Poker is a democratic game. Whether you are male or female, young or old, rich or poor, black or white - it makes no difference at the poker table. If you like playing for pennies, thousands, or matchsticks, you can become a student of the game and improve your skill level.

A truly American pastime, it's been enjoyed by presidents, generals, Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress and average citizens for more than 150 years.

Poker can be played at home, in clubs, on cruises and in casinos. And until the United States government began intruding on our right to play poker online, that was accessible also.

Unfortunately, even as public support for poker grows, some over-zealous government officials have decided that, while betting on horse races and buying lottery tickets online is okay, playing poker is not. In October 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) became law. While not out rightly banning online poker, it makes criminals out of many of the entrepreneurs who bring it to us.

Last week, two of these businessmen, the Canadian founders of NETeller, were arrested, detained and charged with violations of the 1961 Wire Act, the progenitor of the UIEGA. They face 20-year prison sentences if convicted. Reverberations from the arrests have severely curtailed online poker operations in the United States.

Some say that money, being made offshore and not on our soil, is the reason for this crackdown. The obvious answer is regulation. According to an economic analysis, $3.3 billion in incremental federal tax revenue could be raised annually if the government regulated Internet poker. It's been successfully done in the United Kingdom, to the benefit of the gaming sites, the players, and government coffers.

Others say that "morality" is the reason for the screw tightening, and that those who presume to decide what's right and wrong for us to do in the privacy of our homes believe that playing poker on a computer compromises John Q. Citizen's decency. The obvious answer to that is activism.

Visit www.pokerplayersalliance.org to find out how you can fight back with your vote, your signature, your money, and your mouth.
By Jill Cohen