Poker player Terrence Chan has revealed on his blog that he was twice denied entry into the United States from Canada to compete in a jujitsu tournament in Long Beach, California.
Chan, a double winner at the 2009 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker with $789k in total winnings, made his first run for the border on Oct. 28 at a land crossing into Washington state. After being questioned as to whether he could prove that he wouldn’t stay in the US indefinitely (which is proving a negative, which is technically impossible), he was told that his paperwork was insufficient and turned away.
Undeterred, Chan drove back to Vancouver, assembled what he thought was everything the border agents had been demanding, and tried again Nov. 1. But the story was the same, and a frustrated Chan has since vowed never to set foot on US soil ever again. (Although, if that decision were actually up to him, he’d be in Long Beach by now, but never mind…) While he says he made the decision without anger, he’s adamant. “I’m done with the United States … Goodbye, America. It’s been fun, and I’m sad it had to come to this, but we’re through. It’s not me — it’s you.”
Shame that the US border agents couldn’t have simply Googled the guy. Would have saved Chan a lot of bother and the US might have convinced somebody outside North America that they’re not all like Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Anyway, we think it’s rather unfair of US border agents to play hardball, especially after the Canadians let Randy Quaid and his wife in. After all, they’re batshit insane and have never won anything at poker.
