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Poker players seeking trump card in lawyers

By Tom Ramstack
April 1, 2008

Drew Lesofski of the Poker Players Alliance demonstrates how to open a poker game yesterday in his Washington office. The allliance prefers regulation of Internet poker to an outright ban. (Astrid Riecken/The Washington Times)

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The nation's poker players are enlisting lawyers to keep them from running afoul of gambling laws.

A group called the Poker Players Alliance started operating a Litigation Support Network last week.

The alliance gives members free referrals to lawyers who can advise them on how to avoid overstepping legal limits while betting on their poker games.

"With the myriad local, state and federal laws impacting poker, the Litigation Support Network is an important service that our members can and should use," said former New York Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato, chairman of the Poker Players Alliance.

The nonprofit group claims to have nearly a million members nationwide.

Members play their games at private homes, taverns, charity events or over the Internet.

As long as they do not bet money, no state law allows for prosecution of poker players. Even if they gamble with only small amounts of money between friends in private games, there is almost no chance of prosecution.

But when the level of gambling could be considered a business, state and federal laws either require a license or forbid it outright.

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