By DALE WETZEL
Associated Press Writer

BISMARCK, N.D. -- The winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker, who is a Minot native, is among a contingent of poker industry officials who are lobbying for a bill to make North Dakota the first state to license Internet poker sites.

Greg Raymer's father was posted to the Minot Air Force Base when he was born in 1964. However, he spent less than a year in North Dakota before his father left the Air Force and returned to his hometown of Lansing, Mich., Raymer said.

"I have the North Dakota blood in that sense, but I can't say that I know the state in terms of my childhood," Raymer said.

Raymer spoke at a news conference organized by Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, who is sponsoring legislation to authorize state licensing and regulation of Internet poker sites.

A resident of Stonington, Conn., and a former biotechnology patent attorney for Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, Raymer won the World Series of Poker last year. The annual Las Vegas event drew more than 2,500 players last April, and Raymer's victory earned him a $5 million prize, paid in cash.

No U.S. state licenses Internet poker sites, and a group of industry officials and experts said Monday that North Dakota could reap a financial windfall if the state is the first to take the plunge. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the legislation Tuesday.

Several officials, including Frank Catania, an attorney and former top New Jersey gambling regulator, and Patrick O'Brien, a lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and former U.S. customs agent, disputed U.S. Justice Department statements that Internet gambling is illegal.

"It's very easy (for the Justice Department) to write a letter, but it's something else to get into court and defend that letter," O'Brien said.

Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, an attorney who is an owner of Card Player magazine and chief executive officer of the poker Web site CardPlayer.com, said she believes poker is a game of skill, rather than gambling.

Raymer agreed, although he said "luck is a huge element" in poker. He played poker as a part-time professional for a dozen years before winning the World Series, and he never had a losing year, although he had stretches where he lost more than he won, Raymer said.

"I know plenty of other people out there who have supported themselves just from playing poker for long periods of time," Raymer said. "Clearly, if it was a game of just luck, which you can say about things like roulette, craps and slot machines, they could not have made a living for all that period of time by playing poker, because they're not going to stay lucky for decades."