Sunday, September 17, 2006

Although the Internet gambling bill is gaining momentum, politicians who
vote in favor of banning online gambling may be in serious jeopardy of
losing their jobs come election time.A lobbyist told EOG that the Internet
gambling bill is likely to pass.He states, "Disguised in a huge defense
bill, do you want to try and be the one guy to hold up a litany of programs
for troops and weapons because there is a small (and trust me, this is a
small thing in the big scheme) provision in it about online gambling?
Absolutely not. Granted, this isn't a spending bill (which is even more
necessary) but it is still a bill that is very hard to oppose on extraneous
merits.""Sorry I can't give you more than that, but this is a hard one to
analyze. I really think this is bad news."In an unprecedented move, several
large online gambling companies have written over one hundred thousand
letters to their customers urging them not to vote for anyone who supports
prohibition of Internet gambling this November. One spokesman for the
industry, Alan Baum stated, " We have reached out to our customer base,
which is largely US customers, and asked them to not vote for Senators or
any congressmen who support such archaic laws." "We will follow up in
October by furnishing all of these customers with the names of each
politician who voted in favor of the Internet gambling bill.

Baum continued by saying, "our mailing list is quite extensive alone, but
with the cooperation of three other online sports books, we have reached
over two hundred thousand voters this week. We also understand that the
Poker alliance has assisted in a telethon Tuesday, but we think this will
have a greater impact."

"Furthermore, we asked each of our customers to tell one Friend or family
member about what is going on at Capitol Hill. Together, we might not be
able stop the bill from passing this year, but we will make a difference in
November to some who don't recognize the number of Americans who love to
gamble online, whether it be Poker or on their favorite sports team."

"Our customers understand quite well that First is on a crusade for his own
personal agenda. It takes a lot of chutzpa to allow state lotteries and
horse racing to conduct business online, but outlaw other forms of
competition."

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