Poker News

Eric Baldwin donates $200k to his former school

According to PokerNewsDaily, Eric Baldwin, who was the Card Player Magazine’s Player of the Year 2009, has made a generous donation to his former Alma Mater’s (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater) baseball team.

Baldwin is a devoted baseball fan and it is rumored that he even considered a professional career during his active baseball years.

The donation will be used to add lights to Prucha Field, the Warhawks‘ home field. Baldwin used to play on the same field in 2005 with the Warhawks. He graduated from UW-Whitewater a year later.

Last year Baldwin won 1,5 million dollars from live tournaments.

Source: PokerNewsDaily, TheHendonMob

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Eric Baldwin donates $200k to his former school

Eric Baldwin (basebaldy) Donates $200,000 to UW-Whitewater Baseball

UB.com sponsored pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin has made a generous $200,000 donation to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s baseball team. Baldwin helped guide the squad to a national championship in 2005.

The six-figure donation, equal to the amount of money Baldwin won by taking down a $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event during April’s Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza, will be used to add lights to Prucha Field. In turn, the university will be able to host the Midwest Regional portion of the 2010 NCAA Division III baseball playoffs. The last time that the school hosted the post-season competition was in 2005, when Baldwin started in right field.

On his donation, Baldwin told Wisconsin-Whitewater officials, "It feels awesome to be in a position to help UW-Whitewater host the regional again. UW-Whitewater has an amazing baseball program and hopefully the team will be playing in this year's regional in front of its hometown crowd." Baldwin graduated from Whitewater in 2006. The Warhawks, as the school’s mascot is known, finished third in the Division III baseball playoffs in 2004 before winning it all one year later.

Baldwin was a team captain in his final year at the school and explained that how hard work in anything from baseball to poker will ultimately pay off: "I learned that if you put a lot of hard work into something and fight through the hard times, things will work out. Preparation leads to success." Baldwin was the CardPlayer Player of the Year in 2009. The stanza saw him win the aforementioned Venetian tournament for $198,000 and then claim his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for $521,000. One week later, he finished third in the $10,000 World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em for another $259,000.

In October, Baldwin was up to his winning ways again, this time making the final table of the UB.com Aruba Poker Classic for $126,000. The fourth place finish most likely pushed talks about joining UB.com along and Baldwin signed with the site just before Christmas. Back on the tournament trail, he won a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $256,000. Online, he was the runner-up in both the PokerStars Sunday Second Chance and Nightly Hundred Grand for a combined take of $57,000. He banked $1.5 million in tournaments in 2009.

Wisconsin-Whitewater Athletic Director Paul Plinske spoke volumes about Baldwin’s contribution to his alma mater: "Eric was instrumental in leading UW-Whitewater to its first national title in baseball. His recent gift will ensure that more great things are on the horizon for the Warhawks. He has definitely left his mark on our campus and we are very grateful to him for leaving us his legacy." The Midwest Regional will take place from May 19th to 23rd at Jim Miller Stadium at Prucha Field. Last year, the team was 30-19 and sported a 12-6 home record. In the Warhawks’ final game of the season, the team was upended by Carthage, who won by a score of 8-3 in Regional play.

The university’s press release revealed that Baldwin would be one of the competitors on the upcoming National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will purportedly film in March and be shown on NBC in April. In 2009, the Heads-Up event began airing in mid-April and played out over the course of six straight Sundays. A total purse of $1.5 million was up for grabs in the invitation-only event. Automatic bids to the field of 64 players are include the reigning CardPlayer Player of the Year. The automatic invites were created in 2008.

Check out the official Wisconsin-Whitewater press release outlining Baldwin’s donation to the school.

Baldwin Lights Up University with Donation

Baldwin, who graduated in 2006 from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, is donating $200,000 to the school to outfit Prucha Field with new lights.

The upgrade will allow UW-Whitewater to host the upcoming 2010 Midwest regional competition of the Division III baseball national championship tournament.

The donation is particularly fitting considering the last time UW-Whitewater hosted the Division III baseball national championship Baldwin was the school’s starting right-fielder and team captain.

“It feels awesome to be in a position to help UW-Whitewater host the regional again,” Baldwin said.

“UW-Whitewater has an amazing baseball program and hopefully the team will be playing in this year’s regional in front of a hometown crowd.”

After graduating from UW-Whitewater, Baldwin relocated to Las Vegas in 2008 and quickly established himself as one of the poker world’s up and coming stars.

In 2009 Baldwin won his first WSOP bracelet in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event for $521,991 and then placed third in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em event for $259,534.

In total Baldwin won more than $1.5 million for the year including online events, which was enough to secure him Card Player Magazine’s Player of the Year honors.

At the end of the year Baldwin also scored a sponsorship deal with online poker room UB.com.

UW-Whitewater Athletics Director Paul Plinske was proud of Baldwin’s success over the years.

“Eric was instrumental in leading UW-Whitewater to its first national title in baseball,” he said. “His recent gift will ensure more great things on the horizon for the Warhawks. He has definitely left his mark on our campus and we are very grateful to him for leaving us his legacy.”

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Poker Community Celebrates the Holidays

Now that the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic is over and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is still a couple of weeks away, the poker community now has a little time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the holiday season.  Several players are headed home for holidays, while others are trying to avoid getting too festive.

A quick glance at Twitter indicates that many players are logging hours in the airport en route to their Christmas destinations.  Beth Shak, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Vanessa Rousso, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and J.C. Alvarado all posted updates on their travels on the social networking site.  Most were venturing to their hometowns for the holidays.  Bonomo is back in his home state of Virginia, while Phil Hellmuth is in Wisconsin.  One of the players who did the most traveling was Fabrice Soulier, who spent 34 hours in transit in order to get from Las Vegas to his home in Paris, France.

Perhaps the most interesting holiday trip belongs to Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch.  Rather than head home for the holidays, Bloch headed south for the winter and, according to his Twitter feed, is currently touring ruins in Tulum, Mexico.  Located on the Caribbean coast, Tulum is perhaps best known for its ancient Mayan ruins.

There is also a player who is keeping his mind on poker this holiday season.  Hanukkah wrapped up on December 18th and David “The Maven” Chicotsky took only a couple of days off before returning to the felt along with his new student, friend of Full Tilt Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel.  Better known as a gamer than a card player, Wendel sought advice from Chicotsky, who recently suggested they play in the $120 nightly tournament at the Venetian in Las Vegas.  According to his Twitter feed, not only did Chicotsky play the tournament on Tuesday night, but he also won, pocketing a couple thousand dollars.

One player who really got into the spirit of the season was online cash game pro David “viffer” Peat.  Peat posted a thread on the TwoPlusTwo forums shortly after Thanksgiving informing the online poker community that he planned to adopt a family for the holidays and suggested others donate to the cause or adopt a family in their own hometowns.  Tom “durrrr” Dwan also got in on the charitable efforts and accepted donations from people on his online poker account.  Thanks to the goodwill of people like David “WhooooKid” Baker, Brian “$tinger88” Hastings, Ben Lamb, Bjorn “kleath” Kleathersson, the group managed to raise over $25,000 to buy toys and gifts for families in need in the Las Vegas area.

Pictures of several adventures to Wal-Mart and other local stores were posted in the thread, including images of poker players piling up shopping carts with toys.  Others, inspired by the efforts, adopted families of their own and also posted stories about how great it felt to help out someone this Christmas season.

Eric Baldwin (basebaldy) Signs with UB, Wins Player of the Year

On Tuesday, 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin became a sponsored pro of the USA-friendly online poker site UB.com. He defeated Cornel Andrew Cimpan and Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko in the Player of the Year race.

In April, Baldwin came out on top of the field in a $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event held during the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza and earned $198,000. The colossal six-figure score set up a monumental run at this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP). Baldwin won his first bracelet by besting Danish pro Jonas Klausen in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em event to the tune of $521,000. About a week later, he grabbed third in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em, boosting his bankroll by another $259,000.

After the 2009 WSOP, Baldwin’s quest to take down the CardPlayer Player of the Year title hit full stride. He told Poker News Daily, “"At the start of the year at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, my friends and I were talking about how much fun it would be to chase after that award. I like the structure of a competition like that. It’s so much fun to me. It gives me a goal and something to work with. At the end of the WSOP, I thought it could be my year." In October, Baldwin final tabled the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic for $126,000. This month, he padded his resume by winning a $1,000 buy-in preliminary event held during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $256,000.

He was rewarded for his efforts with a contract from UB.com, where he’ll play under the moniker “eric_baldwin,” abandoning his “basebaldy” nickname for the time being. On the November re-launch of UB.com, Baldwin told Poker News Daily, “I thought everything looked slick. I like the new logo and everything runs smoothly. I like the new website and the new features with videos of the pros. We’re going to get into some strategy things on the site that will help people a lot. Everything looks slick, runs slick, and it’s exciting.” UB.com makes its home on the CEREUS Network along with Absolute Poker. Both online poker rooms are owned by Tokwiro Enterprises.

Baldwin is a former baseball player from Wisconsin and will appear on this week’s installment of the UB.com poker news show “Poker2Nite.” He joins a cast of characters at UB.com that already includes Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Michael Binger, and “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle.

The site’s marquee poker tournament is the $200,000 Guaranteed, a $215 buy-in event that takes place every Sunday at 4:00pm ET. Over the weekend, JohnnyCashGame earned $45,000 for outlasting the 1,014-player field, defeating Bonezee heads-up. All was not lost for Bonezee, however, as the UB.com member received a $27,000 consolation prize. The top 99 players finished in the money and the tournament is also open to customers of Absolute Poker.

In a press release announcing Baldwin’s signing, Duke commented, "Eric Baldwin isn't just a new UB pro, he is UB. Eric loves this game more than anything in the world, he plays to win, and he's respected for his passion at the tables. We really couldn't be more ecstatic to have the Player of the Year on our team." Besides Baldwin, Cimpan, and Timoshenko, others in the top ten on the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year leaderboard include Vitaly Lunkin, World Poker Tour Five Diamond Champion Daniel Alaei, Jason Mercier, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada.

According to CardPlayer, Baldwin earned nearly 7,000 Player of the Year Points in 2009 and piled up $1.5 million in earnings.

“Basebaldy” defeats Klausen for WSOP bracelet

The former college baseball star defeated Jonas Klausen heads-up in the latest $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event and already knows how he's spending the $521,932 in prize money.

"My friend made me promise that if I ever won more than a quarter million dollars I have to buy a junk car and put like $10,000 rims on it," he told PokerListings.com shortly after the match.

"So I'm probably going to buy an old Cutlass and put some wheels on and a huge subwoofer in it."

Beyond just pimping his ride, Baldwin is thinking sponsorship deals.

"I always thought it was weird that poker sponsorships never crossed over into the real world," he said. "But I drink Miller Light and if they need someone in the poker world, just give me a free supply and we're golden."

The 26-year-old moved from his native Wisconsin to Las Vegas to further his career as a live poker professional and has since logged big scores in the Venetian Deep Stack and Bellagio tournaments.

"I was coming out here several times a year for some tournaments so I figured I would just buy a place out here," he said. "Plus I hate shoveling snow."

His first bracelet win is his biggest live result to date.

"It's head over heels above anything else I've done in my life," he said. "The bracelet is the measuring stick that most people look to in judging poker players."

To earn that bracelet, Baldwin had to outlast a field that included Full Tilt's Roland De Wolfe at the final table and PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, who wielded the big stack before flaming out in 13th.

And he had to contend with Klausen, a Danish pro who is feared in the online arena.

"He's just an amazing player," said Baldwin. "He's aggressive, but he knows when to put the brakes on, too.

"I looked up his stats online at the break and he has over 100% ROI on PokerStars, which is a nerdy way of saying he's very good."

Baldwin entered the heads-up match with the chip lead, but saw Klausen take over the advantage before a spectacular cooler of a hand changed both players' fortunes.

The hand saw Klausen flop top two pair on a Q-10-4 board and when he got in he could not have been blamed for feeling the bracelet was in his grasp.

Baldwin, however, had pocket fours for bottom set and managed to fade queens and tens to double up and take a commanding lead in the match.

A few hands later and the tournament was over, courtesy a preflop race with a pair of tens that held against Klausen's A-Q.

"It's very special," Baldwin said of the win. "I can't even accurately describe it because it hasn't sunk in yet."

Check out the PokerListings.com 2009 WSOP section for more coverage of Baldwin's win.

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Around the World in 150 Days, Day 53, It Begins

Authors note: In the interest of staying current while playing in the WSOP I’ll be temporarily skipping ahead to the current date. The entries from the remainder of the Wisconsin trip will be finished when I have time to hide out in some book store …

WSOP signs jerky pact with Jack Link’s

The landmark announcement, made simultaneously in Las Vegas and Minong, Wisconsin on Monday, presented a multi-year partnership between the Series and Jack Link's, the No. 1 brand of beef jerky and the fastest growing meat-snack manufacturer worldwide.

"This is a great fit between two category-leading brands," said Ty Stewart, WSOP vice-president. "We've found a savvy and fun sports marketer who fits our culture and we welcome Jack Link's to the WSOP family."

As part of the deal, the WSOP will be renamed the "World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link's Beef Jerky."

The agreement will also see Jack Link's branding throughout the tournament room, as well as a new "Wild Card Café" to replace the popular No Limit Lounge above the TV table.

Hungry poker players will be able to buy many of Jack Link's' more than 100 premium meat-snack products in the Poker Kitchen.

"The game of poker is all about sharing good times with friends. Jack Link's enthusiasts and poker fans are cut from the same cloth - they are fun-seeking, adventurous sprits," Jack Link's director of marketing Jeff LeFever is reported to have said.

The move continues the WSOP's longstanding tradition of mixing poker and bar fare, following similar partnerships with Milwaukee's Best Light beer and Planter's Peanuts.

Lonely poker players can rejoice as the comely Milwaukee's Best promo girls will remain on duty as representatives of the WSOP's official beer.

This year, however, their numbers will be supplanted by Jack Link's infamous Sasquatch.

 

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Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke Featured in Deal Me In Poker Book

Eleven-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and Celebrity Apprentice runner up Annie Duke are two of 20 poker pros that tell their stories in “Deal Me In,” a brand new book available at PokerBrat.com.

The publication was released commemorating the 20th anniversary of Hellmuth’s WSOP Main Event win in 1989. Then, he was just 24 years-old and became the youngest winner ever of the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. Last year, Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate shattered Hellmuth’s mark, defeating Ivan Demidov heads-up and pocketing $9.1 million at the age of 22. Hellmuth last won a bracelet in 2007, besting the field in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament for $637,000 and defeating Andy Philachack heads-up. Each story told by a poker legend in “Deal Me In” chronicles anecdotes and milestone moments as they’ve climbed the ladder.

Duke is fresh off finishing as the runner up to comedian Joan Rivers on NBC’s hit reality series Celebrity Apprentice. In the process, the Ultimate Bet pro and top female poker player raised well over $700,000 for her chosen charity, Refugees International. Together with actor Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein, Duke founded Ante Up for Africa in 2006. The organization raised over $2 million in its first two years for the victims of the crisis in Darfur. Duke’s lone bracelet win came in 2004, when she grabbed the “W” in a $2,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Eight or Better tournament for $137,000, besting Ronald Graham heads-up. Duke won the inaugural WSOP Tournament of Champions in 2004, defeating Hellmuth and taking home $2 million.

About the brand new book, Hellmuth commented in a press release distributed on Monday, “Each chapter takes you behind the scenes into the early lives of poker’s biggest names. They cover their humble beginnings, the obstacles they overcame, the demons they faced, and ultimately the success they enjoyed. Deal Me In is packed with the musings of poker’s most colorful characters, surprising and insightful stories, plus inside poker tips.” Hellmuth was the ringleader behind “Deal Me In” coming to fruition. The 308 page book that includes 154 photos is available on his website, PokerBrat.com, for $24.95. Appropriately, Phil’s House Publishing, Inc. released it.

Hellmuth owns the record for the most number of WSOP in the money finishes with 69, edging out Men “The Master” Nguyen’s tally of 62. A bevy of poker legends appear in “Deal Me In” sharing their stories about the WSOP and other high-stakes events, including Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Carlos Mortensen, Chau Giang, Jennifer Harman, Allen Cunningham, Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, Chad Brown, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Layne Flack, and new Expekt Poker pro Scotty Nguyen.

CardPlayer Magazine reviewed “Deal Me In” and proclaimed, “A page-turner about the world’s most powerful poker players and their hardscrabble journeys from the backgammon games of Manhattan, the taverns of Wisconsin, the back alleys of Saigon, and the pubs of England. Unforgettable stories and valuable tips, Deal Me In is about dreaming big and the will to succeed.”

Also included in the publication are three of the game’s rising stars. Headlining the group is 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, a card-carrying member of Team Betfair. Obrestad is the youngest bracelet winner ever and earned $2 million for her efforts in the 2007 event. Also profiled in the book is Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who is currently battling in the Million Dollar Challenge against Patrik Antonius. Dwan is a regular on shows like “High Stakes Poker” and competed in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. The third young gun chronicled is Eastgate, the number two money winner in WSOP history behind Jamie Gold.

40 Years of the WSOP: The 80s

The first World Series of Poker of the 1980s is most remembered for its Main Event winner, 26-year-old Stu Ungar.

Part poker genius, part enigma, Ungar would amaze and baffle throughout his lifetime and his first of two back-to-back Main Event wins ushered in the second decade of the WSOP.

There were 73 entrants that year, including players from outside of the U.S for the first time.

In the end, Ungar beat a final five that included Johnny Moss and runner-up Doyle Brunson to take down the $365,000 top prize.

"Stu Ungar's first WSOP victory in 1980 marked the beginning of a new era in poker," said Nolan Dalla, author of One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar, The World's Greatest Poker Player.

"It arguably slammed the door shut on the good old days, symbolized best perhaps by Ungar actually defeating the representation of all that the WSOP was before, personified in Doyle Brunson.

"The magnitude both actual and symbolic of this victory cannot be overstated. Ungar not only went on to revolutionize poker and strategy, he quickly became an icon for his eccentricities and unprecedented accomplishments."

1981 saw barely a ripple of an increase in Main Event entrants, as 75 ponied up the $10K buy-in.

This year is best remembered for Ungar's successful defense of his title, which was aired as an hour-long broadcast as one of CBS' sports specials.

"All one must do is look at the champions before and after Ungar," Dalla said. "The previous winners were mostly table-hardened, nerve-tested older men in cowboy hats from the American South.

"But Ungar, being young, from New York, Jewish, and unlike any of his contemporaries in the way he acted at the table, left an indelible impression on the game unlikely ever to be equaled."

The very next year was one for the books.  With over 100 entrants, the 1982 WSOP Main Event had its biggest top prize ever at $500,000 and an all-star final table including Brunson, Dewey Tomko, Jack Straus, Berry Johnston and Brian "Sailor" Roberts.

The legend of "a chip and a chair" was born that year when Straus came back from a single $500 chip to win it all.  Bill Baxter and David Sklansky each won two bracelets and Vera Richmond became the first woman to win a bracelet in an open-field event.

The biggest change for the WSOP came in 1983 with the introduction of the satellites, which is exactly how Main Event winner Tom McEvoy snagged his seat.

McEvoy told PokerListings he had tried to win a seat in one of the four $100 satellites held at the Bingo Palace earlier that year, just as eventual runner-up Rod Peate had.

He was unsuccessful and therefore signed up for a one-table $1,160 satellite at the Horseshoe, but not before some quick thinking.

When McEvoy saw that up-and-coming player Johnny Chan was signed up for the same satellite, he approached Chan.

"I don't want to play it if you're going to play it," he said to Chan. "So if you're going to take the seat, I'll wait until the next one."

Chan sat out and McEvoy beat out David Sklansky, James Doman and six others to win his seat to the big show.

"Winning the Main Event did not have the impact then, of course, that it does now, with so much money at stake," McEvoy said. "Then there was not much TV coverage to speak of. Winning wasn't nearly as dramatic as it is now."

1983 also saw the first bracelet won by an African-American as Carolyn Gardner took the Ladies 7-Card Stud event. Two new games were introduced, Match Play and Omaha, and the heads-up Main Event match between McEvoy and Peate set a record at seven hours.

CBS did not cover the Main Event in 1984, so future Hall-of-Famer Jack Keller's championship win, and the fact he had also won a bracelet in stud, did not get widespread attention.

Then in 1985, Bill Smith won the Main Event, but runner-up T.J. Cloutier is by far the more famous figure today.

Johnny Chan won his first bracelet that year and Johnny Moss, who went on to win his ninth and final bracelet three years later, made his last Main Event final table.

Twice runner-up Berry Johnston finally won the Main Event in 1986 and in 1987, ESPN took over coverage of the WSOP, introducing the viewing public to Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan for the first time.

A year later, a watershed moment in WSOP history occurred when ESPN aired Chan's final table showdown with Erik Seidel at the 1988 Main Event, bringing him back-to-back titles.

The scene was immortalized in the movie Rounders years later, becoming one of the main catalysts to poker's big boom with a whole new generation of players wanting to be Matt Damon and stare down Chan.

But even before Rounders came a win for the ages.

It was 1989 and a 24-year-old Wisconsin student named Phil Hellmuth became the youngest champion in WSOP history, derailing The Orient Express and closing out the 1980s.

Related Articles:

• 40 years of the WSOP: The 90s
• 40 years of the WSOP: The 70s
• 40 years of the WSOP: The beginning

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New NFL Lobbyist Seeks to Protect UIGEA

Recently, the National Football League (NFL) enlisted the services of Jeff Miller, who will serve as its chief lobbyist on Capitol Hill. According to an article authored by the Associated Press, Miller seeks to preserve the ban on internet gambling in the United States.

In 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was ushered through Congress at the last minute by former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN). Although the UIGEA did not define what was legal and illegal under its jurisdiction, its effect was driving some of the world's largest online poker sites out of the U.S. market. Now, only a handful of rooms, such as PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet, and Carbon Poker, accept U.S. residents. In addition, the UIGEA also eradicated payment processors such as Neteller and Citadel Commerce from the market.

On January 19th, the regulations of the UIGEA finally came to fruition as “midnight rules” passed by the outgoing Bush Administration. Many in the internet gambling industry questioned the role of Special Assistant to George W. Bush William Wichterman, who had also served as an NFL lobbyist. Whether the urging of Wichterman resulted in the UIGEA's regulations being pushed through remains unknown. However, his involvement prompted a letter by Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN).

The NFL's newest hire, Miller told the Associated Press, "I'm a lifelong NFL fan, grew up in Wisconsin, [and] rooted for the Packers at my father's knee every Sunday. I had had opportunities in the past to leave the Hill and do other things, such as work at a law firm and lobby firm. But when the NFL calls, you can't turn that down." When asked about the upholding the existing internet gambling legislation, which consists of both the UIGEA and Wire Act of 1961, Miller responded, "We want to maintain the integrity of the game, and gambling threatens that."

The Associated Press article added that Miller will be at the forefront of sports leagues' efforts to preserve the status quo with regards to internet gambling. Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) has led the effort to overturn the UIGEA, or at least clarify it for the benefit of the financial services industry. HR 6870, the second version of the Payments System Protection Act, was passed out of the House Financial Services Committee, of which Frank is the Chair, by a 30-19 vote last September. However, due to the then-emerging economic crisis in the United States, it did not see time on the House floor.

According to the Associated Press, the NFL previously sought outside counsel. Miller's hiring bucks that trend. He explained, "The emphasis is to have a full-time person spending every waking moment thinking about how what Congress or the administration is doing is going to affect the NFL's business model." The NFL held its annual owners' meetings last week in California, instituting a number of rule changes as well as adjusting the draft order based on a team's finish in the playoffs. Fantasy sports received a specific exemption from the UIGEA, although the law forced industry websites to guarantee prize pools and not allow a manager to have all of his players come from the same team.

Joe Brennan, Chairman of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), told Poker News Daily why sports betting has received such a bad rap: “It's the only type of betting where the courts have been explicit. The Wire Act arose out of a couple of sports betting scandals back in the 1950s. It always comes back to trying to protect the integrity of the game.” iMEGA is suing to declare the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) unconstitutional. The case has been assigned to Chief Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr. of the New Jersey District Court.