When my poker buddies Gordy and Donna of Kankakee, Ill., asked me to find a no-limit hold ‘em tournament to play last Thursday during their visit to the Quad-Cities, I was happy to oblige.

I hadn’t played a single hand of poker since “Black Friday” in mid-April, when both online sites I used were indicted by the feds.

Completing our fivesome were Q-C locals Dave and Sue, longtime friends of the cross-state visitors. We nearly were first in line at the Isle of Capri riverboat to sign up for the $40 event.

The four-table poker room almost sold out, with 37 players eyeing the $455 top prize. I’d love to report we made the five paid spots, but alas, only Gordy briefly appeared at the final table before busting out ninth. Still, we all learned something about poker that night.

Gordy experienced first-hand the pain of going for victory and missing. The final nine had barely settled into their seats when he looked down at pocket tens in late position.

He watched as a young, aggressive early position player made a standard raise. “I’d seen him raise light (with marginal hands) several times, so I knew I probably had him beat,” Gordy said.

The hand’s complexion changed, however, when the next player moved all-in. Now, if Gordy called it would be for his tournament life.

In the two hours we played together earlier, I learned Gordy wasn’t afraid to gamble. So I wasn’t surprised when he called.

The original raiser quickly folded, leaving Gordy and the all-in bettor to reveal their hands: 10-10 versus K-K.

Ouch!

Disappointed, Gordy joined us on the rail. He said he thought the gamble to amass a dominating chip stack was worth the risk. The player who won the pot was chip leader at the end for a three-way split.

Dave, meanwhile, couldn’t get much traction at his table. “There was an older guy on my left who kept raising, causing trouble for everyone,” he said.

Dave now knows that if he faces that player again, he needs to set a trap.

Donna, like Dave, made it halfway through the field, but had a rules question afterward. She had folded to her heads-up opponent’s river bet, but the player asked to see Donna’s cards. “I showed them to her, but did I have to?” Donna asked.

No. When you fold without calling on the end, no one has a right to see your cards. Had you called and then tried to fold your hand face down, any player can ask that your cards be shown. The rule exists to prevent collusion.

Sue was the tournament novice in our group. Absent luck and experience, she was destined for an early exit, but had no regrets.

“It was fun, and I wasn’t intimidated,” she said, hinting more tournaments are in her future.

What about Ol’ LuckyDog? Well, I was a bit rusty and played far too tight before the break. When the blinds got big, I was reduced to all-in or fold decisions.

In Level 7, with 400-800 blinds and 14 players left, I shoved my last 3,200 from early position with K-J suited and was called by the big blind holding Q-7 suited. Before the flop he said, “Sorry, but I was getting the right odds to call.”

His math was a little off, actually, but a queen flopped and I was gone.

So what did I learn? That the five of us need to try this again soon.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

From record prize pools to strange happenings, the 2011 WSOP presented quite a show, which won’t officially end until a champion is crowned in November.

Meanwhile, here’s a look at the past six weeks:

— Take that, U.S. Department of Justice!

One of poker’s darkest days, April 15, saw DOJ indictments effectively shut down online poker in the U.S. and freeze an estimated $150 million in players’ cash sitting in poker site accounts.

With so many poker bankrolls locked up and online WSOP qualifying squashed, many predicted doom.

That’s definitely not what happened.

This year’s WSOP drew a record 75,672 entries in 58 tournaments, creating a prize pool of $191,999,010 — the largest in WSOP history. Those are better numbers, by several percentage points, than last year’s record totals.

The significance wasn’t lost on ecstatic World Series officials.

“This summer underscores the appeal of the game and the power of this event,” said WSOP executive director Ty Stewart in a news release. “We’re so thankful for all those who came from around the world to demonstrate that poker continues to grow.”

At least 17 events broke records for largest turnout or biggest prize pool. The robust numbers pushed the total prize money awarded in the WSOP’s 42-year history to $1.4 billion.

— Recession? Jobless rate? Let’s play!

A sketchy U.S. economy and high jobless rate seemed like formidable hurdles for the WSOP’s most-popular tournament, the world championship.

Drawing big fields with half a dozen $1,000 tournaments was one thing, but what about the annual $10,000 main event? Many thought that entries might dip below 5,000 for the first time since 2004.

Again, that’s not what happened.

Thanks to poker’s enduring popularity and to stepped-up satellite action (feeder tournaments) at the Rio, the main event attracted 6,865 entries.

That’s the third highest ever, trailing only the ridiculous 8,773 total at the height of the poker boom in 2006 and last year’s 7,319.

One of the November Nine players will win a top prize of $8.7 million. All but one will become millionaires. None of them will need a job.

— Sir, this is the Ladies Event!

The biggest uproar this year probably came at the Ladies World Championship, where a guy made the final table.

Hostility reached scary levels before his elimination in ninth place by eventual champion Marsha Bladel Wolak of Sarasota, Fla., formerly of Rock Island, Ill. A huge cheer erupted.

A new Nevada law effective next year apparently will allow WSOP officials to legally ban male players from the ladies event.

— Who’s present? Who’s not?

Poker’s acknowledged best player wasn’t dealt a single hand. Phil Ivey boycotted the WSOP to show support for players blocked from their money on Full Tilt Poker, the site Ivey represented until the shutdown.

Also missing in action were most of FTP’s stable of high-visibility sponsored pros. It seemed weird at first, but exciting action quickly diverted attention to the games and some new champions.

Meanwhile, 78-year-old poker legend Doyle Brunson raised a stir by tweeting he wouldn’t play in the main event because he’d lost interest in poker after the online indictments and shutdown.

Friends ultimately persuaded him to play, thus reinstating balance to the poker universe.

Q: Almost none of the players winning WSOP bracelets this year are big-time pros, and not a single woman has won, either. What gives? — John S. in Moline, Ill.

A: With the 2011 WSOP passing the halfway point over the weekend, your observations are pretty much on the mark, John.

The best-known pros to win bracelets through the first 26 events were John Juanda, his fifth, and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, his first. Other popular top-five finishers included Mike Sexton, Barry Greenstein and Phil Hellmuth, who narrowly missed extending his bracelet record to 12 but fell heads-up to Juanda.

The winning pros so far may lack star power, but they still were dominating the amateurs. Only two amateurs had broken through — the other 24 bracelets went to pros or semi-pros. That pace, if it continues, would yield the biggest disparity since such records were kept starting in 2005.

An even stranger stat: Six of the first 26 champions had never even cashed at the World Series before, much less won.

There’s no way to explain this phenomenon with certainty.

It’s tempting to point to the virtual elimination of online poker in the U.S. as a factor, thanks to the April 15 federal indictments. For sure, online pros forced to abandon their computers could be hitting the WSOP in larger numbers. Just as likely, though, is that a huge drop in online qualifying for WSOP events kept many players out of Las Vegas.

The safest answer, John, is that every WSOP produces quirky results of some kind during six weeks of action and 58 events.

Meanwhile, one streak that I’d like to see end soon is 187 consecutive male bracelet winners.

The last woman to win a WSOP tourney open to both sexes was Vanessa Selbst in 2008. The longest previous shutout streak for lady champs in open events was 221.

No matter who’s finishing first, the undeniable winner so far is the WSOP itself. Through 26 events, nine records in poker history had been broken either for the largest number of entrees in a live tournament or the largest prize pool for a specific event.

Q: At a recent $40 no-limit hold ‘em casino tournament with 19 entries, I made the final four (they pay three), and we chopped for $142 each. I jumped on the deal because I was last in chips! — Bob R. in Davenport, Iowa.

A: As well you should have, Bob!

Sometimes, arranging a multi-player split at the end of a tournament can be a headache. Not this time, however.

“Two guys had at least twice the chips I did, and the woman who proposed the chop had more than me, too,” you wrote. “I am a happy camper!”

My guess is that no one pushed for extra cash in the deal because all four of you were playing solid poker and the game had been congenial.

If the two players with larger chip stacks had asked for a slightly bigger cut of the prize pool — say an extra $20 each — you still would have been smart to take the deal, since fourth place paid zero.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 RUSS SCOTT

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Before you answer, pretend you’re the intensely competitive Ivey and consider how mad you’d have to be to exclude yourself from performing on the game’s most prestigious stage at the height of your spectacular career.

That’s correct: Pretty danged mad.

Given his determination to be the all-time leader in World Series gold bracelets — he has eight, Phil Hellmuth leads with 11 — Ivey’s bombshell statement two weeks ago at the start of the 42nd annual WSOP surprised almost everybody.

Ivey, a huge fan favorite, was Full Tilt Poker’s top representative until the online site and two others shut down in the U.S. because of federal indictments. His words against Full Tilt resonated strongly through the poker world.

“I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm. I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot,” Ivey said on Facebook.

Indeed, players who used Full Tilt, the world’s second-largest online poker site, still await their refunds after the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment spree on April 15. Also waiting were customers of the Internet’s third largest poker entity, sister sites Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet.

By contrast, the cash-out process at industry giant PokerStars began on April 27 with DOJ approval.

Ivey upped the pressure on Full Tilt by saying he hoped his statement “will ignite those capable of resolving problems into immediate action” toward repayment to players.

Instead, he got a curt response from Tiltware LLC, the software and marketing firm for Full Tilt, which Ivey sued for more than $150 million in damages on the same day as his WSOP announcement.

“Contrary to his sanctimonious public statements, Phil Ivey’s meritless lawsuit is about helping just one player — himself,” Tiltware said. The company claimed Ivey was trying to “enrich himself at the expense of others” and that the lawsuit’s timing could slow the payback process for players.

So, what are we to believe?

Is Ivey’s boycott the bold act of a poker icon who genuinely feels it’s his duty to speak up for poker players’ rights? Or are Ivey’s actions an attempt to separate himself from a sinking ship while making a big score?

To be real, the truth may encompass parts of both scenarios. Historically, poker players haven’t always taken the high road when faced with ethical dilemmas.

Yet, what we’ve witnessed about Phil Ivey as a player — his pursuit of perfection, unmatched intensity, the respect of his peers, his serious but good-natured competitiveness, and his professional approach in both victory and defeat — tells us he is sincere about trying to help affected players.

If his actions help players get their estimated $150 million back, do the rest of the melodramatics matter very much? Nope, not really. As things stand, I think Ivey deserves players’ respect and their thanks for trying to do the right thing.

Meanwhile, the 2011 World Series of Poker is moving along just fine without Ivey. Records still are being broken and great champions crowned. But it’s just a bit strange with him missing.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 RUSS SCOTT

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Q: “Even though I’ve played a lot of online tournaments, I still felt like a novice recently when I played in a $245 WSOP Circuit tournament in St. Louis. It was fun, though, and I plan to play more live tournaments in the future.” — Bob R. in Davenport, Iowa.

A: Sure, you had a few “rookie moments” in the WSOP event, Bob, but there’s no way to get the hang of big-time live tournament poker short of experiencing it. Kudos for taking on a WSOP competition!

It was normal for you to feel like a beginner, for reasons you probably can recite:

— There was more on the line.

— The general atmosphere was more intimidating and strange.

— Players were less predictable and tougher than you’ve seen before.

— You were worried about making embarrassing mistakes.

Don’t fret for a second over your “interesting time” with a “professional” dealer who corrected your chip-stacking efforts.

“I learned to stack my chips with the large-denomination ones in front. The dealer was nice enough to point that out. He wasn’t smiling,” you wrote with a touch of sarcasm.

Your dealer probably wasn’t smiling because that was the 10th time that day he had to deliver the same message to someone. At least your improper stack alignment was an innocent mistake. Plenty of longtime players deliberately hide their big chips behind other stacks if they can get away with it.

He wasn’t picking on you.

Part of his job is to protectthe other players and guarantee the game’s integrity.

Believe me, you want dealers attentive to every detail, as you can attest after your A-J all-in pre-flop bet was called by an opponent holding pocket Q-Q.

“I was down to about 3,500 chips,” you wrote. “A queen hit on the flop, and I was sure I was toast against his trip queens. I didn’t even notice that the turn card gave me a straight. After the river card was dealt, I started to get up thinking I had lost and saying, ‘Good luck, everybody,’ when the dealer shoved me the pot. It was embarrassing.”

Ha! We’ve all been there, done that. Even veteran players sometimes overlook winning hands.

I like how you finished that paragraph: “I kept the chips anyway!” You betcha! When that happens, just shrug and keep on playing.

A player’s poker growth is measured in results and learning experiences. You played well on your first foray into a big event. Finishing 68th out of 150 didn’t pay anything, but it’s a respectable first effort, and you profited nonetheless.

For one thing, you now realize, “There’s something about a live event that is just a little better than Internet play.” You also understand why it was “good experience to play in a bigger event like that.”

Poker at the WSOP level is a great thrill and challenge. No, you didn’t win money, but you improved your future chances for success by gaining a much better feel for what it’s like to play in a top-notch event.

On some days, that’s victory enough.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 RUSS SCOTT

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Here’s why: That’s where you can turn a modest investment into a chance at poker fame and life-changing money. This year, in particular, you’ll have lots of company trying to do the same thing.

With online poker mostly sidelined by federal indictments April 15 against the three largest Internet sites, far fewer players will qualify for WSOP events on their computers.

Unless you have unlimited cash for expensive buy-ins, you should be part of the huge satellite crowd, too. (See wsop.com/2011 for details.)

Never tried a satellite, you say?

Well, the concept is easy: For a comparatively low fee, you play in a smallish tournament that awards seats into gold bracelet events with multi-million-dollar prize pools.

The most dramatic example is the no-limit hold ‘em mega-satellite daily at 4 p.m. now through July 4. The buy-in is $330, and based on the number of entries, multiple players win a seat in the $10,200 buy-in Main Event on July 7.

Be one of those lucky finishers, and you advance into poker’s most prestigious tournament for about 3.2 percent of the normal cost.

This particular mega-satellite is the one I recommend for most amateurs trying to achieve poker glory on a tight budget. Betting levels last 30 minutes, and one Main Event seat is awarded for every 31 players in the satellite.

So if there are, say, 155 players on the day you play, you just have to finish in the final five to win a $10,200 seat.

The cheapest satellite is the $75 turbo no-limit hold ‘em event at 9 a.m.

daily, but I don’t recommend this one unless you’re a morning person, really short on time or just looking for some fast-paced action at a low cost.

To me, 10-minute betting levels make this satellite less desirable. Yes, you get 3,000 chips to start, but you’ll need every one of them because the action heats up quickly. If you’re an aggressive player, however, this event might be a perfect fit.

Turbo winners receive a $500 tournament buy-in chip plus $50 cash. Win two of these special chips, and you’ve got enough to enter one of several WSOP $1,000 gold bracelet events.

The other daily mega-satellite is at 8 p.m. It costs $550, has 30-minute levels and 4,000-chip starting stacks, and awards $10,200 seats just like the 4 p.m. event.

A key difference is that on certain days, the satellite game is something other than no-limit hold ‘em — stud or Omaha, for example — and the winners get a $10,200 seat into the championship event for that particular poker discipline.

So, what’s the trick to winning a satellite?

In a turbo, the answer is easy: Be ready to gamble early and often until you’ve built a chip stack big enough to carry you to the finish.

In a standard satellite with longer betting levels, you’ll have more time to wait for good spots to make your moves. Patience and smart aggression are keys.

In all mega-satellites, pay close attention to everyone’s chip levels toward the end. Remember, you don’t have to finish first to win. Alter your endgame strategy accordingly.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 RUSS SCOTT

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Also available are untold thousands of indelible memories for poker players of all abilities.

Last year’s WSOP delivered nine of the 17 largest tournaments in poker history. Prize money totaled $187 million, and the 72,966 total entries set a record.

WSOP officials are gearing up for another monster turnout, with nearly 400 poker tables filling 96,000 square feet of space in the Pavilion and Amazon Rooms at the Rio Casino.

If you go to Las Vegas in the next six weeks, here are a few things about the 2011 WSOP you should know:

— For players with limited bankrolls, check out the $1,000 buy-in events designed for “weekend warriors.” These tournaments feature weekend starts throughout June and into July. (Check www.wsop.com/tournaments for details.)

To win, you’ll have to battle your way through a huge field — probably 6,000-plus for the first one, June 4-5 — but the payouts are spectacular.

— If you’re at least 50 years old, you also can play in the Seniors Championship on June 17 for $1,000. You’ll have lots of company there, too — last year’s seniors event set a record with 3,142 players and nearly $500,000 going to the winner.

The other $1,000 buy-in tourney is the Ladies Championship on July 1.

— To reduce the stress and strain of long tournament sessions, the WSOP has instituted hard stop times for events. Excluding the Main Event, the maximum playing day will last 10 one-hour levels for noon events and eight one-hour levels for 5 p.m.

tournaments, regardless of how many players remain.

A minimum 12-hour overnight break between sessions now is built into the schedule for each tourney, which should reduce player exhaustion and yield stronger performances.

— No matter when you visit the WSOP, you’ll have lots of non-bracelet tournament options during your stay. There are three daily deep-stack no-limit hold ‘em tournaments from May 30 to July 16.

The buy-ins get cheaper as the day progresses: $235 for 2 p.m. events, $185 at 6 p.m., and $135 at 10 p.m. So, even without a bracelet event on your schedule, you can have the WSOP experience for just a few hundred dollars in any of these daily tournaments, played in the same rooms as the major events.

— The best free feature at the WSOP this year is a series of 11 poker seminars conducted by top pros to raise money for the Bad Beat on Cancer organization.

Depending on when you’re in Vegas, for example, you can catch a session by Doyle Brunson (June 17) talking about “A Poker Life,” one by Annette Obrestad (July on “Playing the Turn and River” or the concluding session by Phil Hellmuth (July 10) on “11 Ways to Play Stronger No-Limit Hold ‘em.”

The one-hour seminars are scheduled on weekends beginning June 4. All sessions start at 10:30 a.m. in the Brasilia Ballroom and include time for questions. (See www.wsop.com for the full schedule.)

Although admission is free, the hope is that attendees either will donate $20 to Bad Beat on Cancer or pledge 1 percent of their WSOP tournament winnings to the charity.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 RUSS SCOTT

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“We think people love this game of poker and that they are starved to play. We expect this summer is going to give the industry its swagger back,” Stewart said.

After a month of mostly gloomy news in the wake of multiple federal indictments that all but wiped out online poker in the U.S., poker players most assuredly are ready for the 42nd running of the game’s greatest competition.

For those playing in one or more of the 58 events scheduled to begin May 31 at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas, there are very few changes worth noting. For those watching at home, dramatic new opportunities exist this year.

Players entering the gigantic Pavilion and Amazon rooms will find 378 tournament tables ready for action and more automatic shufflers. Like last year, players will receive starting chips equal to triple the buy-in, and late registrations are allowed during the first four betting levels.

WSOP officials expect an increase in the number of satellites staged. In 2010, some 7,000 satellites provided about 15 percent of the field for bracelet events. But with skimpy online qualifying, live satellite action will be robust. Satellite winners save up to 90 percent of the normal entry fee.

Three daily deep-stack non-bracelet tournaments will keep players busy in between primary tournaments. Cash side games also are projected to increase, with 91 tables reserved for live action in a variety of games and betting limits.

The biggest changes, however, will affect those following the action at home.

For the first time, all 58 gold bracelet events will receive some sort of video coverage, WSOP officials announced during the conference call.

The coverage is packaged into four parts:

— Two hours of weekly prime-time television coverage returns to ESPN every Tuesday from July 6 to Nov. 8. That’s 32 hours total, culminating in near-live coverage of the Main Event final table.

— New same-day TV coverage of the Main Event hits ESPN from July 14-19 — from the money bubble down to the November Nine final table. Two feature tables will be televised on a 30-minute delay, showing hole cards post-flop and every all-in/call situation. That’s 34 hours of programming, mostly on ESPN2 in desirable time slots.

— Die-hard poker fans around the globe can watch final-table action of 55 gold bracelet events basically live (five-minute delay) on the Internet at WSOP.com. The stream will include an overhead table view, a flop camera (no hole cards) and audio of the tourney director describing the action. Most start times will be 2:30 p.m. or 3 p.m. Pacific time almost every day starting June 1.

— Also on the Internet, ESPN3.com will stream two feature tables at the $25,000 Heads-up Championship, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship and the Main Event.

Even over the phone, it’s easy to hear the excitement building for WSOP officials such as Stewart, tournament director Jack Effel and communications director Seth Palansky.

“This is the year when people will see what a juggernaut this World Series of Poker has become,” Stewart said. The WSOP is “more than a poker event, it’s an experience. It’s an annual pilgrimage; it’s a chance to run with the bulls.”

The swagger in his words was unmistakable.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 RUSS SCOTT

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Q: What are your thoughts on Internet players going to another still-active site to play, such as BoDog or Cake? — Josh P. in Bettendorf, Iowa.

A: You partially answered your own question, Josh, by noting that you “researched both, but neither appears to be even close to what Full Tilt offered.”

Indeed, all of the alternate sites still operating in the U.S. are much smaller than the two largest, PokerStars and Full Tilt, which remain shut down in the U.S. following federal indictments on April 15 against 11 people.

Size, however, is only part of the question.

The small, still-available websites can’t match the two biggest sites’ software features, security and reputation for dependable customer service. Moreover, some alternate sites have spotty histories and questionable futures.

Before you deposit fresh funds onto an alternate Internet poker room, you need to ask yourself these questions:

— Who knows how long these sites will stay open for U.S. play?

— What’s stopping the feds from also attacking them?

— How safe and accessible would your money be there? For example, a few sites already have voluntarily closed as a precaution or stopped accepting new U.S. action.

Meanwhile, new questions last week raised doubt about players’ money ever being returned by the two other sites closed after the indictments, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Also, Full Tilt announced yet another delay in establishing its withdrawal plan, promising instead a “progress update” by Sunday, May 15.

That leaves only PokerStars with a government-accepted withdrawal procedure in place.

None of that news is very reassuring, Josh. I like to play low-limit online poker as much as anyone, but I haven’t given a moment’s thought to actually making a deposit on an alternate site.

In my opinion, neither should you. Until the dust settles, why risk it?

Q: This whole mess with online poker being shut down by the government is ruining my favorite form of recreation. Will Internet poker make a comeback? — Sam F. in Dallas

A: Yes, I truly believe so, Sam, but it may take awhile.

Attempts to pass federal legislation that would fully legalize, regulate and tax online poker have met resistance for years. What looked like growing momentum for Internet poker seemed to falter after the GOP won control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the last election.

But the Department of Justice’s action on “Black Friday” has reinvigorated the poker community as well as many non-playing citizens who simply believe in protecting our rights as citizens.

The next push for legal online poker is set for May 24, when about 30 state directors of the Poker Players Alliance stage an emergency “fly-in” to Washington to lobby targeted lawmakers and win their support.

Such meetings aren’t new, but this time the PPA is asking “our entire membership” to join the effort that day, either in Washington, D.C., or at the state district offices for their federal legislators. If every PPA member participated, that would be about 1.2 million people!

If you’re interested, find out how to request and secure a meeting with your lawmakers at www.theppa.org.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 RUSS SCOTT

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Government leaders once again were overreacting to do-gooders bent on saving the rest of us from ourselves. In the process, they were tossing aside our rights as free citizens.

Officials seemed to believe that if businesses went kaput and jobs were lost, well, that’s too bad. The cause still was justified.

The people angrily responded in online forums:

— “This is a joke! Quit telling us what we can and can’t do.”

— “For the love of Pete, can you people find anything else to fixate on? Fix the damned budget!”

— “You cannot protect everyone. End this Nanny State before we have no freedoms left.”

Sound familiar? Well, none of this involved online poker.

This particular patch of protest last week was aimed at legislators in Springfield, Ill., where a state law was in the works to ban trans fats from restaurants, movie-theater popcorn, bakeries and school vending machines.

Such a law would “be devastating for us,” said Andy VanHoe, owner of Olde Towne Bakery in Moline. People would just cross the river into Iowa to “get a cake that tastes like a cake.”

Pointing out the obvious silliness of such a law, Susan Lillybeck of Moline’s Donut Delite said most people just consider pastries as a treat. “You don’t eat doughnuts three meals a day.”

Online poker players feel the same way about U.S. government efforts to eliminate what they view as their right to play a skill game on the Internet. In effect, players are pleading: Don’t take away our cake!

Department of Justice indictments released April 15 against the top three offshore poker sites and some money processors serving U.S.

customers put a screeching halt to the games.

In all, 11 people face huge fines and lengthy prison sentences if found guilty on charges, including bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling as defined by the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act. An accompanying civil suit seeks $3 billion in penalties. Meanwhile, millions of players expect full refunds of their money stored on the targeted sites, but that’s only partial consolation against the empty reality of a never-ruled-illegal pastime — and in some cases, livelihood — being taken away.

Many players have vented their frustration:

— “Why is the federal government doing this? Are they just trying to get money out of the poker sites?” asked David M. in Ashland, Ky.

— “Your efforts are making the difference in winning the war on poker, and we can’t stop now,” said the Poker Players Alliance, noting that money-withdrawal plans were announced after 70,000 complaining e-mails flowed through the PPA to government officials in the first five days of the blackout.

— “I’m just putting online poker on hold for a while,” lamented an agitated Bob R. in Davenport, Iowa, after his credit card was rejected by a site supposedly still open to U.S. action. “I miss playing, though.”

He’s just one of an estimated 10 million U.S. online players who now must hope for passage of legislation to regulate and tax a safe and fair Internet poker industry.

They also want the right to enjoy a tasty trans-fat treat while they wait for the games to return.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

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