Written by 2004 World Series of Poker Champion Greg Raymer and PocketFives.com ranked online poker professional Chris “brsavage” Savage

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement act was approved by the House of Representatives 317-93 on July 11, 2006. The measure now moves on to discussion in the Senate. The bill makes many types of online gambling explicitly illegal, including poker, a game of skill. However, special exemptions given to horseracing and state lotteries make the legitimacy and fairness of the bill questionable.

We represent two of the hundreds of thousands of everyday people who love the game of poker. We view ourselves as fathers, husbands, businessmen and responsible members of our communities. We also see ourselves as free thinking, intelligent human beings. Along the way we have become serious poker players. But legislation now on Capitol Hill to ban online poker will affect not only the two of us, but all of those who learn to play online and who find online poker an engaging, challenging and fun game.

The poker playing community of America is a rich and diverse melting pot. We are of all races, male and female, young and old. We play poker for the challenge of the game and also for the camaraderie of our community. Like most Americans we are intelligent and capable of making personal decisions about the choices we make in our lives. Quite frankly it scares us that some politicians on Capitol Hill can offer up a bill that ignores the reality of the game and instead, is an intrusion into the ability of free individuals to make decisions regarding such a simple thing as playing a game that has historical roots throughout our country.

So let it be clear where we stand: we think that is important to defeat legislation that would ban online poker. It is a clear example of the worst sort of lawmaking. Whenever Congress tries to protect people from themselves, they are taking a huge step towards the Big Brother way of life. We strongly believe in self-responsibility and capitalism and thus would be against this legislation even if we did not play poker.

Let's also clarify a few other issues. Advocates of this legislation raise many specters of doom, including online poker funneling money to al Qaeda. The image would not be complete without the offering of a ruined young person who lost his college tuition playing poker. We have never heard or seen any evidence that anybody has ever used online poker to finance terrorism. To legislate against poker merely because it MIGHT be used in such a way is ridiculous. If that is the metric, then Congress should just as readily legislate against a thousand other American businesses.

The large majority of players online are small-stakes players who enjoy the convenience and comfort of being able to find a $10 tournament to pass a few hours while playing a game that requires reasoning, psychology, and math skills all rolled into one. These are the people some in Congress are targeting. It is offensive to sensationalize the instances where some people have gambled excessively. With personal choice comes personal responsibility. There are a million examples of seemingly innocent things that have been a vehicle for personal ruin for an irresponsible person – including being addicted to compulsive purchases from QVC or the Home Shopping Network.

With online poker, new players can start with play money games before ever putting up any of their own cash. Then, when they feel ready for real money games, they can start with penny games. We always advise new players to start like this, and to not move any higher than the penny games until they win enough money at those penny games to move up. Following this advice, you will either move up as you win, or you will stay at a level where you are losing no more than a few dollars per session, i.e., the price of a movie ticket, or less.

The effort to selectively stop online poker – while permitting horse-racing and other forms on online gambling favored by Congress – is ridiculous. All of the online sites do everything they can to prevent minors from playing. When an adult plays, they are responsible for themselves. We see this effort as merely an Internet version of the Depression-era prohibition of alcohol. The outcome would be no more beneficial; it takes an activity that everybody engages in anyway and criminalizes it, leading to a loss of tax revenue and an increase in true criminal behavior.

We suggest that Congress spend its valuable legislative time aggressively pursuing the critical issues facing this country. If you’re that threatened by the companies that had the foresight to offer a virtual product that millions of your constituents want, and then figure out a way to tax it and regulate it. This way, it can be assured that the online poker sites continue to operate in a manner that favors the best interests of their customers, and further ensures that the silly concerns of these Congressmen are ameliorated and never come to fruition.

- Greg Raymer remains a celebrity in the poker world after his groundbreaking win. Chris Savage is one of the top online poker players on PocketFives.com.