Posted on 08/16/2009 5:36:48 AM PDT by T-Bird45
Edited on 08/16/2009 5:53:36 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON — Howard Lederer is a professional poker player, not a gambler. If Congress will acknowledge this distinction, it will rectify one of its recent mistakes.
In 2006, Congress, cloaking cunning with moralizing, effectively outlawed Internet gambling by making it illegal for banks or credit card companies to process payments to online gambling operations. This was more than moral pork for social conservatives. It also blocked online competitors from poaching gamblers from the nation’s most aggressive promoters of gambling — state governments. They are increasingly addicted to revenues raised by lotteries and from taxation of other legal gambling. The law exempted Internet state lotteries and two powerful and vocal interests — online betting on horse racing and some fantasy sports betting online.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsok.com ...
Excellent article.
“It [Congress] also blocked online competitors from poaching gamblers from the nation’s most aggressive promoters of gambling — state governments.”
Great point, never thought about that.
Also, it protects Native American gambling interests.
” But never mind whether government should try to tightly circumscribe a ubiquitous human activity that generally harms nobody.”
....the widespread growth of gambling has hurt a lot of families...I see many low income people in the C-store buying Lotto tickets.
This was the type of stuff that caused the GOP to lose Congress.
You’d really have to be a fool to play poker on line for money. You can’t see your opponent, there is no way for you to know for sure what cards are being dealt and there is no way to know if the host computer is being run by your opponent.
“You’d really have to be a fool to play poker on line for money.”
....Yep....I think that’s the whole point of the on-line poker industry....it cranks out a predictable profit margin just like casino slots....the more people that play, the more money the house takes in....plus they don’t have all the overhead of running a bricks-and-mortar casino.
Scam after scam has been exposed. If Congress ever figures out they can gain power and funding for new regulatory agencies, then legal online poker will be a sure thing.
In 2006, Congress, cloaking cunning with moralizing, effectively outlawed Internet gamblingOh really.
Ping
Lotteries are not gambling, they are a tax on the middle(and lower) class. That’s why you find many, many paycheck-to-paycheck and minimum wage earners spending on tickets hoping to get “rich”. It used to be called the “numbers” game and was run by “honest” crooks and not by “dishonest” government stooges.
You’d really have to be a fool to play poker on line for money...etc...etc...
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Granted, but it still isn’t against the LAW to be stupid or a fool (NOT YET ANYWAY).
It should not be the Govts business how you blow your money.
I agree with you, so I don’t have any interest in the ‘game’. BUT if you want to do it, fine.
If one can’t do it there, they will find someone to bet with over where a fly will land or how far up the wall an ant will go...etc...
Like the ‘state controlled lotteries’...I do not play them till they are above 125Mill, then when it hits I figure that I am saving $5 every couple of days till it gets back up there again.....
Not bad for a person who used to bet on where a fly would land on the wall etc....<: <: <:
...Yep....that's exactly who I see waiting in line to get tickets....they'll have written lists of numbers they want to play for the noon Pick Three...Lotto revenue was supposed to lower our school taxes but it hasn't....meanwhile the Lotto Commission has built a big new HQ and staffed up with lots of jobs....it's a whole bureaucracy unto itself.
This fool just cashed a check for $1000 from one of those on-line Poker sites.
ML/NJ
They have always played the numbers racket!
Government just took over a criminal enterprise.
Oh, so you're ahead overall $1000 from playing online poker?
I'm one of those fools. I've been playing on-line for 6 years, and have made thousands of dollars. I've never had a problem. Games are on the level(at least at the sites I play), and I've always gotten my money when I asked for it. I made a lot more money before the Goberment ruined things with this stupid law, but still make enough now to keep playing. This law and the way it was snuck through congress is why I'm no longer in the GOP. Now the only hassle is having to go through foreign banks for my money,and wait 15 days for the checks to clear in the US. Before this law was snuck past us, my money would go straight back to my checking account. Oh well, so much for the freedom of an individual to play a 10$ poker game in the comfort of his own home. I'm so glad goberment was looking out for us on this one. Time for the my Sunday 10:15 AM poker tourney.
So has the use of alcohol, tobacco, etc. It's this challenging struggle called "freedom", and I for one think that's it's ludicrous to make online poker illegal...
Are you from the IRS?
A bit more actually. My account has a bit more than the original stake I deposited.
ML/NJ
...lotteries...tax on middle and lower classes....
Absolutely, and a voluntary tax at that. Anyone who is stupid enough to buck 50% odds should be allowed to do it.
I only started after the stupid law you refer to. I can't see where it has had much of an effect, except that one day when I was at a table with a guy from Bulgaria, another from Romania, three from France, a Russian and another American, and it occurred to me that the two of us from the US were probably the only outlaws at the table. That little thought of mine says a lot to me about the state of Freedom here relative to other countries around the world.
ML/NJ
ML/NJ
This never ceases to amaze me ...
Good FReepers all, conservative and borderline libertarian as they come, turn into vehement Nanny Staters the moment any form of wagering is discussed.
Yes, we should have every freedom possible (thank you, 9th and 10th amendments) and yes, we should have minimal government interference in our lives.
But NO LEGALIZED GAMBLING!!
BURN THE BASTARDS AT THE STAKE! Some welfare mother in Oregon was seen buying lottery tickets last week! HORRORS! Control this activity, any way you can! Thousands of casino jobs pale to insignificance next to one moron who cashed his retirement to keep playing blackjack! REMOVE THAT TEMPTATION!!
Folks ... not to state the obvious, but this is a victimless crime, voluntarily committed. If I want to be stupid and play poker online, which I do, then let me make that choice as a free-willed adult. I’m not bothering you so leave me the hell alone. You don’t want those tax revenues, fine.
But it is the height of hypocrisy for liberty-loving FReepers to scream for total control and abolition of something so minor. You don’t mind if I carry a gun but you insist that I should never be allowed to play poker online? Huh?
I should have said the average payout is about 50% of proceeds. If you buy $100.00 worth of tickets the average rate of return on most state lotteries is about $50.00 in winnings. Take that $50.00 and buy $50.00 more in tickets and the average return would be about $25.00. It doesnt take long to go broke. The average odds on buying a winning ticket of any kind, money back or more is about 1 in 3.41 buys or 2.41 against winning anything. A quick and sure way to go broke.
Exactly, and even many Freepers and conservatives have no idea just how much this nonsense hurt the Republican party, especially in the eyes of independent-minded voters.
It cost Jim Leach his congressional seat, and Bill Frist any possible chance of ever being a serious Presidential contender.
ML/NJ
I understand what you are saying about variables from week to week. I am primarily talking about scratch off tickets, but the overall payout on all types of state lotteries, including the pick a number lotto type games is still around 50% of the gross proceeds overall. If you happen to win, obviously your percentage is huge in your favor. Overall it is still a hugely bad gamble for the buyer. Here in Georgia, after all administrative expenses, sales expenses and paid out winners the state has earned over $17 billion in profits for the education system in just a few years of operation. Good for the state, bad for the players.
ML/NJ
did he mention protecting the Indian casino gambling monopoly?...our state passed its own version of this bill and our state doesn’t get a dime from the Indian casinos, thanks to our idiot Rat governor....
well your right....stupid, petty little nothing laws....thats what a lot of Pubs are good for....I am fully infavor of banning flag burning and prayer in school, but not to the exclusion of sealing our borders,firming up the military, and balancing our budget....seems the stupidiest stuff they go after....geesh....
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