I have not written a blog here since last April! Wow…. where does the time go. My friend who wrote a few of the first blogs for me here has moved to Florida and he liked the stories I told him, so he posted a few for me. So now that he is gone all these words will be coming from MY keyboard and typed by MY fingers!

For my Poker friends I have only played a handful of tournaments this year. The twins are busy with Soccer and Basketball and this takes away many evenings for me. I have also been busy with the FallenHeroesUSA.org foundation and a car club I hang out with periodically.

So it’s no wonder this year has zoomed by and as we get ready to watch the Final Table, the November9 on ESPN this weekend I haven’t even been able to watch the pre-shows on Tuesday Nights leading up to this weekend due to my work schedule.

I have been playing cash games more so then ever and have enjoyed a little success, enough to keep me going back on a day off every now and then. However my passion for tournament Poker is beginning to fade with the lack of success I have had recently and the horrific beats I have taken in tournament play.

I have played for a full 5 years now and have won several small buy in events for a very good profit but a big major event here in LA has been hard to come by lately. I have been almost to the top of the mountain and would love to continue playing but my schedule and bankroll have for tournaments is a factor.

I have the next 6 days off and I am not even going to Vegas for the November9 and Commerce casino has the LA Open starting tomorrow November 3rd, but I doubt I’ll play until next week if at all.

My health is about 90% for those of you wondering I have been back to work since January 10th and I have only missed about 2 days due to illness since. We still have no overtime at work but we are very fortunate not to have lost any positions due to budget restraints for all businesses.

I have seen cycles like this before in our county and I am confident within the next few months our OT will return. This should help the bankroll a little …..

I work with a good group of deputies and we all get along which makes the days easier when you can depend on one another. We have been busy the past few months and short staffed but we have done the jobs we are asked to do.

I still have a rough time getting up at 3:15am every day I go to work and since the girls are in school it gives me a chance too get an hour nap in the afternoons when I get home which really helps.

As the holidays fast approach, please be aware of your surroundings a little more and make sure you do not leave anything visible in your car when you go out places. This only invites the thieves who are looking for easy pickings and are to lazy to find a job, so they need to steal from others who have worked hard for their money to buy things.

Be Safe Take Care

It has been a week since the DOJ closed down several on line Poker sites in the USA. There have been many opinions, stories and thoughts on their action and I have read several of them.

First and foremost let me say I feel terrible for all the reporters who have given their personal lives up to be a part of something they love.

Without the advertising dollars of these on line sites, many websites and magazines will be put on hold. There will be no money to pay those who travel the circuit and give us Poker addicts updates on our favorite players and the happenings at the events.

People who write articles for Poker magazines will not be paid and editors will have little money to publish.

I have had the privilege to be able to get to know many of these reporters at WPT events here in LA. The WPT who issued me a press credential allows me to sit and talk with these fine upstanding individuals and it’s amazing the hard work, long hours they put into satisfying us Poker enthusiasts.

I could go o about my friends who are players who will be affected by this and several websites I go to but all of you already know this.

I believe if this was such a heinous crime the United States Attorney General, Eric Holder would have filed this case himself.

A USA District Attorney in New York took it upon himself to use our tax dollars to spend countless hours piecing together enough circumstantial evidence to make a case.

Monies which could have been used for more severe incidents occurring in our country. I am sure he had to get permission from another higher up to open this case and spend THOUSANDS investigating and researching online sites to present enough facts to a Judge to obtain his court order but where does it say online Poker is illegal?

How many other Internet crimes that occur in the USA such as identity theft,Child pornography, phony charitable organizations could use the DOJ’s attention?

The UIGEA does not say online Poker is illegal, just the depositing methods. The 1961 wire act does not say online Poker is illegal.

The Interstate Wire Act of 1961, often called the Federal Wire Act, is a United States federal law prohibiting the operation of certain types of betting businesses in the United States. It begins with the text:

Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.^[1]

The law has been interpreted by some, including the Department of Justice, to mean that all forms of online gambling are illegal. However, U.S. Courts have ruled to the contrary. Also, many^[who?] believe the phrase “in the business of” means only businesses are affected. Some argue that the law only covers sports betting, and not other forms of gambling such as poker.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting and not other types of online gambling.^[2] The Supreme Court has not ruled on the meaning of the Federal Wire Act as it pertains to online gambling.

There have been a few bills presented in Congress to legalize online Poker and I believe this lawsuit has brought this to the forefront and I expect some newly developing legislation to be presented and acted on in the very near future.

This case has to go infront of a Federal Judge also. These Judges are appointed and I am sure politics will be played out. How long this will take, no one knows for sure.

I hope these sites don’t make a deal with the DOJ due to over reacting to the players demands for their money. I think they have a great case in proving their sites are legal and the UIGEA bill should have not been attached to the Port Authority bill.

We will see in the coming weeks. In the mean time the Csinos that have been against the online sites are seeing an increase in play. This is going to allow them to say “we told you so, these sites have taken income away from us”.

Since I have been involved in the Poker Community and started my charitable organization, I have seen first hand what many of these sites have done for charity and they all as well as the ones in need are going to suffer.

It is truly time for us voting American citizens to take a stand. We decide who goes into office and those we elect are supposed to be OUR voice, However so many of them who promise to do right by us have their own agenda once elected and it’s usually not the promises they made to us during their campaigns.

We have the right to recall as Californians did with Gray Davis a few years ago thinking Arnold would be better.

If Obama can raise 4 million dollars in one night in LA for his campaign I am sure Poker Players could gather enough funds and hire those needed to help get the ball rolling on changing our State and Federal politicians or maybe just the threat will make them have a change of mind and be the VOICE of the people.

238 players remain they are playing 5 90 minute levels and have to get dwnn to 63 players. If not they will play until we hit the money at 63. Read more