 members nationwide, visited congressional offices and sponsored Wednesday's forum in an effort to persuade lawmakers to change the law. Professional poker champions Chris Moneymaker, Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, Andy Bloch, Vanessa Rousso, Chris Brown and Victor Ramdin were among those making the pitch.

High-stakes card tournaments televised by ESPN have made national celebrities of many players of Texas Hold 'Em and other poker variations.

"We're poker players. We're here to speak to our legislative representatives," said Charles Nesson, a professor at Harvard Law School and founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

The poker alliance supports a bill sponsored by Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., called the Skill Game Protection Act. It would exempt poker, mah-jongg, chess, bridge and other games in which contestants compete against each other rather than the "house" from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

"Poker is a game, not a crime," Wexler said. "Millions of Americans enjoy competing with each other in games of skill on the Internet. We should protect the freedom of law-abiding adults to participate in these great American pastimes."

These "games of skill" would not violate the federal law against "bets and wagers" on the Internet, Wexler explained. The law already exempts horse and harness racing, fantasy sports and lotteries.