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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

March 17, 2007

Hooray for Barney

Adults are entitled to do with their money what they want to do. -- Barney Frank

It's been years since the name Barney Frank came to nationwide public attention, and most of the previous attention was not necessarily positive. Frank is a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Massachusetts. He is also chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. He is known for his outspoken views on individual freedom and the right to privacy.

So two nights ago, while waiting for my eyeballs to spring back to their original state after being overextended by those danged eye drops administrated during a routine exam, who (or what) should appear as background noise on my TV but a program about or interview with Barney Frank.

Since the brightness of the screen hurt my eyes, I turned the TV off and thought nothing more about the show.

The next night during a heated dinner discussion about the morals of politicians, a debate that covered everything from campaign contributions to sexual proclivities, Franks name came up again.

A few hours later, I checked my phone messages and heard, "Today's paper has an article you will be interested in. It's in the business section. A member of the House is proposing the repeal of the Internet gambling bill." The name of the Representative? Barney Frank!

Well, that's a lot of Barney Frank, if you ask me.

Happenstance. Sychroniscity. Coincidence. Three words that come to mind all of a sudden.

Carl Jung thought that certain events which appeared to be coincidental were actually parallel events that had some logical connection, some kind of relationship. Maybe if we reach far enough into the cosmic atmosphere this might explain why this name has popped up three times in three days when I hadn't heard it for more than a year.

Okay, it's probably just happenstance, true coincidence, but it's worth mentioning just to get a point across.

Barney Frank has always believed that Americans should be allowed to spend their money as they please and in that vein, gambling, whether it's on the Internet, via a religious bingo game, a sin city casino, or a state lottery ticket. He was opposed to the original anti-Internet gambling bills (That opening quote is exactly one year old!) and now he is championing the repeal of the one we all (almost all) would like to see appealed.

Too bad he's fighting an uphill battle, unless some of the current fans of the bill get dumped in future elections. But I for one would like thank Frank.

In spoof, I'm afraid of these kinds of prohibitions. I mean, what if our government decided to take some other philosophies to what an extreme.

What if our government decides the separation of church and state should be so definite that Americans can't contribute U.S. currency to their church of choice because that would defy the rule of separation? It's possible you know.

Uh oh, I am rambling far astray from the original subject. I'm one of the lucky people. I have access to live poker in my surrounding neighborhood and just a few miles away. But for most folks, finding a good game with plenty of action, or a fast-paced tournament, or a satellite event doesn't come easy. This isn't Monopoly or Scrabble, or backgammon, games you need only one or two others to play. No the Internet the place for poker and as soon as the rest of the Legislative Branch of the United States Government figures out how to get it's share of income taxes from winners and possibly (but not a necessity) regulate the whole ball game, we will have to suffer one more prohibition.