Fighting to protect my hand of Texas Hold ’Em

As some of you may be aware, playing poker is one of my favorite pastimes. I’m a skillful player and have won my fair share of hands. I’ve also suffered gut-wrenching losses.

Like chess or similar games, poker is a game of skill, and your expertise determines whether you win, lose or fold. It’s a beautiful game because even with your worst hand, you still have a chance to win the pot.

Playing poker isn’t a crime, yet sadly, once again, the Obama Justice Department has shaken its big, long, nanny finger at the millions of Americans who join me in enjoying playing the game in the privacy of our own homes.

In the interest of full disclosure, I proudly remain chairman of the Poker Player’s Alliance, and I participate in lobbying activities to defend the rights of poker players nationwide. On behalf of the more than 1 million members of the PPA and other players, I’m outraged over the 52-page indictment the Department of Justice unsealed on April 8, charging 11 top executives at the three largest Internet poker sites in the U.S. — PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker — with money laundering and fraud.

As a result, all three sites were forced to cease operations in the U.S. Their domain names were seized, and the 10 million Americans who utilize these sites to play poker were no longer able to log in. To make matters worse, the Department of Justice blocked players’ access to the funds they had deposited in their online accounts.

Since then, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker have been able to resume use of their domain names, and players can withdraw their funds, but the sites can no longer be used by poker players in the U.S.

My comrades in the poker community have referred to April 8 as “Black Friday,” and I couldn’t agree more. This is nothing more than a blatant attack on Internet poker and the American poker player. The Justice Department wants online poker shut down, and it is determined to try anything possible, regardless of the fact that it does not have the legal and legislative support to do so.