Official Skatz 10 Million Views Thread

[PokerNewsDaily]

In late June, Congressman Joe Barton (R – Texas) introduced a new bill in the United States House of Representatives aimed at legalizing and regulating online poker. The bill, the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011, was well received by the poker community and co-sponsored by, amongst others, Rep. Barney Frank (D – Mass.) and Rep. John Campbell (R – Calif.), who had previously introduced their own bill. Last week, eGaming Review reported that not all parties associated with gaming are thrilled with the bill, though. The American Gaming Association (AGA), an organization which represents the commercial gaming industry, will not extend its support to Barton’s bill.

Instead, the AGA is penning its own poker-only bill, hoping to introduce it in the fall, once Congress returns from summer recess. One of the main goals of the bill is to give oversight of the domestic online gaming industry to the federal government while delegating, as AGA head Frank Fahrenkopf put it, “the licensing and regulatory authority to those states that have the longest history in gaming regulation, that have the law enforcement on staff and the financial wherewithal to do tough regulation. Probably, that only means Nevada and New Jersey.”

Fahrenkopf is annoyed with individual states’ attempts to start up online gambling industries within their own borders, skeptical of their ability to have enough of a player base to sustain games.

One difference between the Barton and AGA bills is one which poker players will not like. While the Barton bill is an “opt-out” bill, meaning that if it becomes law, online poker will be legal in all states unless those states specifically choose to stay out of the game, the AGA bill will be an “opt-in” bill. In that case, online poker will not get the green light in a state until that state makes the decision to allow its residents to play.

“States would not automatically be included as states where you can gamble online with online poker. State legislators and governors would have to take affirmative action to say, we want our people to game,” said Fahrenkopf.

As doing nothing is typically easier than taking action, poker players generally feel it is better if state legislators have to do something to block poker in their states, rather than just being able to sit around and have it remain illegal.

The other tent pole of the AGA bill is the exclusion of poker rooms who continued to serve U.S. customers after the UIGEA was passed in the fall of 2006. Those companies would be barred for at least two years. According to Fahrenkopf, this was the biggest reason why Senator Harry Reid’s (D – Nev.) attempt at introducing legislation in October failed.

“Sheldon Adelson [Las Vegas Sands chairman and CEO] was personally offended by the fact there would not be a ‘penalty box’ by some,” Fahrenkopf said to eGaming Review. “He called leaders in both houses, as did Steve Wynn at the time. That was before Steve had his epiphany with regard to internet gaming. A very substantial epiphany that he had.”

Despite the AGA’s lack of support for the Barton bill, Fahrenkopf said that his organization is not actively opposing it.



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[PokerNews]

Missed out on the main event? Play in our exclusive money added, deep structured PokerNews Main Event this Sunday.

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[BluffMagazine]

Each day at the Rio we spend hours scouring over Twitter finding the best 140 character-or-less thoughts from all your favorite poker personalities. During the WSOP players take to Twitter for all the beats, brags and variance. You can follow all the pros on our special [...]

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[WickedChopsPoker]

Doug Polk (right foreground) finished Day 2A just shy of 100,000 chips.


NOTE: For a full Day 2A recap, go here.

2011 WSOP Main Event Day 2A started with 2,031 and lost over half the field, as 822 survived.

Russian Aleksandr Mozhnyakov ended play as big stack with 478,600. He’s followed by Tuan Vo with 434,500.

One of the more interesting stories was the “tale of two empty seats.” First,Phil Hellmuth saw almost half of his stack blinded off before arriving. Hellmuth thought he was playing Day 2B. However, he kept the emotions in check and surged up to over 64,000 chips by the end of the day. On the other end of the spectrum, Carter Gill watched his entire 55k+ stack blinded off. Gill, known for drunken belligerence, was banned from Caesars properties on Sunday and wasn’t allowed to play on Monday.

Read more about the above and all other Day 2A news here.

Get full chip counts here.

And more of Doug Polk’s girl Elaine Forshee (aka Playboy Cyber Girl Nicolette Shea – WARNING–NSFW) here.











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[CardPlayer]

Day 2B of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event is set to get underway in a matter of hours, and Card Player TV is here to bring you a preview of the day, as well as a recap of Day 2A complete with the top chip counts, info on notables with big stacks, and an interview with Chris Moore, who finished the day 8th in chips.

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[Big Gay Al]

Ellie is a miniature Australian labradoodle. She is a sweetheart and absolutely loves to cuddle, but her favorite place to nap is right next to the toilet! Ellie adores her people and hates to let them out of her sight. Her favorite things are peanut butter, ice cubes, water bottles, and Toms shoes. She loves to play fetch and she is always up for a swim in the ocean. We could not have asked for a more loving and well-behaved pup!

Click for more pictures and comments...

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[Carl Culture]

Today's Criminal Mind is Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. He was a mobster who was in charge of the mafia's Murder Inc. He was a pretty nasty hit man, and was responsible for a lot of crime in the 1920's. He was caught and brought to justice, being executed in the electric chair in 1944 in New York's Sing Snig prison.


The thing I find fascinating about the picture is that he "looks" like a criminal. I bet that if I showed you this picture and asked you what you thought about the person, you would say he was a criminal. What is it about him that makes him look like a thug? Also interesting is that if you did not guess he was a criminal, you probably would have guessed he was a politician.






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[Carl Culture]

A cactus bee (Diadasia sp.) pollinates a barrel cactus in Tucson, Arizona.See more pictures from the March 2011 feature story Gold Dusters.





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[Percy The Perv]

Monte Carlo Bikini Stills 368x370 27kb





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[Percy The Perv]

We decided to subtitle this post LEERING AT LYCRA, because CELEBRITY CROTCH WATCH just seemed to on the nose, or on the toe, if you will. Plus, you know, my grandma reads this thing.

Oh, perhaps there's something inherently perverse about peeking at the nether regions of a sexy celebrity clad in skintight Spandex. And, sure, maybe, there's better things that can be done with one's free time than ogling the stretch pant covered lady nest of most sextastic supermodels. But, honestly, I just can't think of what that might be.

So, join me if you will.Slack-jawedwe shall remain, mouths agape, breathing heavily, pulses rapid, galvanic skin responses mildly humid, checking out the awesome Gisele Bundchen leaving the gym in her workout wear. We shall do so without remorse. And we shall do so while slowly eating a NestléDrumsticks®. We are Egotastic! Today, we are free. Enjoy.



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