Welcome to
the Principality of PokerXanadu
Definition: Poker n. Any of various card games in which the players in turn make
tactical bets or drop out, the bets forming a pool to be taken either by the
sole remaining player or by those remaining players who hold a superior hand
according to a standard ranking of hand values for the game.
Definition: Xanadu n.
(also
spelled Shangdu, now Xinhua, China) A city built in 1256 under the command
of Kublai Khan, the first emperor of the Yuan or Mongol Dynasty (1206-1368) and
mentioned by Italian traveler Marco Polo. It became the summer capital
of Mongol emperors of China after the Yuan Dynasty moved its capital to what
is now Beijing. Xanadu was immortalized in a
poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and subsequently became synonymous with
an idyllic pleasure paradise.
Poker is a great American
national pastime and a popular skill game throughout the world. At the
same time, most government entities consider it a form of gambling and thus
lump it under the umbrella of gambling laws which
either highly regulate or outright ban the game. The Principality of PokerXanadu
is a response and protest to the legal classification of poker as
gambling, proposing the formation of a new
micronation where poker players have the unhindered right to enjoy the game of poker
as a pastime or profession.
Poker Players Bill of Rights
Poker is a favorite pastime, enjoyed by millions in their own homes, in legal card rooms and on the Internet. Poker is a contest between the players, where the deal of the cards is the random chance portion of the game and players' bets are the strategy and skill portion of the game.
Poker is defined as any of various card games in which the players in turn make tactical bets or drop out, the bets forming a pool to be taken either by the sole remaining player or by those remaining players who hold a superior hand according to a standard ranking of hand values for the game.
1. Poker players have the right to enjoy their poker play without unwarranted interference from government or policing authorities.
2. Poker players have the right to organize and play poker games in the privacy of their own homes
to reasonable betting limits for poker play in a social setting, without regulation or taxation as long as no
person is receiving an earned income from the activity of hosting or running the
game.
3. Poker does involve betting of real money and as such should be considered an adult activity that requires safeguards of the same form and intent as those employed by gambling enterprises against underage gambling and compulsive
gambling.
4. Any legislative bills or court proceedings should recognize that poker is a game whose outcome is determined predominantly by skill, not chance.
5. Taxing authorities should recognize that poker is a zero sum game, where
the total amounts won by players is equivalent to the total amounts lost by
other players, and therefore should follow these guidelines in all tax regulations for poker
players:
a. Poker players who play poker only as a recreational or hobby activity should not be taxed on their
poker winnings, nor allowed to count their poker losses as a deduction against their taxable income.
b. Poker players who play poker as a profession should be allowed to net their win for any tax period, reporting only the total of their
poker winnings less their buy-ins and losses as taxable business income, or reporting their total
buy-ins and losses less any amounts won as a loss of business income.
6. Poker players have the right to equal access to any poker game offered by electronic means by any enterprise that is licensed and regulated in any jurisdiction, as long as the regulations
where the enterprise is licensed are at least as strict in protections against underage gambling, compulsive gambling and for consumer protection as
the regulations of poker, live or electronic, of the jurisdiction in which the poker player is physically located at the time of play.
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