Poker Community Reacts to New TSA Airline Regulations

The events aboard Northwest Flight 253 disrupted many people’s holiday celebrations, as the attempted bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria left many wondering just how safe their impending flights home will be. The poker community is also left to wonder just how much their hectic travel schedules will be impacted by the aftermath of the incident.

In the days following the attempted bombing, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued a number of new security measures intended to prevent anything like the Northwest Flight 253 incident from happening again. The official directive from TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides issued a number of new changes, including added security measures at the boarding gate. While travelers have grown accustomed to being home-free once going through the security checkpoint, the directive states that passengers must be patted down at the gate and attendants must inspect personal items prior to boarding.

There are new rules in place once passengers are on board the plane as well. As has been widely reported by television news networks, passengers must remain seated for the final hour of a flight. Passengers are also not allowed to have anything on their laps during the final hour, including pillows and blankets. The airlines will also be suspending in-flight internet and pilots will not be able to point out landmarks or make passengers aware of their approximate location on the flight path. Finally, passengers will not be allowed to access their carry-on bags during the final hour of a flight.

With these new rules and regulations, there will be inevitable delays in travel. Those taking to the skies in the coming weeks have been advised to allot extra time to pass through security. While this is the occasional inconvenience for many travelers, for poker players traveling the tournament trail, it adds up to countless extra hours in transit.

Many players find traveling to be one of the downsides of their chosen career and the new TSA regulations have them even more frustrated. “More reasons not to fly,” 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) winner Carter “ckingusc” King told Poker News Daily. Poker pro and spokeswoman Christina Lindley summed up her growing impatience with traveling with a simple, “Meh.”

Team PokerStars Pro member Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck vented her frustrations in a thread on popular poker forum PocketFives.com: “This + airport security is inf tilting. It really drives me insane I travel a lot, I get so doped on xanax to not YELL at them, and don’t get me started on the humiliation of taking shoes off OMG, there is a study on man hours/cost of this per year it’s TILT FROM HELL.”

One such study Mayrinck references is a 2007 effort by a team at the Harvard School of Public Health that concluded that there was no substantial evidence that the oft-lamented shoe removal at the security checkpoint prevented security incidents. Team Full Tilt member Andy Bloch also questioned just how beneficial these security measures are: “Where’s the cost-benefit analysis of all these security measures? Irrational fears of rare terrorist acts lead to excessive spending.”

Though Bloch and Mayrinck are making relevant points, it doesn’t change the fact that as players return home after their respective holiday adventures, they will have to contend with these new changes. Moreover, in less than a week, a couple of thousand players will be boarding international flights to Nassau to take part in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Those headed to the Bahamas for the event should be advised that even more time should be allotted to pass through security on international flights.

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Poker glossary:

TAP - In no-limit games, to wager all of one's money in one bet.
FLOP - [1] In Hold'em, the first three community cards, dealt simultaneously. [2] To deal a flop, or to make a hand on a flop. "I flopped trips".
MIDDLE POSITION - Betting positions approximately halfway around the table from the first player to act.
FULL OF - Describes a full house. "Fives full of queens" is 5-5-5-Q-Q.
FACE CARD - A jack, queen or king (a card with a face on it, not joker).
RIDER BACK (TM) - A brand of playing cards that feature a bicycle rider on the back of the cards. Often used in home games. Compare: BEE No. 92.

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