'The Professor' pens article in New York paper defending poker

Howard "The Professor" Lederer wrote an article for the New York Daily News July 13 condemning the passage of what he believes is hypocritical anti-Internet gambling legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The House voted 317 to 93 in favor of H.R. 4411, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, on July 11.


In his article, "Gambling ban doubles down on hypocrisy," Lederer calls banning online poker and other forms of online gambling "a terrible idea," and insists that H.R. 4411, which is a combination of two original pieces of legislation - H.R. 4411 and H.R.4777, is hypocritical because it allows certain types of Internet gambling and prohibits others, specifically online poker.

Lederer points out that the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act allows Americans to continue placing bets on online horse racing and fantasy games, and also to participate in state-run lotteries - all games of luck - while poker, a skill game that relies heavily on mathematical aptitude, an understanding of human psychology and a keen analytical mind, is being villanized as a criminal offence.

Lederer goes on to say that the government is protecting lotteries because of the revenue they generate through taxing and regulation, a process he hopes the government will apply to online poker as well.

He quotes the findings of the recent Poker Players Alliance study, which found that the federal government could net $3.3 billion in revenue each year from the licensing, regulation and taxation of the online gambling industry, while individual states could rake $1 billion in annual revenue.

Please see the New York Daily News to read Lederer's article in full.

courtesy of Lianne Elias

News Added: 17 July, 2006

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