SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Federal prosecutors have asked four U.S. banks to freeze an estimated $33 million in winnings owed to online poker players in America who won the money on offshore poker websites. News of this move comes only weeks after Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank made headlines when he reintroduced legislation that would reverse a 2006 ban on Internet gambling. Frank claims that the federal government could collect increased tax revenues through the regulation of Internet gambling. He also stated that since online gambling is a matter of personal liberty, the government should not encourage or prohibit it.

International poker champion and author of the book Poker Wizards, Warwick Dunnett, asserts that poker is a sport requiring a very high degree of skill and should not be subject to restriction because it is simply a legal competition of skill between adults. Dunnett points out, "Just as prohibition of alcohol caused a huge groundswell of illegal activity, so goes Internet gambling. Millions of players still have access to online poker sites in the U.S. but, in many cases, are subject to doing business with organizations that are unsupervised and unregulated. This opens multiple opportunities for fraud and illegal activities in a multi-billion-dollar industry."

Invite Dunnett to tell your audience:

    --  How Republican lawmakers got the ban passed despite a lack of Senate        support.    --  Why the law prohibits the transfer of funds to online gambling sites,        not the actual act of playing poker by participants competing against        other players.    --  Why neither freezing winnings nor banning online gambling will stop the        activity.    --  How the ban relates to some states trying to protect their        brick-and-mortar casinos.    --  What action poker players can take to make their voices heard in        Washington.

CREDENTIALS: Warwick Dunnett is a former Boeing 747 captain who discovered the world of competitive poker in 2003. After playing only a few months, Dunnett began winning tournaments including a $13,000 entry package into the Australian Poker Championship Main Event. By 2005 his winnings from poker rivaled his income as a professional pilot when he won $85,000 in Australia for 6th place in "Aussie Millions." His book, Poker Wizards, contains a compilation of strategies, insights, and winning tactics from some of the world's best poker players. A frequent guest on radio, Dunnett has been interviewed on stations including KCRN 1060, KPER 99.7, and 850 KOA.

AVAILABILITY: California, nationwide by arrangement, and via telephone

CONTACT: Warwick Dunnett, (415) 867-0881 (CA); warwick@pokerwizards.net; http://www.pokerwizards.net

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SOURCE Warwick Dunnett