Regarding the link I’m going to post below. The new law is set to be signed by Bush shortly. How do you feel about the new online poker ban in the U.S.?
Naturally, I’m against it. I feel what people do in the privacy of their own home on the internet (minus kiddie porn and the like) is their business. I don’t see the need for the Government to protect gambling prone adults.
http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2006/10/online-poker-news-america.htm
Note that it’s not a ban. It prohibits banks and credit card companies from depositing money to online casinos. Internet poker will continue. But instead of
Visa –> Online poker room –> Visa
it will be
Visa –> Third Party –> Online poker room –> Third Party –> Visa.
That’s still doable, but the fish won’t be willing to go through the added hassle. No fish implies no dead money implies -EV. Without fish, there’s no money to be made.
I try to avoid alarmism, but I really think that this is the end of the line as far as online poker goes. Party Poker will not accept Americans money anymore. Party is the biggest site, so this is unsettling news to online players. Other big sites will follow. I, like many other players, am cashing out everything I have. Everyone is doing this, which can’t be good for the sites. Wasn’t that one of the contributors to the Great Depression? So, we had about four good years. It was fun, wasn’t it?
It’s a horrible bit of legislation, and it was stuffed into an important port security bill so that no one could vote against it. That’s no way to run a legislature.
And I made my thoughts on the mastermind behind the bill clear in this BBQ Pit post.
As a semi-professional player, I obviously hate this bill with a passion.
If you want to see the poker community in full-on meltdown mode, check out the Legislation Forum at the 2+2 Publishing message board. Keep in mind that a lot of people over there basically got pink slips from Congress over the weekend.
To see what poker players are saying about the prime-mover behind this bill, check out the Bill Frist Photomod Thread. A lot of the posts there reference inside jokes, but you get the idea.
Okay, your Merkin government is getting pretty scary, now. :eek: 
I was actually going to start a similar thread. I actually think that this bill will hurt the Republicans more than pedophile congressmen and corruption. This bill was a cheap knife in the back.
And yes, I’m well aware the Senate minority leader is from Nevada. Still, the party in power will be blamed.
I wouldn’t do it before and wouldn’t do it now. Anyone who gets my credit card number online is going to be a well known merchant, I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving it to some offshore gambling outfit. Generally I’m a live and let live kind of guy, but I think the brick and mortar casinos are a lot better regulated and these online casinos just have too big a temptation to cheat.
Why on earth would they cheat? Their overhead is basically nonexistant and running a casino is basically a license to print money. Why risk that over some credit card fraud that will get them shut down?
I agree that this sucks.
I must ask, though, is this at all inconsistant with the intentions of laws regarding gambling that were enacted before the rise of online gambling?
Agree 100 percent. I like to go to casinos every now and then, but I believe that it is important for such businesses to be regulated by the government. The fact that online gambling is completely unregulated is an invitation to abuse, either by the owners, or more likely, players teaming up to cheat at poker. If the proprietors of these businesses opened themselves up to some kind of regulation in the same way as brick and mortar card rooms or casinos, I might be okay with it.
I don’t believe that the internet is a law-free zone. I think the federal government has a responsibility to regulate its use in the same way that it regulates any interstate or foreign commerce.
That being said, it is absolutely shameful how this bill was passed. It is an important issue that deserves a debate and a vote.
I don’t really agree with the ban, but I was under the impression that gambling over the Internet is already illegal. This did not make such gambling illegal but simply gave law enforcement another tool to fight it. While I think that online gambling (and all other gambling) should be legal, it’s hard to get too worked up over this.
If I’m wrong about the online gambling already being legal, let me know and I’ll muster the appropriate outrage.
My impression is mostly the same as Renob’s. I don’t agree with most U.S. gambling statutes, but online betting was an end-around from those statutes. Online gambling was mostly doomed because the U.S. government does not profit from the roughly $6 billion (source: Newsday 10/3) spent on online gambling. It will be back once the federal and state governments can get their cut.
I’d be alright with the new law if there was a counterpoint consession made that legalized gambling in all areas of the US. If your B&M casinos want to take up the slack and operate their own poker sites, well then it’s really just a vendor change to the players. As it is now, gambling is so spotty around America with some locals no gambling at all, or having riverboats, some having native casinos, some allowing video poker, etc that it’s no wonder that people found an outside source that manages it better than we do.
I think that’s outside the purview of the federal government so that’s something you’ll have to take up with the states on an individual level.
Marc
I think you’re right. Gambling is illegal in many, many jurisdictions; the Fed gave these jurisdictions a tool to enforce their laws, using interstate and international commerce.
Many of the biggest sites (Like PartyPoker.com) are publicly traded on the London stock exchange, and they pull in over a billion US dollars a year, so they’re pretty reputable. However, it’s your money. Just thought I’d pass this along.
And this picture sums up my feelings nicely.
Well now, that’s an interesting point. Enron was also a very reputable company with an enormous market capitalization that dwarfed Party Poker’s. Just because a company is big doesn’t make it trustworthy.
Will this just lead to someone starting the equivalent of Paypal, based out of someplace outside the US, who’s main role is to process money transfers between US players and the online poker sites? Or maybe someone like Western Union, who is now advertising that you can transfer money straight into another persons qualifying bank account. I’m guessing that there will be a period of slowdown/shutdown/slowburn, and then someone will figure out how to provide a service in demand.
We elect people who are smarter and more moral than we are. If they feel the need to stop online gambling ,it is for our own good. We should buy more lottery tickets. That is a good thing.
I had a reasonably large investment in Partygaming, which last Friday was worth £1.07 per share.
On Monday, I sold up for £0.45 per share.
That’s how I feel
(Yup, banning gambling protects people’s wealth, ha ha ha)
This is an interesting thread, but it started out as a poll and it really has not picked up any real discussion that could be called a debate.
Off to IMHO.
[ /Moderating ]
