After poker players lined up in force against the Commerce Casino’s stand against online poker legislation, it would have been a fairly good bet that the other California card-rooms would take a different approach, especially considering the Poker Players Alliance newly created website, PlayersBeforeProfits.com is flirting with their 10,000 signature goal for their “Open Letter to Commerce Casino”.
Unfortunately for proponents of online poker, a number of other California card-rooms have taken the Commerce’s side. Among the casinos expressing their support for Commerce’s stance are the Bicycle Casino, Hollywood Park, and Hawaiian Gardens.
Not only is the Commerce Casino still opposed to online poker legislation, but two top level board members, Haig Papaian and Tom Malkasian, have fired back at the Poker Players Alliance’s claims that they are “greedy, betrayers of the poker community” by calling the PPA, “special interest groups receiving funds from illegal offshore gaming operators.”
Malkasian, who testified before Congress against online poker legislation, told PokerNewsDaily.com:
“Federal and state regulation of online poker is coming and we can either fight to ensure that poker players’ interests are protected or allow illegal foreign operators, who are siphoning millions of American dollars out of this country, to dominate the U.S. market”
“If domestic card casinos do not defend themselves from offshore interests, we stand to lose not only revenue but also the loss of jobs. We are against the Frank and McDermott bills. (The) Poker Players Alliance should be against this, too.”
The PPA has also stayed the course, and fired back at the Commerce Casino through Executive Director John Pappas who reiterated the PPA’s previous comments that the Commerce Casino’s stand was entirely based on the bottom line: “It’s pretty clear their only concern is that they don’t want to compete.”
It should also be pointed out that the Commerce Casino was among a group of land-based card-rooms who attempted to push through a state sponsored bill that would have legalized and regulated online poker and given Commerce and the other California Card-Rooms the chance to get their online poker sites up and running without having to contend with the major players already in the market.
Malkasian pointed this out in the Commerce Casino’s official statement as well: “Poker players deserve to know the real facts so let us be clear: We support online poker and we are working hard to make sure it will benefit all Americans. America’s poker community should be united in opposing the Frank legislation that would ship jobs, revenue, and taxes beyond our communities. We need to work together to keep American dollars at home.”
Obviously this in-fighting is precisely what poker players do not need as online poker legislation gets closer. Hopefully the two sides can reach some sort of agreement that will be satisfactory to both sides, and all poker businesses and lobbiests can stand before Congress united and ready to take on poker’s real enemies.
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Written by Gerry Poltorak on August 31st, 2010