Wexler Poker Skill Carveout for UIGEA

Florida Congressman Robert Wexler has introduced a bill in Congress to carve out an exemption for poker in the Federal Wire Act of 1961. This skill games carveout would apply to enforcement of the UIGEA law passed in 2006, because the UIGEA simply created a viable means to enforce the Wire Act.

Wexler's bill argues that poker is a game of skill, not of chance. Since it is a game of skill, poker should not be included in the list of other casino games which depend almost entirely on the luck of the cards.

This bill is call the Skill Game Protection Act. It hopes to cover games like poker, chess, mahjong and bridge. If the bill succeeds, online payment processing companies will be able to transact money transfers between poker players and online poker rooms. The Poker Players Alliance already has come out in favor of the bill.

But the question remains; can House Rep. Wexler make his case?

POKER IS A SKILL

Wexler is right, of course. Anyone who has played poker for any length of time knows this to be true. Poker professionals like Doyle Brunson haven't made a living playing poker all these years because they're lucky.

It's because they have the skill to consistently win the game. Skilled poker play isn't only about knowing the mathematical probabilities of the game. The skill poker players need is the ability to "put a player on a hand". That is, you need to study your opponent and know when that opponent is playing a hand from strength or weakness. Reading an opponent is a skill.

Masking your own intentions is the opposite side of the coin. This is also a skill. Varying your bets enough to make yourself unpredictable is important. Making sure your opponent can't read you requires what can best be described acting skill. Bluffing a player out of a hand, or knowing when to lay down a hand, are all skills.

Robert Wexler is talking about the game-within-the-game, which all of us poker players know about. Poker isn't simply a matter of getting lucky cards.

OTHER GAMBLING LEGISLATION

The SGPA is the fourth gambling legislation bill introduced this session of Congress. Barney Frank introduced the IGREA bill. Jim McDermott sponsored a companion bill to the IGREA which would install a 2% tax on IGREA-regulated gambling. Shelley Berkley wants a year long study about the dangers of gambling.

All of this activity is a sign of the interest in reasonable gambling regulation in the U.S. Outlawing poker will simply drive it underground, while regulating could lead to billions of dollars in tax revenues.

Wexler Poker Skill Carveout for UIGEA