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How to Play Pocker

March 1, 2006

Legal gaming is heavily regulated and Internet gambling is illegal in Illinois, though anyone with a credit card, online access and a search engine can quickly find a place to learn how to play pocker or other games. Nelson Rose, a professor of law at Whittier Law School in California and a leading expert on gambling, said the Collegiate Pocker Tour Events seem to fall within the letter of the law because students don't risk their money and don't have to pay an entry fee to participate in the games.

The previous version of Goodlatte's bill would have made it illegal to use the Internet for partypocker gambling and give law enforcement officials the authority to stop credit card payments to offshore Internet gambling sites. Most, if not all, of the credit card companies today do not allow such activities already and, as such, the bill would be a moot point. The bill is being restructured, however, and has co-sponsorship in the House of Representatives by fellow Virginia Representatives Republicans Rick Boucher and Frank Wolf. Full details of this restructured bill should be known by next week. While ensuring the safety of consumers is an important angle in international transactions, this attempt at the banning of online pocker gaming will ultimately fall short of its goal. Since the financial institutions of the United States have already limited the usage of credit cards for gaming transactions, all the bill would do is provide for a legal arm to a problem that doesn't exist. Arresting people for playing free pocker or entering the online casinos of the Internet would violate every principle that has made America what it is today.

Rather than continuing a fruitless search in a vain attempt to outlaw learning how to play pocker, perhaps the U. S. government should look to the most logical way to benefit from the current online gaming situation. By enacting regulation to allow these companies to operate in the United States everyone would benefit, from the additional tax revenues in the federal and state coffers to the American stock markets to invest in and benefit from the largess that these online casinos and pocker rooms are taking in to the customers themselves, assured of an atmosphere and stability that has long been questioned by some. This seems to be something that has been missed in the thinking of those that are currently in charge of the pocker games today and, unfortunately, doesn't show many signs of changing. Allan Goehring bested a pro field which included Phil Helmuth, T.J. Cloutier, Jennifer Harman, Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindren, Amir Vahedi, Chip Reese, Cindy Violette, Gavin Smith, Barry Greenstein, Antonio Esfandiari, J.C. Tran, Jim Bechtel, Dan Harrington, Huck Seed, Erik Siedel, Gus Hanson, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Unibomber Phil Laak, and World #1 ranked player Mike (the grinder) Mizrachi (who are all professional online pocker players).

Noteable players on hand included Lakers' owner Jerry Buss, movie stars Gabe Kaplan and James Woods, and Nashville recording artist Joe-Joe Bentry. Joe-Joe Bentry best known for his forever controversial Vatican music video entitled "Trouble From Rome", was ringside at the money presentation and subsequent sponsors' beer toast, when "Courtney", the new pocker pin-up girl (replacing Shana Hiatt) candidly announced, "This Bud's For You" and handed over her beer to Joe-Joe Bentry, who wasted no time hoisting it up and approving the taste of BUDWEISER alongside anchor man Vince Van Patten.

All in all, a free pocker tournament for Allan Goehring who chaulks up his second win on the World Pocker Tour. The next tour stop is February 27th at Bay 101 in San Jose, then the World Pocker Challenge at the Reno Hilton on March 27th, culminating with the WPT CHAMPIONSHIP at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on April 18th, wrapping up the season. The WPT championship is expected to draw over 600 contestants who will each anti up $25,000 U.S. to take a shot at the anticipated $5 Millon U.S. winners' cheque and the tour title.