Posted on 08/22/2012 2:03:10 PM PDT by Dusty Road
This country’s laws are being ripped apart by judges such as this one. Poker is a card game where money is bet. How can this judge say this is not gambling? When money is bet, it is gambling, pure and simple. There will be much rhetoric about this one, but in the end, any sane person knows poker is gambling. This kinda reminds me of the lawyers who kept hammering the Supreme Court with that nonsense argument that the first amendment protects pornography. I am sure that the founding fathers did not spend months putting together an amendment to protect anything but political speech. Pornography is not political speech. It was a bad court decision. So is this one.
Money is bet daily in the stock market and a little goes to the house, money is bet daily in the lottery’s and a little goes to the house. I have more control and less risk playing poker than I do playing either of the above. I don’t gamble my money playing poker I just weigh whether or not I want to invest it.
It’s an interesting question. I don’t play poker, but have no problem with others doing so. But you single out the key point: it is a game that people wager on. They are wagering on themselves, but it’s still an unknown outcome with luck being a significant (if not singular) variable.
Is it against the law (as opposed to against the rules) for a professional athlete to bet on himself to win? I don’t know, but if it is, I think the same standard may apply to poker players. You could carve out poker by law, of course, but I don’t think you could say Phil Helmuth can gamble on himself in a game legally but Derek Jeter cannot.
Also, aren’t there negotiated pot settlements in poker, which would be kind of like tanking?
Can a golfer bet on himself can a tennis player bet on himself, we’re not talking teams where ones performance can hurt or influence the whole team.
When the Founders wrote the 1st Amendment....duels were still legal.
Sir if I had to rely on luck to play the game of poker I would not play.
Good point.
“Play the Man... not the cards” Harvey Spector / “Suits”
TT
When playing high stakes poker “If you don’t know who the sucker is... it’s you”
TT
How about Dice? “Let’s Gamble!” Blue Duck, “Lonesome Dove”
TT
Love that show, my labs name is Gus and my cats name is Woodrow.
Lonesome Dove ...
I have the Books, the VCRs, the DVDs and it is saved on my TIVO... I watch it every year around Thanksgiving... my kids are grown now but I will bet they still know and can quote verbatim dialog from just about any scene
TT
I also love watching this often http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snxME3CDtvI
I don’t think it is illegal for athletes to bet on themselves, it’s just banned by the leagues and athletic associations. If it were illegal for athletes to bet on themselves, then we’d have to ban any tournament that charges an entry fee and awards a cash prize. That’s no different than wagering on yourself winning the tournament.
Right. Anyone hoping to “get lucky” and win at poker doesn’t know how to play the game correctly. Of course, I would be happy to volunteer my services to “educate” them :)
I didn’t know about the gun grabbing. But come on, Poker’s not gambling? That’s ridiculous. Just because there is some skill as well as chance, doesn’t mean it’s not gambling. He is violating the spirit and intent of the law. And he’s probably been paid off to do it.
I didn’t know about the gun grabbing. But come on, Poker’s not gambling? That’s ridiculous. Just because there is some skill as well as chance, doesn’t mean it’s not gambling. He is violating the spirit and intent of the law. And he’s probably been paid off to do it.
Danny if your gambling in a poker game you ain’t going to last long and let me add that poker is the only game where you get to look at cards before placeing a bet and have the option to check or fold, unless your in the big or little blind and then it’s only the blind value. All the other games you play against the house and against fixed odds but in poker it’s individual against individual.
Now for the sake of argument lets go ahead and call it gambling, the stock market is the biggest casino in the world then you have state lotteries. Call it what you want but these are gambling operations plain and simple hell you’ve even got bingo. It’s nothing more than a double standard. Let them open up poker parlors, that gives the players a safe comfortable place to enjoy the game they love and tax them like any other business. They’ll provide jobs and revenue to the local economey.
I don’t think the fact that money changes hands is the issue. The real issue, from what I understand, is that some things are not considered “gambling” as long as all of the money taken in by the participants is paid out again. My understanding is that this is what makes your typical office football pools or NCAA tournament pools legal.
There is no comparison between poker and the stock market.
The stock market drives investment in industries. A properly diversified portfolio will return a profit over time.
Poker at best is a zero sum game. It’s not investing at all, it’s gambling. And everyone knows it’s gambling.
State Lotteries and bingo are gambling too. And everyone knows that.
Gambling hurts economies more than any entertainment value it provides. People gamble away money that should be going to pay their bills, leaving service providers with bad debts.
The stock market drives investment in industries
And I chose whether or not to invest in a hand.
A properly diversified portfolio will return a profit over time.
Proper knowledge of the game and it’s odds return a profit over time.
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