ESPN Will Air 2011 WSOP: Latest Developments re: Online Poker Crackdown

While ESPN has scrambled to remove advertisements from online poker sponsors and certain programming in the wake of a federal crackdown on industry behemoths PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, the television network insisted late Tuesday it will continue to air the popular World Series of Poker. ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman tweeted: “I’m relaying a very important message from the poker team at ESPN. Just so that its clear, ESPN will still be covering the WSOP.” ESPN has come under extensive criticism for failing to properly acknowledge its lucrative sponsorship deals with Full Tilt and PokerStars, both of which have been charged with money laundering and bank fraud.   Steve Wynn Speaks   Las Vegas gambling mogul spoke on Tuesday about the recent online poker indictments and his company’s decision to sever its brief relationship with PokerStars.  Wynn Resorts had forged the relationship just two weeks ago ahead of anticipated regulation in the US. “We've been approached over the past several years by most of the Internet players who wanted to combine with us and take advantage of our brand, Wynn said in an interview with Forbes.  “(And) we finally became convinced, sort of hesitantly, about PokerStars, because there didn't seem to be any interest in the government to enforce restrictions on the game of poker. “ He added:  “Based upon that, we made a very tentative, conditional deal that said if the United States government makes poker legal and provides that anybody who's been dealing poker recently is acceptable - and then if that legislation passes in Washington - and then if you can get approved by Nevada or Jersey or whoever's the licensing authority, then we'll go into business and split it with you 50-50 and we'll put our name on it. ... “This reminds me of the Volstead Act during prohibition. It said you can't drink beer. Well, people drank beer anyway. And poker's about as American as apple pie.... The situation cries for regulation so that states can get money at a time when they need money and the federal government can get some money at a time when it could use the money. It seems like an intelligent thing to sit down and regulate.”   A More Pressing Concern For Internet Freedom Groups:  Domain Seizures   Joe Plummer (no, not the one you might be thinking of) has added his voice to the recent events surrounding the US Government’s crackdown on Internet poker.  His concern, the Government’s seizure of domain names.  Plummer is also the author of “Dishonest Money:  Financing the Road to Ruin”, described by some as a “quick review of the Federal Reserve System and how it is set up to drain valuable resources”.  Writing for Activist Post he offered:  I was asked earlier today: “What’s the story with the government seizing these gambling sites?” My reply, more or less, went like this: No story really. It's just the government doing what it does. (Using its "regulatory power" to destroy businesses and people engaged in non-violent and voluntary activities while ignoring enormous REAL crimes. …Using its power to benefit the "few" at the expense of the many.)  Not to worry. After they're done destroying all the competition, they'll launchtheir own profitable "legal" online gambling sites. (Or, they'll dole out licenses to the well-connected for a nice fee and a slice of the action.) Either way, once they’re in a position to get their cut, the horrible "dangers of online gambling" will scarcely be heard of again. Cynical? Yes. But sadly, it’s par for the course. Now, the bigger problem is this: What happens when, instead of creating unasked-for and unwanted “internet gambling laws,” the government starts passing “unlawful news” or “unlicensed information” laws? Today they’re seizing and shutting down those evil poker players. Tomorrow, it could very well be the evil “alternative media” that’s “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.” I regularly make backup copies of important documents, audio and video that I find online. Hopefully everyone else is doing this too. - Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher   Follow breaking headlines around the clock at Gambling911.com Twitter Here