Jeff Haney tells how longtime insiders see online poker helping, instead of hurting, the game

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

For Phil Field and his colleagues on the old Midwestern nightclub booking circuit, it was like a perverse precursor to those fantasy sports leagues drafts that would become popular decades later.

Field, best known in Las Vegas as the founder and publisher of Card Player magazine from 1988 to 1993, was reminded of his former career after reading our recent column on the effects of Internet poker on established brick-and-mortar card rooms.

In the column, poker industry insider Jay Lakin compared the onset of Internet poker to the 1980s scare involving VCRs , which the big movie studios ended up embracing after some initial reluctance - an analogy Field called perfect.

"I'll give you another one," Field wrote in an e-mail. "In the early '50s I was in the theatrical booking business. Then a gimmick called TV came along. On Tuesday night everyone would be home watching 'Uncle Miltie' Berle. Who in his right mind was going to a movie theater anymore or would go into their local tavern or club to watch live entertainment that they had to pay for?

"There were six of us booking agents in the Chicago office at the time, and we covered eight states in addition to Illinois. So we all put some money up and wrote down names of clubs that we did business with, one at a time, making sure there were no duplicates. We each had 10 names.

"Each Monday, whoever had the name of any club that was destroyed that previous week by 'fire of an unknown origin' collected $100 until we ran out of money. The clubs really were hurting at the time."

Shortly after launching Poker Digest magazine in 1998, Field felt a case of deja vu coming on when Internet poker sites began advertising in the major poker magazines.

In contrast to the situation decades before, though, this time the new technology helped the existing clubs. Like Lakin and others, Field found online poker generated business for established card rooms rather than hurting them. Online poker, it turned out, was not the new Uncle Miltie.

"I made my customary goodwill swing through the (San Francisco) Bay Area - the Bay 101 Club, Garden City, the Oaks, Artichoke Joe's, etc. - I wasn't sure what the response would be," Field recalled.

Managers at every major club gave Field the same answer: Business was never better.

The discussion remains relevant as ever. This week, two federal agencies published the regulations that will officially allow the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to go into effect. The act, although it faces several congressional challenges and a lawsuit from a lobbying group, aims to crack down on all forms of online gambling by restricting transactions involving U.S. financial institutions.

Trouble in Norway?

Trond Giske, Norway's culture minister, made international sports news a couple of weeks ago when he and a companion were chased from their VIP seats by angry English soccer fans during a Champions League match between Chelsea and Rosenborg.

Giske and shipping tycoon John Fredriksen, identified as Norway's richest man, fled their seats when Chelsea fans chanted, "Go home, go home," during the match at London's Stamford Bridge, according to Reuters. The hometown fans were irate that Giske and Fredriksen had cheered a Rosenborg goal.

"We interpreted the situation as a bit unsafe," Giske said in the Reuters report.

Giske, however, stands to face a more hostile reaction from Norwegian poker players after his announcement that he plans to introduce legislation to ban online gaming in Norway.

The legislation would prohibit banking transactions with Internet gaming companies, much like the Internet gambling act in the U.S., according to a report by the London-based Gaming Intelligence Group.

Oddly enough, Giske's announcement came shortly after 18-year-old Norwegian Annette Obrestad won the main event of the first World Series of Poker Europe on Sept. 17 in London.

Obrestad, one of the most celebrated online poker players, became the youngest bracelet winner in World Series history by winning the tournament's first prize of just over $2 million. Obrestad also broke Annie Duke's record for the biggest payday in a single World Series event by a woman.

'Classic' seats

Entries to the Caesars Palace Classic championship event , valued at $10,000, are being awarded Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in a "high-hand" promotion drawing players to the Caesars poker room.

The player who makes the best hand of the day wins a seat in the $10,000-entry, no-limit Texas hold 'em tournament scheduled for from Oct. 22 to 24. Both hole cards must be used to qualify for the high hand.

The main event caps the Caesars Palace Classic, which includes 12 other featured tournaments beginning Oct. 12.

The high-hand promotion runs through next Wednesday. A $550 hold 'em tournament kicks off the Caesars Palace Classic two days later.