Poker Players Call Alaska Drilling a Bad Bet

Reprinted courtesy of The Press of Atlantic City

Published: Wednesday, October 5, 2005
Updated: Wednesday, October 5, 2005

By ELAINE ROSE Staff Writer, (609) 272-7215

What does playing poker have to do with protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? On the surface, nothing.

But about a half-dozen top poker players, in town for the U.S. Poker Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, stood on the Boardwalk on Tuesday afternoon and said drilling for oil in Alaska is a bad bet.

"We take risks in what we do. Every day we make a cost-benefit analysis," said David Singer, of Mamaroneck, N.Y., who placed sixth in the final event of the World Poker Tour last month at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. "It would be a very bad bet to drill in the refuge. It would bring very little benefit and great cost."

Most poker players are more concerned about winning tournaments than saving the environment, said Bill Gazes of Somerset and Miami Beach, who organized the rally with some local environmental groups. But he thinks it no accident that some of the world's top players are supporting this cause.

"We make our living judging risk and reward," Gazes said. Top players "are thinking and planning, not just what do we need today, but what will I need 10 years from now."

The players at Tuesday's event are those frequently seen at the final table of televised poker events, Gazes said.

Several New Jersey congressional representatives are key in stopping the refuge drilling, which the Republican majority attached to a budget-reconciliation bill, said Doug O'Malley, field director of the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group.

A U.S. Department of Energy study found that unearthing all the oil underneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would cut the cost of gasoline by only a penny, Gazes said.

It doesn't make sense to destroy the refuge "so when I go to the pump, instead of paying $3.50 a gallon I pay $3.49," Gazes said.

Or as Singer put it, it's like going all-in with $1 million in chips to win a $200 pot.

And Singer has plenty of knowledge about the topic. An environmental lawyer in his previous career, he started playing poker when the nonprofit he was working for lost funding and cut his hours. He soon found himself making more money at the green felt than he did carrying a briefcase.

In his practice, Singer said, he saw several cases where environmental regulations were relaxed for one case, and pretty soon everyone got an exemption. If drilling is allowed in Alaska, the New Jersey shore may be next on the oil exploration list, with disastrous consequences for the area's tourist trade, he said.

"The oil and gas companies don't own the land. We own the land, and the citizens should have a voice about it," he said.

Other players are not as involved in environmental issues, but stopped by to support their friends.

Kathy Liebert was walking the Boardwalk to relax before tournament play began Tuesday and stopped by to add her voice to the mix.

"I'm always happy to do anything that helps the environment and helps the world," said Liebert, who finished third in last month's event in Atlantic City.

John Phan of Long Beach, Calif., front-runner for Card Player magazine's player of the year, stopped by to help promote the cause.

John Juanda of Marina Del Rey, Calif., winner of three World Series of Poker bracelets, wore a polar bear suit in temperatures nearing 80 degrees to help attract passersby to a table to sign a petition to Congress.

Juanda said he's worried about global warming, and said drilling for more oil will speed up the process when people should use less energy to slow it down.

"It's not about being a poker player. It's about being a person," Juanda said. "Try to make the world better, or at least not make it worse for the next generation."

To e-mail Elaine Rose at The Press:

ERose@pressofac.com