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D’Amato Never Folds

For years, Alfonse M. D’Amato, the former Republican senator from New York, was the host at a Thursday evening poker game at his Capitol Hill office, playing with other lawmakers, staff members and lobbyists late into the night over pots that ranged from a few dollars to a few hundred.
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Once New Yorkers collectively informed Mr. D’Amato that it was time to find a new line of work, he graduated to a higher-stakes game, playing with Howard Stern, among others. He is now a stalwart of a weekly game on Long Island where a bad night might mean that a player drops $5,000 or more.

As Mr. D’Amato tells it, and as his card-playing cronies confirm, he rarely leaves a game a loser. Yet it is a safe bet that his love of poker never proved so lucrative as it did last week, when he signed a lobbying deal with the Poker Players Alliance, a nascent group that hopes that Mr. D’Amato will help them become players in Washington politics, too.

Most immediately, the group is hoping that Mr. D’Amato, long known for his connections to Washington insiders and his ability to deliver perks to his constituents and interest groups, can help them overturn a new federal ban on Internet gambling — or at least exempt poker from its provisions.

“John Smith, maybe he doesn’t have the financial means or the ability” to travel to a casino, Mr. D’Amato said, gesturing with his hands and speaking volubly in his trademark accent. “The poor guy at home can’t bet $50 because we pass this law.”

The first big assault on poker players came in October when President Bush signed a bill aimed at online gambling by making it a crime to use credit cards or online payment systems for poker and other online casino games and sports betting conducted over the Internet. The law did not make it impossible or illegal for Americans to bet online, but it did make it trickier for players to get their cash to the offshore casinos that run the Internet sites.

“I think it’s fair to say that most poker players see themselves as nonpolitical,” said Walt Thiessen, 49, an entrepreneur from Warrenton, Va., who recently joined the alliance. “But the more that the government does to impede poker players, the more angry and frustrated they’re going to become.”

The booming popularity of poker has spawned any number of cable television shows and made media figures of professionals like Chris Moneymaker and Daniel Negreanu. Tens of millions of Americans play, primarily in home games but also at casinos, legal and illegal card rooms, and at scores of Web sites.

So perhaps it was inevitable that poker enthusiasts would assert themselves as another special interest demanding to be heard in Washington. The Poker Players Alliance, which says it has more than 160,000 members, most paying at least $20 to join the group, will open an office in Washington in the next two months “to oversee our political efforts there,” the group’s president, Michael Bolcerek, said. It hopes to build a grassroots organization whose political presence is felt in all 50 states, he said.

But even though Mr. D’Amato’s involvement in the lobbying effort is bound to generate plenty of talk, it is not expected to lead to overturning the new law anytime soon.

Moreover, Mr. D’Amato, for all his ability to attract attention and parlay his reputation into big money, may not have much sway in a Democratic-controlled Congress preoccupied with war, budget deficits and presidential politics. There is little interest there at the moment in turning back to a subject decided a year ago, when Republicans ruled.

Mr. D’Amato and his backers, said I. Nelson Rose, law professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif., and an expert on gambling law, “think they have a pair of queens. But what have they really got? They don’t even have a pair.”

Still, former Representative Jim Leach, an Iowa Republican and one of the authors of the Internet gambling ban, said that Mr. D’Amato certainly added heft to the effort.

“Don’t ever underestimate Al,” he said on hearing of Mr. D’Amato’s role.

Certainly, Mr. D’Amato’s poker buddies have learned that lesson. “He’s tenacious, he’s fearless and he’s aggressive,” said Gary Melius, the host of the Monday game where Mr. D’Amato is now a regular. “He’s also really good at reading people.”

Subtlety has never been Mr. D’Amato’s long suit, and he has already embraced his new role with characteristic fervor. During an interview in his offices in a high-rise on Park Avenue in Manhattan, Mr. D’Amato did not answer questions about online poker as much as filibuster on the issue.

To him the implications of prohibiting online poker are profound, touching on matters as wide ranging as the war on terrorism, national security, the rights of the elderly and the handicapped and equal protection under the law. At times, he pounded his desk to make his point.
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The money being spent to outlaw poker and enforce the ban, Mr. D’Amato said, could be better spent “in the battle against money laundering, trafficking in drugs, or trafficking in terrorism.”

He takes issue with Congress’s decision to lump in poker, a game of skill as well as luck, with games of pure chance like roulette and craps. “It’s really a great sport,” Mr. D’Amato said, perhaps the country’s favorite sport. “You don’t have 70 million people participating in baseball.”

It is not clear that poker has 70 million players, either. The alliance’s own source for that statistic, Paul Lauzon of Ipsos Reid, a market research firm, said that less than half that number --­ 29 million --­ played poker for money last year.

But one of his trademark tactics is throwing around numbers that might or might not be considered, well, a bluff. He talks of the million players who have already joined the poker association — a misstatement that prompted his handler, presidential style, to clarify that what the former senator meant is that the group hoped one day soon to have that many names on its rolls.

After New York voters replaced Mr. D’Amato with Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat, in 1998, the former senator opened Park Strategies, a lobbying and corporate strategy firm whose client list includes banks, telecommunications companies and a few racetrack owners.

He acknowledged that he did not understand the impulse that prompted a person to place a wager on a horse. But he spoke rhapsodically about the sense of community that poker has fostered in his life, and the banter, camaraderie and friendly competition that can make the game so engaging.

The intimacy of the game, in fact, produced some political headaches for Mr. D’Amato while he was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee after an article in The New York Times disclosed that he had invited lobbyists to play in his office. That gave extraordinary access, some charged, to those representing banks, securities firms and other financial institutions.

Mr. D’Amato has a different view, defending his activity as an innocent pastime that followed in the footsteps of President Harry S. Truman’s poker games with cronies. “It was a great way to while the time away — to have fun and talk politics,” he said.

Plenty of Americans are still playing poker online, if no longer at sites run by publicly traded companies, which fear reprisals from Washington despite being based overseas.

Instead, online players have shifted to smaller, privately owned sites. They are forced to find other means for transferring money in and out of their accounts, given that the new law more closely monitors financial institutions processing wagers.

“I play as much now as I did before the ban,” said Ethan Ruby, a member of the poker alliance who lives and works in Manhattan. Mr. Ruby said he simply took the money he had on account at PartyPoker, his old site, and transferred it to Full Tilt. He then linked his poker account to his checking account instead of a credit card.

“It’s a much more tedious process now,” Mr. Ruby said.

Still, it only took a few days. “You can’t cork this,” Mr. D’Amato said. “You can’t stop this through some silly bill.”

Online poker will only go further underground, he continued, providing an opening for unscrupulous foreign operators seeking to take advantage of the hunger of Americans to play poker.

“When you have regulation, where you have openness, you can ensure you have a game that won’t be unfairly cut or disadvantaged or manipulated,” Mr. D’Amato said. You can also tax the winnings of players whose ups and downs are tracked online, a figure the poker alliance puts potentially in the billions.

Mr. Rose, the law professor, while doubtful of the chances for the lobbying effort in the short run, said Mr. D’Amato and his backers would be well served in keeping the issue alive until there is more interest in the matter. “If they stay active the next two years,” he said, “then there could be a serious bill” to carve out an exception for poker.

Certainly, Mr. D’Amato has staying power.

“The later the game goes, the more Al is going to win,” said Larry Elovich, a Long Island lawyer who said he has been playing poker on and off with Mr. D’Amato for 50 years. “He has the ability to stay awake when the rest of the players are all tired.”

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ePassporte.com remains an option for U.S. players

By Ryan McLane
29 January 2007


ePassporte.com remains a viable e-wallet service for U.S. Internet poker players, although new customers can expect some significant delays when trying to establish a functional account.

The service is one of the few financial processors remaining for American online gamblers. NETeller, Citadel, INSTAdebit and InstaCash all left the U.S. market following the arrests of NETeller co-founders Stephen Lawrence and John LeFebvre by U.S. authorities.

Click2Pay, one of the largest online gaming processors, still accepts American transactions, but does not allow players from the U.S. to open new accounts.

Major sites accepting ePassporte include Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Ultimate Bet, and Doyle's Room.

ePassporte test run

A Casino City reporter attempted to sign up for a new ePassporte account on Wednesday, Jan. 15. The registration process was simple, requiring basic user information and a verification email. This part went smoothly and an account was established within minutes.

But loading money into the new account was a completely different story. First, the reporter needed to wait until ePassporte made micro-deposits into a designated bank account.

After checking the bank account every day for 10 days, the long-awaited micro-deposits arrived on Jan. 25.

Once the amounts of the micro-deposits were verified by ePassporte in a simple Web form, the reporter was then asked to load his account with money from the bank account.

The reporter attempted a $50 deposit and received a message that the transaction will require up to seven business days to complete.

While the process is a far cry from the Instacash options once available through NETeller, ePassporte does remain a choice for patient gamers looking to reload their online casino accounts.

Absolute finds a way

Other sites, like Absolute Poker, are also finding ways to get players their money.

The same Casino City reporter signed up for a new Absolute Poker account after hearing that they process debit card transactions for American players.

The reporter went through the normal process of signing up for a player account. Once that was done, the reporter chose the Visa-card option under the Cashier tab and attempted to load $50 into the new account.

The Visa-debit card transaction went through, but a message appeared asking the reporter to call and verify the information.

The phone call took 30 minutes from start to finish, but once completed, Absolute Poker allowed the reporter to use his $50 on the site along with a 100 percent bonus for signing up.

There was one caveat. If the reporter wants to continue processing transactions at Absolute Poker, including withdrawals, he must send in a form with information that includes a rubbing of the actual debit card.

PokerListings.com Offers the Latest Breaking News and Opinions on NETeller and More

PokerListings.com, the world's largest online poker guide, has the most up-to-the-minute, accurate and relevant information on all the latest events transpiring in the poker world. They have the latest on payment-processing options for American players, poker rooms committed to the American market, and insight and opinion from inside the poker industry on NETeller, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and everything of interest to the contemporary poker player.

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (PRWeb) January 25, 2007 -- As the world's largest online poker guide, PokerListings.com has helped support and foster the online poker-playing community since 2003, and is committed to providing up-to-the-minute, accurate and relevant information on all the latest events transpiring in the poker world

The arrests of NETeller founders Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre -- and the subsequent withdrawal of some e-wallet providers from the American market -- have naturally led to dramatic speculation and unfounded observation from questionable authorities as to the present and future of online poker.

Most of the rumors couldn't be further from the truth. All of the major poker rooms -- UltimateBet, Bodog.com, PokerStars.com, Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker -- have indicated they remain committed to American players, and all have continued to accept deposits, pay out accounts and process transactions for their players with little difficulty.

A few e-wallet providers have temporarily withdrawn from processing new accounts until recent legislation surrounding the UIGEA is clarified, but most are still able to process payouts to existing American accounts. Plenty of options continue to be available for poker room transactions including Click2Pay, ePassporte, EcoCard and Western Union, to name just a few. New payment options are springing up quickly alongside the old stand-bys, tournaments are proceeding as planned and millions of poker players around the world, within the United States and without, remain committed to their game.

Poker players the world over turn to PokerListings.com daily for all the critical information they need and have come to expect from the online poker resource. Regular updates on the status of all the major poker rooms, payment processors and the current situation as it unfolds will continue to be posted, not to mention the same great editorial content on everything of interest to poker players including ongoing live and online tournament coverage from around the world.

About PokerListings.com
PokerListings.com (http://www.pokerlistings.com) was launched in 2003 and quickly became the largest online poker guide. This free-to-use website provides poker players across the globe with in-depth analysis of all major online poker rooms as well as the world's best online poker deals, including sign-up bonuses and promotional offers, and detailed content on poker strategy, tournaments, news, and freerolls.

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U.S. Internet gambling deposit options shrinking

The list of payment processors for American gamblers is shrinking rapidly in the wake of money laundering charges being filed against NETeller co-founders Stephen Lawrence and John LeFebvre.

NETeller, the world's largest online payment processor for Internet gamblers, and Citadel pulled out of the U.S. market Wednesday night.

And over the weekend, INSTADEBIT left the U.S. entirely while Click2Pay pushed the pause button on allowing new American accounts.

"Account registrations and transfers to and from merchants from your country of residence are denied due to the U.S. law," a recorded message on INSTADEBIT's customer service line informs U.S. callers. "If you have a balance in your INSTADEBIT account, you can log in to your account profile and withdraw the balance to your bank account. Please contact security at security@instadebit.com with any further questions. Thank you."

And while Click2Pay is still allowing existing customers to conduct business as usual with Internet gambling sites, as of Jan. 19, they are no longer opening new accounts for U.S. customers. Click2Pay would not comment on whether it would change its policy or if it has a timeline in which to do so.

The sudden lack of options for American gamblers is a huge sea change in just a week's time. While Poker Stars lists 17 deposit methods, only one (ePassporte) still accepts U.S. customers. Full Tilt has also pulled several deposit options, with Click2Pay, ePassporte and MoneyGram cash transfers being the only remaining options for Americans.

Absolute Poker, however, has moved past third-party payment processors and into processing credit card transactions. Transactions are not coded as Internet gambling transactions, and instead are processed by an outside company that appears as GLOBAL with a 1-800 number on credit card statements.

Online Poker Room Review: Absolute Poker

Absolute Poker has been on a tear as of late, both in expanding their player base as well as their stable of site pros. Every night, over 15,000 players flock to Absolute's wide selection of cash games and tournaments. And if they're lucky, they might just get the chance to test their skills against top professionals and WSOP champions such as Mark Seif, Brandon Cantu, Sean McCabe, Casey Kastle, Lacey Jones and Card Player's 2006 Player of the Year Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi. On any given night you might find Sean McCabe check-raising you in a $25-50 limit hold'em game or Mark Seif demonstrating the art of the pressure raise in a no-limit tournament. And, if your game is sharp enough, you just might get to play the 2005 double-bracelet winner heads-up for a cool grand.


Each week, Absolute's tournament leader board winner is invited to participate in the exclusive "Mark Seif Shootout." Beat Seif headsup and you'll pocket $1,000. Players will also find Seif as well as many of Absolute's other resident pros in their $200+16, $100,000 guaranteed tournament which runs on Saturday afternoons. Better yet, each participating pro has a bounty on his or her head in this tournament. Knock out one, and win double your tournament buy-in.


Though most other online poker sites do offer a slightly larger starting stack in their big weekly tournaments (say, 2000 or 2500 chips instead of 1500), Absolute gives players even more room to maneuver with a 5000 chip starting stack. Satellites for players at every level are available for the $100K, including freeroll qualifiers which run five times a day.


Over a million dollars a month are awarded in Absolute's "guaranteed" tournaments. From a $5 NLHE freezeout that guarantees a $1500 prize pool to the $30 NLHE rebuy that guarantees $11,000, there is a choice for every bankroll. Sick of hold'em? Omaha 8/b, pot-limit Omaha, stud, stud 8/b, and razz multi-table tournaments are running all day and night. Absolute also spreads multiple daily rebuy tournaments, but with a cool twist not found on other sites.


Though players start with the typical 1500 chips, are allowed to rebuy throughout the first hour, and can take an add-on at the end of the rebuy period, Absolute offers a double add-on of 4000 chips as well as the typical single add-on of 2000. Deep stacks can also be found in Absolute's "super stack" tourneys, that offer 2500 chips to start, even at low buy-in levels.


Dreaming of playing in the World Series of Poker this summer? You can start your satellite quest early on Absolute, where Main Event qualifiers are already running. Players can directly buy in to Absolute's $100+8 NLHE satellites, which award $11,000 WSOP main event packages, or they can grind up that buy-in through sub-qualifiers with bargain basement prices. For only $1, a player can earn a seat into a $10 qualifier, which in turn awards seats to the $108 tourneys. What if you want to play poker on TV but without the stress of a $10K buy-in? Satellites to the nationally televised "Ultimate Poker Challenge" (currently underway at Binion's in downtown Las Vegas) are also running on Absolute. Winners of these satellites come away with buy-ins to three different Ultimate Poker Challenge events- two $330 buy-in events and a $660 buy-in event. Multi-table and sitn- go UPC qualifiers start at only $2.75.


Game stuck in a rut? Want to learn from some of the world's best? The WPT Boot Camp could be the answer you're looking for, and Absolute is running satellite tournaments that pay out camp prize packages. A $13 satellite could send you well on your way toward learning from poker's greatest players.


Absolute has also implemented an excellent VIP program that rewards their frequent players. A player can achieve one of three different levels (VIP, Platinum, or Elite) based on how many player points he or she accrues in a month. Absolute VIPs enjoy special freeroll tournaments, receive invites to VIP parties and events, earn their player points up to three times faster and gain access to Absolute's exclusive VIP store where they can use their points to purchase anything from tournament buy-ins to laptop computers, to a trip for 2 to Costa Rica.


Absolute Poker still welcomes U.S. players despite the passage of the anti-gambling legislation- in fact, their traffic has grown significantly ever since. Especially given their early-bird WSOP satellites, there has never been a better time to give the games at Absolute a try. You might just bust a bracelet winner in the process.

by Nicole Gordon filed under Card Rooms [Originally appeared in the January 22, 2007 issue of Poker Player]

For students, lure of money is everywhere

The poker players sparkle like celebrities on cable TV, often sitting coolly in sunglasses while raking in their chips.

The poker players sparkle like celebrities on cable TV, often sitting coolly in sunglasses while raking in their chips.

The gambling industry sells itself by marketing the kind of high-stakes wins that are routine for only a few. It's a potent lure, and one that many college students -- already high-risk takers -- pay attention to. Some marketing is aimed directly at them: "win your tuition" tournaments, fliers on campus kiosks, offers for fraternity fundraising.

It's not hard to find opportunities to gamble if you're a college student.

The start-up Sigma Pi fraternity at the University of Minnesota didn't even have a house yet when a poker website came calling last summer.

"I thought that your fraternity may be in need of some fundraising, and I might be able to help," read the e-mail from someone who works for Absolute Poker. The message offered to hold an online tournament and donate money for everyone who participated.

"To my knowledge, that was the first piece of advertising our fraternity received," fraternity treasurer Craig Bantz said.

Canterbury Park Racetrack and Card Club tries to bring young people into gaming responsibly so they become part of the park's customer base when they're older, said Kevin Gorg, media relations manager. "We're all about the long-term investment," he said. "We're not trying to, you know, scam people into getting involved with it on a short-term basis and diving in for money they can't afford to lose. We're all about educating our fans."

Absolute Poker and other websites have been aggressive in courting the college market. Absolute, for instance, advertised a "Win Your Tuition" tournament, internships in Costa Rica, jobs as campus representatives -- even a chance to be a "College Spokesmodel."

At the University of Minnesota, coupons offering a $100 sign-up bonus at www.partypoker.com were tucked into poker books at the campus bookstore last fall. University officials say the coupons violated bookstore policies, and they removed them.

Card Player magazine, around since 1998, published a college edition in 2005 and 2006. "There's a lot of 21-year-old kids who learn to play poker online and they become very, very good at the game very quickly," said Justin Marchand, who was executive editor of the college edition. Many participants in big poker events came from the college market, he said.


Pam Louwagie • plouwagie@startribune.com