Barton Brings a Bill

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I like that the short (ahem) title of this 101-page document is Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA (which, itself, stands for 'Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act') Act of 2011. You can read the Act for yourself, here.

Seriously? I mean, come on. It took up three lines just to type that thing, guys. The initials alone make up a 9-letter acronym: IGPPCPSUA. Which, if said aloud, would sound something like "iggpeepeeceepeesewa." 

That's not going to work, people. 

Accordingly, I propose: GMTFBO, which...well, I'll let you wiggle out what that stands for (I will personally send a homemade music CD or, if you'd rather, a PokerLawyer t-shirt (yeah, it'll be homemade, too),  to the first person who guesses my acronym in the comments below).

It's 100 pages, so I'm still in the process of reading it, but @NoahSD over at Subject:Poker has done a nice initial review and there are already good articles on the interwebs, like this one, from @OskarGarcia. [Edit - @PokerScout1 also has a good analysis, which you can read here.]

I know what you're wondering: "So when's it going to pass so I can GMTFBO?!" This may help:

On a serious note (and especially if you live in Texas, since the bill lets states decide whether to participate, and, um, Rick Perry is our Governor), you should still contact your representatives by telephone and email to let them know you support it. When Black Friday hit, I wrote a Do Something post that contains all the information you need to know what to say and to whom to say it. You can bypass that link and go here if you just want to know who your reps are.

I'm not holding my breath, but I do think it's good news. Plus, it's Friday.

On that note, go ahead. Show us your cocktails (#SUYC).

Another Representative Responds

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So my Congressman, "Quico" Canseco, a former banker, had this to say to my plea to legalize online poker (to view it better, just click on the pic and it should pop out for easier reading):

Really, Quico? 

Sigh.  Lots of other, wiser, bloggers have opined at just how futile it is to write letters to representatives.  And while I do tend to agree, I'm also of a mind that if you don't ask, you don't get.  Plus, if you've read my blog since its inception, you know I like to write me some letters. 

All total, I wrote to Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Cornyn, Governer Rick Perry, Quico Canseco, Jeff Wentworth, and Lyle Larson. I've played poker with at least one of these individuals on several occasions in private, local games here in town (I'm curious if they'll be at the game Saturday). So far, only Kay Bailey and Quico have responded.  That's pretty lame, but I guess it's not surprising.

@PokerGrump had a great article (here), in which he says:

The only way to get the freedom to play poker genuinely secure in the long term is to achieve a broad consensus not about poker specifically, but on the general principle that we will be a truly free society, meaning one in which we do not seek to control each other's conduct. With the caveat that there be no use of fraud or force, people should be free to expend their money, time, and energy however the hell they choose to.

But how do we get to that point?  @PokerGrump's solution is to "elect people who agree that individual liberty is the paramount value, to be restricted as little as possible consistent with ordered society."

Would that it were that easy. 

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