Tomorrow's Online Gaming Meeting in Ward 1! ... and Recap from Ward 7.

Tomorrow, November 1st, the DC Lottery is hosting it's 4th community meeting on Online gaming in Ward 1 at the Marie Reed Learning Center, 2200 Champlain St. NW from 6:30pm-8:00pm. 

Marie Reed Learning Center
2200 Champlain St. NW
6:30pm-8:00pm. 

Let me know if you would like to come!

Here's the Lottery's site on iGaming: http://dclottery.com/AboutUs/iGaminginfo.aspx

Brief Recap of the Ward 7 Meeting Two Weeks Ago

Charles Phaneuf, Rae McClary and I attended the Ward 7 meeting on Oct 18th - This one was very similar to the previous two DC Lottery meetings discussing Online gaming and Online Poker.  There were ~25 people in attendance, including Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander and crowd of mostly Ward 7 citizens.

After the Lottery's presentation, the various Ward citizens present were given an opportunity to chime in about the presentation and what they thought about online gaming.  Even I was surprised to hear and see that 90+% were in favor of online gaming.  Many of them mentioned their travels to AC to play various games and several advocated for online poker!  The two or three concerned people that spoke expressed misgivings that they probably would not be able to participate in the games because they didn't meet some of the eligibility requirements necessary to play, namely:

1. Must have a bank account/debit account
2. Must have your own computer (Play is restricted at all libraries, schools, in federal buildings, etc.)

Personally, I find these consumer protection provisions refreshing - especially the one no one mentioned - the $250 weekly loss cap. 

I got the impression that Yvette Alexander herself seemed surprised at the tenor of a majority of her constituents in attendance.  *Note - this is not a direct quote* but she mentioned her interest and support of new and innovative revenue generators to help out social services programs.

Last Night's Community Meeting in Petworth - Ward 4

Last night, Allison Hazen and I attended the Community Meeting in Petworth to hear what the Lottery had to say about the DC's iGaming initiative and hear from and talk to residents about iGaming.

~50 people attended from across Ward 4 and a few other interested people, including Councilmembers Bowser and Brown.

Overall, I would estimate that ~70% of the people in attendance spoke in support of iGaming and online Poker and the rest were concerned with the process of how iGaming was to be implemented and where the revenue would eventually be allocated.  Some also spoke to concerns about not being given timely notification regarding iGaming's legislative passage in the FY 2011 Supplemental Budget Support Act of 2010.

There were ~10 poker players in attendance.  All had great stories to tell and were great faces for the poker community.  Thank you all for speaking up! 

I really think those in the audience that probably do not have the regular opportunity to see the sincere, quality people that play online games (like poker) left the meeting with a positive perspective on iGaming after hearing you speak!

Up next...
According to the Lottery's iGaming website the meeting in Ward 6 has been pushed back a week to Thursday, October 27 - 6:30pm. (EDITOR: IT'S BEEN PUSHED BACK AGAIN TO LATE NOVEMBER)

Next meeting: Ward 1 - Marie Reed Learning Center - 2200 Champlain St., NW - 6:30pm

See here for October: http://dclottery.com/pdfs/igaming/OctoberFinalCalendar2.pdf
We need more of your excellent voices out there!

News from last night's community meeting

Mike Debonis of the Post and Martin Austermuhle of DCist recently published a couple pieces that I believe fairly well captured the mood of 1st Online Games community meeting last night at a small Ward 5 library.

Here they are.

Washington Post - 10/14

DCist - 10/14 

There are more community meetings to come.  I'll keep you all posted.

1st DC Community Hearing on Online Poker and Gaming Tonight!

Tonight, we will get a chance for the 1st time to hear from the DC Lottery how they plan to implement their online gaming plan. 

Here's the info, please attend if you can.

October 13 - 6:30pm-8:30pm

Lamond Riggs Library

5401 South Dakota Avenue NE

6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Please come out and show your support.  It should be pretty interesting! 

Here's the link to the DC Lottery's site: http://dclottery.com/AboutUs/iGaminginfo.aspx

Here is the full schedule of community meetings:

• October 13: Ward 5, Lamond Riggs Library, 5401 South Dakota Avenue NE, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• October 17: Ward 4, Petworth Library, 4200 Kansas Ave., NW, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• October 18: Ward 7, IDEA Public Charter School, 1027 45th Street NE, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 1: Ward 1, Marie Reed Learning Center, 2200 Champlain Street NW, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 10: Ward 3, Palisades Library, 4901 V Street NW, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 15: Ward 2, Jelleff Recreation Center, 3265 S Street NW, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 17: Ward 8, Anacostia Library, 1800 Good Hope Road SE, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 21: Ward 6, Location TBD, 6:30pm

Before you go to a meeting, you'll likely want to read a copy of the proposed rules for the program; if you can't make it to a meeting, there are ways to make sure your comments are heard.

Community Ward Meetings announced!

This week, the DC government is launching "community meetings" to gather input from citizens in DC.  Please come out and show your support. 

Officials with the DC Lottery, which is implementing the new gaming sites, are holding community meetings in each of the city’s eight wards over the next two months to address concerns over online gaming.  The first one is this Thursday, October 13th!

This is an opportunity to hear the real story behind how the games will be implemented and regulated, in addition to how it will be made available to all of us who would like to participate and play.

Let me know if you would like me to send you some information on DC's effort to implement online poker.  I testified before the DC City Council in June on Online Poker's merits and how much fun it is to be able to play online poker for low-stakes. 

It would be great if you could come out and attend some of these meetings.  Let me know if you would like to by posting in the comments or emailing me directly!

Here is the full schedule of community meetings:
CHECK HERE FOR UP-TO-DATE INFO: http://dclottery.com/AboutUs/iGaminginfo.aspx

• October 13: Ward 5, Lamond Riggs Library, 5401 South Dakota Avenue NE, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• October 17: Ward 4, Petworth Library, 4200 Kansas Ave., NW, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• October 18: Ward 7, IDEA Public Charter School, 1027 45th Street NE, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 1: Ward 1, Marie Reed Learning Center, 2200 Champlain Street NW, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 10: Ward 3, Palisades Library, 4901 V Street NW, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 15: Ward 2, Jelleff Recreation Center, 3265 S Street NW, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 17: Ward 8, Anacostia Library, 1800 Good Hope Road SE, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• November 21: Ward 6, Eastern Market, North Hall, 225 7th St. SE, 6:30pm

Before you go to your meeting, you'll likely want to read a copy of the proposed rules for the program; if you can't make it to a meeting, there are ways to make sure your comments are heard.

Some recent news articles and a video about the initiative.
Video from a charity event on Capitol Hill

Washington Post/AP - June 29
Washington Times - June 29
Observer - Aug 16
Washington Post - Sept 19
New York Times - Oct 8