give him an official Celticsblog position as to the propriety of online gambling, specifically as related to poker.
As luck would have it, you already have that person, and he is me.
I think that part of the furor over this topic was merely in the choice of words used to communicate between the two parties, to begin with. The UIGEA does not specifically state that online poker is illegal. So a blanket statement of "online poker is illegal" is incorrect. You can still play poker on the Internet for free, and it is perfectly legal to do so.
Now, when there's money involved, it gets dicey...
There are many many layers of interpretation of the UIGEA, but what it boils down to is this: the law was designed primarily to criminalize the transfer of money between players and gambling sites and to criminalize those that make it their business [the gambling sites] to accept wagers on "games of chance". Whether you believe poker is a game of chance or not is another point of debate -- suffice it to say that most poker players (such as myself) believe it is a game of skill. That's another matter for another post.
The law does not propose to criminalize and prosecute individual gamblers. This would be a futile effort; a totally unenforceable enterprise. I think this is what many people are referring to when they say that "online poker is not illegal".
How does it relate to Celticsblog? It's not a question of legality, as there are plenty of forums on the Internet that are solely dedicated to the discussion of poker. Discussion of poker is not illegal. Celticsblog will never be prosecuted for allowing members to discuss poker or any form of gambling in an online forum. It's merely a matter of preference; if the moderators and administrators don't want a particular type of content discussed, then it is fully within their right to disallow that type of content. Do I agree with the decision of the blog to forbid any type of discussion of poker? Personally, no, I do not. But I respect and fully support the rules and wishes of those that run this site and abide by their desire to keep that type of content off of the blog, and so should you.
Besides, there are plenty of other places that you can go to engage in meaningful (and I daresay more accurate and valuable advice) discussion of poker than a basketball team blog.