I Like Such Themes and Anything Connected to This Matter

My most dedicated fan, Anonymous, has been leaving lots of great comments lately! Just a sample:

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There have been some other terrific (and informative!) comments having to do with various male enhancers, really awesome programs that are the best on the net, and World of Warcraft. Great to get feedback! I do want to thank Anonymous for taking the time.

Meanwhile, when not spending time trying to contain all of the spammage over in Comment Moderation, I’ve been doing some other scribblin’.

On Friday of last week I had a new piece over on the Betfair site with the long title “The Yanks and the Banks: The UIGEA and the Future of Online Poker in the U.S.” Hard to believe the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 has been with us for over three years now. And that I’ve been writing about it that long, too.

In the Betfair piece I tried to give a brief history of the UIGEA, talking about its surreptitious passage by the House and Senate that fateful September night, Bush signing the sucker into law, the various machinations surrounding the writing of the regulations and their finalization, then the Bush administration at last implementing the law with its final regs on the last full day of his presidency.

I conclude with a bit of speculation about what might happen on December 1 when the banks and other “designated payment systems” are made to comply with the law or face stiff penalties. It sounds like some (most?) of us Americans will be facing some difficulties when trying to deposit to online poker sites following that date, although it depends largely on our individual banks or favored deposit methods. There is a lot up in the air, obviously, and I resisted trying to predict too specifically what might happen a week from now.

I’ve had the chance recently to do some additional writing for another U.K.-based publication as well, including book reviews and a regular “U.S. Report” on what’s been happening Stateside poker-wise. As with writing for Betfair, it can be interesting -- and a little challenging -- to think about how to report U.S. news to a non-U.S. audience. I’m finding that in the “U.S. Report” I’m usually gravitating toward three areas in my rundown of what’s been going on -- tourney stuff (the professional circuit), legal stuff (both state and federal), and poker on TV (the “mainstreaming” of poker).

The tourneys grind on, with some interesting trends developing with regard to buy-ins and entrants. The legal news is always a mix of good news and bad news with regard to particular states, with the online crowd all nervously eyeing December 1. And the various poker shows and other TV appearances by poker players all amount to good publicity on the whole, it seems.

Looking at it all from the outside, though, I’d say poker’s status in the United States is as confused and paradoxical as it has ever been. Never more popular, really, but never more contentious either.

Finally, I’ve been doing some outlining and character sketches for a second hard-boiled novel. It is not a sequel to Same Difference, although I’ve had a couple of readers tell me they’d read another one featuring my detective character who narrates that one, the story of which is set in 1976 New York City and has nothing at all to do with poker. Instead, I have a new set of characters in mind, and am thinking of a different period and setting altogether. And no, I’m not really planning to include any poker in this new one, either, although things could change.

Found out late last week I had overlooked one small step in the publishing process for Same Difference, thus delaying its getting distributed over on Amazon and other outlets. Was a little frustrating, but no biggie, really. Looks like it’ll be Dec. or Jan., now, before the book starts popping up elsewhere. I can wait.

The novel is currently available over on Lulu. Click here to get to the book’s Lulu page, which includes a synopsis and a preview of the first few pages. I started a Facebook page for Same Difference, but haven’t added much to it as yet. I’m thinking perhaps down the road of adding links to reviews or any other fun stuff that might come from folks reading the book. That would also be a place where people could leave comments, too.

’Cos, you know, feedback is always welcome.