Speech of Peter Zanoni    Stockholm 28.06.2006

Speech of Peter Zanoni, Chairman of the European Poker Sport Association (EPSA)

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

My name is Peter Zanoni and I have been operating a poker venue, called Concord Card Casino, in Vienna since 1993.

It is my pleasure and I feel deeply honoured to be here today.

A special “thank you” goes to the organizers of the World Poker Congress who made this special event possible and gave me the opportunity to address you.

I am here today in my function as chairman of the European Poker Sports Association. I hope my following remarks will give you a graphic picture of the intentions of the EPSA.

Before I start: Please excuse my English with heavy Austrian roots.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have recently founded one Poker sports club and two Poker Sport Associations.

• The first Vienna Poker Sport Club
• The Austrian Poker Sports Association (APSA), and
• The European Poker Sports Association (EPSA).

Why did I do this?

Let me tell you a little from my 13 years of experience with establishing Poker as a respected sport in Austria.

We opened our casino in Vienna in 1993, fully complying with all relevant laws and regulations.

But what happened then?

Alerted by the Austrian casinos the local media started a nasty campaign against us. We were defamed as being part of the mafia and the holders of the Austrian gambling monopoly set a train of lawsuits in motion.

At the same time the gambling lobby tried to change laws in parliament in such a way that Poker would have been categorized as a game of luck, effectively outlawing public Poker playing.

The gambling lobby almost succeeded in killing our business. You have to know that the Austrian gambling lobby has groomed well-positioned contacts in all political parties over the last 30 years and is a vital sponsor for a wide range of their activities.

In our case the gambling monopoly, owned by Austria’s elite families and not the state! – had to lobby only two politicians, unfairly battering them with allegations that we were “Mafia”, “Criminals” or “Luck-riders” who were an imminent danger to Austria.

Within a few days these politicians initiated a change of the law, hiding it in a pile of fiscal measures. They hoped that the Austrian parliament would pass the bill as is usually the case without any further questions.

It took us an army of lawyers to prevent this bill that would have made criminals of us with the stroke of a pen.

For this reason Austria today has a lively Poker scene, although it took a while until the free-wheeling atmosphere in the beginning gave place to a more mature and responsible Poker environment.

These early days still pose a problem for us in establishing Poker as respected sport. Different venues had different rules and some so called casinos really were nothing more than a badly ventilated backroom.

For this reason I propose to establish a unified code of rules that shall be observed not only in Austria, but in Europe and ultimately the whole Poker world.

Starting on a national scale the Austrian Poker Sports Association APSA is the head organization of all Poker Sport organizations and operators in Austria. By joining APSA members oblige themselves to establish the APSA set of rules and norms in their organizations.

Compare APSA to your national football or ski sports association that represents the interests of all regional sports organizations.

Now, which interests do we have?

In my opinion we have to establish a respected body that can be of assistance in order to introduce a clear set of rules and laws for Poker sports and act as a reliable source for unbiased information on Poker. Call it lobbying.

Another important issue is the improvement of Poker’s image in the eyes of the general public. Poker is still perceived as a rough game against John Wayne in his best days. And many have absolutely no interest that this picture changes as they fear new competition. We have to change this. APSA is a first step towards our goals.

Although we started working in the APSA only a few months ago we see first very promising signs that Poker is gaining acceptance.

Austria’s second biggest daily newspaper ran a full-page story about our most recent annual Austrian Poker Sports Championship.

A full page in the spors section, I have to add, as reports on Poker had been confined to general news in the past.

By raising Poker to the sports level we were able to attract a good number of new players. Obviously the classification as a sport helps to eliminate the seedy image Poker still suffers from in wide parts of the population.

APSA attempts to coordinate Poker sports in Austria. We edit players ranking lists and organize championships and tournaments on the district, regional and national level. All participants follow the rules of APSA which include a unified norm for all variants of Poker and unified rules for dealers. APSA provides referees for all tournaments.

APSA also assists others in founding new Poker sport clubs and its organization. There are some new Poker sport clubs in the pipeline and I am confident that we will soon be able to start a Poker league in Austria.

I want to point out that APSA members can fall back on our accumulated know-how of the last 13 years. Focal point is the provision of legal advice. The Concord Card Casino has successfully fought a string of lawsuits and will make all its legal documents available to APSA members. Believe me, Austria forced us to build a very extensive file on legal matters.

Why do we do this?

We are convinced of the  principle that a regulated market will benefit all Poker organizers because it will be able to grow much faster. When we all pull the same string in the same direction the road of economic opportunity widens dramatically.

But it will not be enough to unify Poker rules in Austria only when rules vary in all other countries. In the extreme case one could become a criminal in another country without knowing the valid set of local rules.

For this we need to assess Poker with a European dimension.

With the foundation of the European Poker Sport Association EPSA we intend to further the acceptance of Poker on an international level.

The EPSA will do in Brussels for Europe what the APSA does in Vienna for Austria. Our plans include lobbying for uniform Poker laws, public relations and the inception of European Tournaments,  Think of the Champions League.

First and foremost task of the EPSA will be to prove that Poker is indeed a sport and not a game of luck.

Why is this so important?

First, because all published studies and papers on Poker have never gone further than to elaborate on card statistics. No study has ever taken a close look on all other capabilities that make a successful player. I am thinking of psychologic, strategic and mental abilities.

Second, all legally relevant studies of Poker still mix the terms “game of luck” and “game of skills,” which does not exactly help judges in finding their decisions. We will initiate an empirical study of Poker that shall help to clarify the true nature of Poker, which is definitely a game of skills.

The study, already discussed preliminary with a Dutch university will be set like this.

Two of the best 15 players worldwide, two experienced players and two Poker rookies will each play a complete cash game series on two tables. After 5.000 rounds all players will have had a similar number of good and bad hands.

The cash balance of the players will provide us with hard data, whether luck and chance are responsible - or skills.

The whole event will be videotaped and supervised by a public notary. EPSA will finance this study.

We are confident that results will clearly show that training and practice have the same effect in Poker as in other sports events: Those with the best skills and abilities succeed.

Like in football, it is possible for an exotic team to score against the favourites. But at the end of the tournament the World Cup trophy goes to the team with the best training and the most practice,

The EPSA will provide all associated Poker organizations with the results in their own language.

I hope that my short presentation of the EPSA has sparked interest amongst you to found a Poker sport head organization in your country along the lines of our Poker bodies.

The EPSA is a non-profit organization. It is not yet a convenience packageyou can take or leave. We set a first step with our EPSA initiative but it will also be your decision how EPSA will operate. As of yet the EPSA has no board and no special committees. Membership fees are open for discussion too.

If some, or hopefully, all – of you sympathize with the idea of Poker on a European level I gladly invite you to take part in the first general meeting of the EPSA and nominate the board for the first four years.

I am at your disposal for a first informal round of talks, let’s say after 7:30 PM in the Congress Hotel Best Western Wallin.

Our work will not be finished anytime soon. Once the EPSA has been established and found acceptance as a responsible authority on all matters concerning our Poker sport the foundation of a World Poker Sports Association is the next logical step. But we will leave this task to our American friends and will join a possible WSPA with both the EPSA and the APSA.

I know I have already wandered into a more distant future, but this future could lead to the ulitmate goal: Poker as an Olympic discipline.

 

Thank you very much for your attention