Annie Duke, one of the top poker players in the world, was online Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss her testimony in behalf of the Poker Players Alliance, to be delivered Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, examining U.S. policies relating to Internet gaming.

A transcript follows.

Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain “signatures” by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

____________________

Annie Duke: Hi everyone. I just finished testifying at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on online gaming. It was an exhilarating experience and I was honored to be able to represent the millions of poker players who enjoy playing poker on the Internet. I feel that we made some excellent points but there is still lots of work to do. I would encourage any of you who are passionate about this issue to join the Poker Players Alliance (www.theppa.org) if you have not already done so. Now I would love to answer your questions.

_______________________

Arlington, Va. : Gaming? GAMING? Where I come from, playing for money — on the Internet or elsewhere — is called GAMBLING. And that’s okay by me, but why do you insist on calling it “gaming”? How can you have an honest debate when you don’t use honest language?

Annie Duke: Poker is not gambling no more than options trading is. Gambling is an activity where you will mathematical lose in the long run but you play to try to get lucky and overcome the odds in the short run. Poker is a game of skill in which you play against other players and you can play with an edge. So it is gaming not gambling. I am using honest language.

_______________________

Bethlehem, Pa.: I believe that instead of outlawing online poker that government should go in the exact opposite direction and make it legal and run the sites themselves or at least tax it so that they can take a cut. What do you think?

Annie Duke: I agree with you in principle. Rep. Barney Frank has authored a bill, H.R. 2046 which would do exactly that.

_______________________

Milestown, Mont.: Posting early. Ms. Duke, is it true that you got your start in Billings, Mont?

If so, where did you play? How in the heck did you get your start there?

Annie Duke: I did get my start in Montana. I started playing at the Crystal Lounge in downtown Billings. I lived in Montana after I left grad school and, needing money, my brother pointed out there were legal poker rooms in Montana and suggested I try playing to pay the rent. Obviously, that worked out for me!

Click here to go to the article to read more.

Author Contact Info: Washington Post, Annie Duke