January 20 2012, Matthew Kredell

For a guy expected to be the key politician involved in eventually getting Internet poker legislation passed in the United States, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has never said much on the topic.

Congressmen Joe Barton and Barney Frank are ambassadors for the cause, having given countless interviews on poker, including with PokerNews.com. They openly campaign for support.

Reid apparently does his campaigning in private. Earlier this week, he gave a rare public comment to GamblingCompliance.com when asked about the DOJ’s recent opinion on the Wire Act.

“It’ll give us an incentive to get something done,” Reid told GamblingCompliance. “We cannot have a series of laws around the country related to [Internet] gaming. I know a lot about gaming. I’m a former chairman of the Nevada [Gaming] Commission, and I think it’s very important that we have a national law.”

Reid’s comments indicate that lawmakers realize 2012 is the time to either move on a federal poker bill or watch some states go on without a federal framework.

“It’s very positive that someone like Reid is openly talking about the need to get this done this year,” John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, told PokerNews. “We’re hoping we can transfer words into law. It’s preferable for the players, for the business side of things, to have some clear and consistent standards across 50 states instead of a patchwork of state laws and activities that would be legal in one place but illegal somewhere else.”

GamblingCompliance also indicated that Reid confirmed publicly for the first time that he is negotiating with Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) on a federal bill, though he wouldn’t get into any of the details.

There’s hope in the poker community that Reid will attempt to attach poker legislation to the payroll tax bill next month, though that is probably optimistic. Reid and Kyl, the top Democrat and No. 2 Republican in the Senate, are still negotiating. And Reid hasn’t even introduced a bill. Pappas said he didn’t think Reid had a final bill yet and offered assurance that the PPA is making certain the player voice is being heard in the formulation of the legislation.

“We’re at the table already,” Pappas said. “We’ve met with their staff. We’ve provided input throughout the process.”

With all of Reid’s work behind the scenes, he could move quickly on a bill at any time. It wouldn’t be shocking to see a bill go from nonexistent to attached to larger legislation without any other progress seen in public. Pappas said the PPA is hoping to see some movement in the next few months or else preparation for the election will make things difficult until the end of the year.

“I think Congress will be paralyzed coming into the summer months,” Pappas said. “If something isn’t done before that, the lame-duck session will be the next opportunity.”

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January 19 2012, Mickey Doft

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes a player’s results over six half-year periods. The 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure made major waves across the GPI the last two weeks with several players kicking off 2012 in style. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of January 16, 2012

Erik Seidel overtook Jason Mercier for the top spot on the GPI thanks to results from the 2011 PCA that matured into Period 3. With no results in Period 3 prior to this week, Seidel is now reaping the benefits of the GPI scoring system as his amazing first half of 2011 is being recognized in the point standings.

Sitting just outside the top 10 in the No. 11 spot is Jonathan Duhamel. After rising 30 places last week following his fourth place finish in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller Event for $313,600, Duhamel added three more final tables and roughly $900,000 in earnings to his 2012 resume. He moved up 41 places this week and with no major results due to expire in the next few weeks, there’s a good chance he can crack the top ten.

Welcome to the GPI

A whopping 27 players are new to the GPI this week. Russia’s Leonid Bilokur landed at No. 97 after he collected $1,134,930 for his win in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max High Roller. Jon Turner cashed three times at the PCA to return to the list, and Faraz Jaka’s third place finish in the Main Event boosted him back into the rankings after a one week absence.

New Additions

Who’s off the GPI this week? Well, a lot of folks: Alex Debus, Allen Cunningham, Amnon Filippi, Andrew Robl, Brandon Cantu, Daniel Reijmer, David Ulliott, Erick Lindgren, Fabrizio Gonzalez, Gregory Brooks, Humberto Brenes, Jan Bendik, Jared Jaffee, Joe Hachem, John Andress, Joe Serock, Nenad Medic, Nicolas Cardyn, Nikolay Evdakov, Ognjen Sekularac, Paul Berende, Phil Laak, Praz Bansi, Richard Ashby, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Ted Forrest, and Ville Haavisto.

Ups and Downs

The biggest rise of the week belonged to Andrew Chen, who climbed 119 spots to No. 96. Two of his three PCA cashes count toward the GPI, including a runner-up showing in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max High-Roller tournament worth $191,984.

Isaac Haxton (up 94 places) and Nicolas Fierro (up 103 places) rode top five finishes in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max High Roller up the GPI as well. Scott Seiver (up 81 places), who was in the top ten as recently as November, made a nice move back up the ranks with a chop in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship worth $78,210.

Biggest Gains

Will Molson took the biggest hit this week. For the first time in four years, Molson did not finish in the top two of the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max High Roller. With his win from 2011 falling into Period 3 and his runner-up showing in 2010 falling into Period 5, Molson tumbled 165 spots in the GPI.

Biggest Drops

What’s In Store?

The 2012 Aussie Millions is under way and will undoubtedly be causing movement in the GPI over the next two weeks. However, that means the 2011 Aussie Millions will carry into Period 3.

That will cause serious damage to the scores of Erik Seidel and Sam Trickett. Seidel’s third-place finish in the AUD$100,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament last January will mature into Period 3, perhaps opening the door once again for Jason Mercier to sit atop the GPI.

Trickett, the winner of that tournament, may find himself outside of the top 10. To make matters worse for both, the AUD$250,000 Super High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em, in which Seidel defeated Trickett heads-up, is due to fall into Period 3 in two weeks. As a result, both can expect a rare GPI slide.

To look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website. While you’re at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.

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