Online poker players defending potential damage to their rights

The Poker Players Alliance, a political group that boasts 100,000 members, is facing a new threat. Executive director Michael Bolcerek and his poker-playing army are now fighting against the growing anti-gambling forces that argue the game is bad for American family values and want to remove it from the internet.

Bolcerek, a Cow Hollow resident and former Silicon Valley businessman, said that the war about on online poker is no bluff. "I wish they were just trying to regulate us or tax us, but they really want us wiped out, gone."

Michael, who took on the role a year and half ago, said he considers poker a game of skill, not chance -- an important distinction that elevates poker from the illicit activity of a street craps game to a legitimate sport. So when Bolcerek saw the state government clamp down on his favorite pastime over a measly charity event, the political novice said it roused the civil liberties-activist in him.

"At least we've got the resources to do something," Bolcerek said. "We've created a political voice and we've got a seat at the table.

Despite online poker's rabid popularity, a game that now draws an estimated 23 million Americans to their keyboards every day, the game has recently suffered some big-time legislative hits.