Internet Gambling Ban

Please find below a letter re-printed in its entirety that was sent out by CardPlayerCruises.Com. It appears to cover the topic well and provides answers to some questions that may be of interest to you.

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From: Cruises@cardplayercruises.com [mailto:Cruises@cardplayercruises.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 6:18 PM
Subject: Internet Gambling Ban

To our Valued Customers and Friends,

As you may or may not know, legislation was recently passed (in the early hours of Saturday morning, September 30, 2006) concerning online gaming. The US Senate, or more appropriately, majority leader Bill Frist, attached the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006" to the main bill - The Safe Port Act - on which they were voting. Obviously, Internet gaming has nothing to do with making our ports safe but, unfortunately, that's politics at its worst. The bill was passed by a voice vote. This was the last piece of legislation acted upon before breaking until after the election. We have received many calls and emails asking how those who play Internet poker and specifically, on Party Poker will be affected. Below are some of the questions we've received and, in our opinions, their answers:

Q - Is my money safe with an Internet gaming site?
A - We can't speak for all sites, but we believe your money is safe at PartyPoker. CPC has been a supporter of Party from the beginning and, as most of you know, CPC hosts one of its cruises each year: the Party PokerMillion. Party is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange. They are required to segregate the funds that they hold in trust for their players. We absolutely believe that the money you have on deposit is safe. As for all of the other sites, we cannot offer an opinion.

Q - Should I continue to play online poker?
A - The bill has not been signed yet, so it isn't official at this time.
Once the bill is signed, Party Poker and some others will probably suspend US operations while looking for a solution. Even when the bill is signed by President Bush, many sites will continue to operate until the law becomes effective, which is estimated at 3-9 months. It is our understanding at this time that Party plans to stop accepting players from the United States on their real money sites (play money sites will probably continue). Should you continue to play? That is up to you, but there is likely to be very little attention paid to the individuals who are playing regardless. Currently there are 8 states that do not allow individuals to play poker on the Internet, Nevada being one of them, but there has never been any move by any governmental agency to enforce state law in this area. This new law is directed at the sites, not the individual players. It is important to note that, once signed, the n ew legislation will not criminalize individuals for playing poker online.

Q - What can I do to help make Internet poker legal, licensed and taxable in the US?
A - During the period between when the President signs the bill and the law goes into effect (3-9 months), it is very important that each of us make our voice heard. The Poker Players Alliance http://pokerplayersalliance.org/) is going to lead the fight to get a poker exclusion added to the current bill.
If this is unsuccessful, then the PPA will work toward getting an individual bill passed legalizing Internet poker. There is a lot of money behind this effort, but the most important item is to be able to tell Congress that we, as poker players, want the right to play poker on the Internet. In order to do this, the membership of PPA needs to grow from its current 125,000 to 1,000,000 (at a minimum) by the end of the year. To do this, we all need to join and get others to join as well. We encourage everyone to go to - http://www.pokerplayersalliance.org/ - and join the Poker Players Alliance.
If each of us asks five friends to join, and they in turn encourage five others to j oin, Congress will see that there is a large and powerful contingency that supports poker! Also, a petition will be sent to Congress that you can sign here via the Internet http://www.petitiononline.com/LOGNOW/petition.html

Q - What is the future of online poker?
A - While the long term effects are not yet known, we believe that the major poker sites, the PPA, and others are doing all they can to either get poker excluded from the legislation, or regulated. The future looks very bleak right now. We have lost the battle but we can still win the war! It is important for us all to remain calm and stay informed. We will continue to be a strong advocate for poker and do our best to keep everyone updated.

Thanks,
Card Player Cruises
Linda, Jan and Mark
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