By Christopher Cosenza
Greg Raymer is the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champion. Though that may be a live event, Raymer’s involvement with PokerStars and his passion for getting the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act repealed makes him one of the greatest online advocates in the world. I ran into Raymer at this year’s WSOP November Nine and asked him about the recent elections and online poker regulation.
How disappointed were you with these past elections? I just wish the Libertarians would win more. I don’t think the answer is switching to Democrat or Republican. As one commentator put it … “OK, great, we’ve thrown out the Democrats and we’ve brought in a bunch of Republicans. But what are we going to do if they don’t fix things?” Then what, we’re going to throw them out and put in who? And that’s the problem. I think in this point in history both parties are slight variations of the same thing. I don’t think here’s a massive difference between the two. You need to toss them out and vote Libertarian.
What do you think the future of online poker is now as far as regulation in the United States? I think we actually have a quite good shot at getting something through the lame-duck session. I don’t think it’s a lock or anything close. I’m not going to give a number or play oddsmaker, but I think we have a good legitimate shot at getting some significant litigation through the lame-duck Congress and no reason to think the kind of Legislation we’re talking about won’t be signed by Obama. If people want to help and they’re not already a member they need to join the PPA at www.joinppa.org and become a member, pay your dues, let us use that money to lobby the congressmen and try to get this thing done.
