Articles Of Interest - 2.

Five years ago nobody noticed if there was a game of poker being played. Rooms full of smoke and old men wearing raincoats were the norm when it came to opponents and if you managed to squeeze a fiver out of these tight rocks of a Friday night then you were doing well but...nobody noticed!

Five years later and suddenly the world and his new-born son are gagging for a game and with it comes a whole new set of problems...publicity & the law!

Whilst any law is there for a purpose, usually to save civilisation (as we know it) from itself, the law stays silent when you're going about your business and having fun. Prostitution is illegal yet millions of men, the world over, still partake...drug use is illegal yet millions of people still partake...and now POKER is suddenly illegal in the western world (well it always was in some areas).

The last few weeks have brought about bigger & bigger media coverage on how a clampdown on an activity promoted on TV (for gods sake) as being fun and pleasurable is considered, in some parts, the scurge of society!

Following on from last weeks 'Articles Of Interest - 1' blog which pointed you all in the direction of how the Irish are suddenly in the sportlight as regards its poker & gaming clubs comes a follow up piece from Bloomberg giving more details about how the clubs there are being 'closely monitored by Mr Plod' and politicians alike.

Also its getting harder to play poker ANYWHERE in New York at the moment as the cops there continue to raid and seize countless thousands of $'s of players money. Methinks they'd do better raiding drug dealer houses and local brothels to look for REAL criminals.

Finally the biggest court case of its time comes to London on Nov 22nd where the owners of the Gutshot club in Londons East End try to convince a judge that playing poker is a game of skill and, as such, does not require a gaming licence in order for it to operate!

Thats a bit like saying tossing a coin is a skillfull operation!

Win the case and there'll be 100 poker clubs across the UK by Xmas 2006...lose it and consider them all closed with immediate effect! Watch this space!!