American poker players count, according to estimates, anywhere between 15 and 23 million. Needless to say they are all of voting age… One of the largest lobbying groups, representing over 800,000 poker enthusiasts, the Poker Players Alliance, is organizing a two day campaign in Washington, DC.

The ban on online gambling is not contested as such. The lobbyists simply argue for the exemption of poker from the wide ban. Precedents of excluding forms of gambling already exist, as the law does not ban online horse races, lotteries and fantasy sports.

One hundred representatives of the organization, which was founded two years ago, will visit the Capitol this week. Among the representatives are famous WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker who was an online poker player to begin with. Representing the organization is another familiar name, known better for his career in politics than his poker skills, former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R.).

Their arguments are two:

1) One way in which they present the issue, is describing how poker simply fell into the category with other forms of gambling. The law makes it illegal for US banks and credit card companies to process payments from sites outside the country. Poker is a bystander casualty of sorts. Careful phrasing of the law will allow poker to be excluded.
2) Poker is not a form of gambling per se. Rather it is a game of skill. A more carefully phrased law would make this distinction and exclude poker from the ban.

Furthermore, the lobbyist will present positive ways of regulating the online gambling industry. They will present numbers that show how billions of dollars can be profited if only a minor tax would be implemented.

In fact, several bills have been drafted and are discussed at the various House committees. The bills include:

• Protecting skill games - e.g. poker, backgammon, bridge, chess and mahjong - from the ban (H.R. 2610)
• Rep. Barney Frank's bill to regulate the industry and allow licensed companies to operate online gambling services (H.R. 2046)
• A third bill that calls to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate Internet gambling (H.R. 2607).

It will still require convincing some opponents that poker is indeed a game of skill. There is still a gap between John Pappas, executive director of the PPA, who says "The individual skill of the player determines the outcome, unlike betting on the horses or betting on the lottery," and Keith Whyte, executive director of The National Council on Problem Gambling, who agrees to some extent that "[Poker] certainly has elements of skill," but added that "the predominant element has to be chance."

Yet Howard Lederer, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, said it best: "Poker is the great American game." Is that a winning argument to allow Americans to play it online? Time will tell.