Funny thing happened on the way to Bismarck… (true IG content)

[BBill]

I’m in Bismarck North Dakota on business for a couple of days, staying at the Radisson on East Broadway.
Monday night I after dinner I stepped outside for a smoke and started talking to this local guy.
He asked me if I was there for the Internet Poker convention.
I said “the what”??
He said “do you ever play Internet poker”?

He went on to explain that right inside in the conference room there was a meeting of poker celebrity types that are there to support North Dakota’s efforts to make Internet poker legal in their state.
I was invited to join the gathering so I did.

Sure enough I walk in the room and first off recognized Greg Raymer “FossilMan” signing autographs. I shook his hand and talked with him for a while he’s a funny guy and friendly. I got Greg to sign a copy of Barry Shulman’s book “52 Tips” which was being given away at the gathering.

Then I saw Lee Jones over near the buffet table so I introduced myself. We talked for a few and I got him to autograph a copy of his book “Winning Low Limit Hold’em” which was also being given away there.

Someone then pointed out Mrs. Allyn Shulman playing in a tournament and I introduced myself to her and told her I think “Card Player” is a great magazine.

They were also giving away Poker Stars shirts and Poker Stars hats and the March issue of Card Player.

There were three tournament tables and they were running continuous single table sit-n-go tourneys (not real money) of which I played two, didn’t place in either.

As I said the gathering was to support N. Dakota’s desire to make Internet Poker legal.
Members of the North Dakota Poker Association (NDPA) were explaining to me that if the state bill is approved, an executive officer of Pacific Poker, who was in attendance but I did not get the chance to meet, would seriously consider relocating Pacific Poker operations to North Dakota.

The rumor was that Stars and Paradise would do the same.
I asked Lee Jones, who represents Pokerstars, if Stars would actually move operations to N. Dakota if the bill passes and he said he could not really say that they would or would not.
This could have been wishful thinking on the part of the NDPA members but it’s sure interesting that Pacific and Stars had representatives at this conference. It’s also interesting to consider the possibilities.

Overall this was a rather interesting evening. I suppose it wasn’t actually a “funny” thing that happened on the way to Bismarck, It was however a lot funnier than my prior plans for the evening, which consisted of watching “Elektra” alone on the hotel pay-per-view movie channel.

So, do you think Pacific, Stars and Paradise would actually relocate to North Dakota if Internet Poker becomes legal there?
Would there really be any benefits for these Internet Poker site to be a regulated industry in North Dakota?