Posted by Big Donkey | Filed under The Week at FTP
Last week we told you about an upcoming hearing on the viability of actually enacting and enforcing the UIGEA. Now we can tell you what happened.
Talk. Lots and lots of talk.
Really, that’s it. But, here’s the good thing – much of the talk was from people who say the UIGEA as currently written is, for all intents and purposes, completely unworkable. In short, the banking industry dislikes the law because it forces them to police their clients’ transactions and block those that might be earmarked for “illegal gaming”. What’s more, the Justice Department can’t even help make their lives easier by identifying what constitutes “illegal gaming”.
So, what does all this mean for us? For now, more of the same, but industry representatives and online poker proponents liked what they heard. As the Poker Players Alliance posted on their site, “… the hearing was a huge success that verified what the PPA and others have been saying all along: prohibition does not work. It also reaffirmed our position that there is no federal statute that would preclude someone from playing a game of skill, like poker, on the Internet.”
For even more reasoned commentary on the state of online poker, check out what two pretty bright guys name Andy and Chris had to say in Washington on the eve of last week’s hearing.
Sly Like a Fox(woods)
Wow, that was bad. Even by my standards. Sorry. Really, I am.
With that out of the way, I’ll get to meat of this entry which is this; Erik Seidel is having another good run at a high-profile tournament. As of this writing, Erik is sitting in 11th place out of 33 remaining players at the Foxwoods Poker Classic in lovely Ledyard, Connecticut.
When play resumes today, Erik will be sitting with 417,500 chips, which is about half as many as chip leader Allen Bari has in front of him. But with blinds at 4K/8K with a 1K ante, there’s still plenty of play left. And with eight WSOP bracelets to his name and only a couple of other name players left in the event (Paul Darden in 10th and Ted Forrest in 12th), we think Seidel has a pretty good chance of adding another trophy to his collection.
In news entirely unrelated to poker, Charlton Heston has passed away. If there is a heaven, hopefully they don’t let in those damn dirty apes. Otherwise, Chuck is in big trouble.
In honor of the passing of Moses, The Captain will now part the Red Sea and turn the doomswitch off (for a limited time only). Then we’ll stage a chariot race around the office because, well, we really have nothing better to do.
We’ll be back next week barring any life threatening injuries suffered in the race. And if one of us doesn’t make it we’ll have a nice supply of Soylent Green on hand. Mmmm, tastes like chicken…
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