Proposed new Emblem of the United States Congress
Posted on 08/28/2006 7:05:34 AM PDT by baystaterebel
Inside the quiet San Francisco headquarters of the Poker Players Alliance, a political group that boasts 100,000 members, a laminated poster hangs above the desk of executive director Michael Bolcerek that reads, "The Threat is Real."
In this case, the immediate threat to Bolcerek and his poker-playing army is the growing anti-gambling forces that argue the game is bad for American family values and want to remove it from the Internet. Despite online poker's rabid popularity -- the game now draws an estimated 23 million Americans to their keyboards every day -- it has recently suffered some big-time legislative hits.
In June, citing concerns about underage gambling and illegal wagers, the Washington state Legislature banned online gambling, including poker, making it the first state to effectively shut down virtual card rooms. And in July, the House of Representatives passed the Federal Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, which would prevent banks and credit card companies from processing payments to Internet gambling sites. Next month, the bill is scheduled for a vote in the Senate, where it's already earned support from online gambling foes, including California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Spent my $50 over the weekend.
Mr. elc got his new Wachovia credit card last week and included with all the paper they give you was a statement that said using that credit card for on-line gambling was illegal. Bastages.
You give me a kid with a BB brain and he could become a congressman.
I don't really care one way or the other if people gamble on the internet or elsewhere, but it occurs to me that twenty-three million people would amount to roughly 8% of the population. It seems rather unlikely that 8% of Americans play poker online every day.
What's easier, taking that trip to Vegas or playing online a little? This law is being promoted by the casinos who fear online play reduces their profits.
The sold it as family values issue to some Republicans but it's really casino revenues that is driving it.
It's a losing issue for Republicans and they should drop it.
This simply drives the gaming companies overseas, where U.S. authorities cannot tax them.
They are already overseas. That's the rub. Billions of dollars are going off shore. There's a lot of economic activity going on that the feds can't monitor.
Basically the deal is that the feds passed legislating gaming to the states. The ability to play in a "foreign country" is beyond the ability of the states to regulate or tax. That's where the federal government comes in.
There are also a lot of gambling interests in the United States who don't want the competition. I'd be perfectly willing to play at U.S. sites if there were any.
They are going to make it difficult, if not impossible, to easily transfer money to these companies. I think methods will be developed to allow it.
I don't know why I just couldn't mail them a check if need be. I don't think my bank could refuse to honor it. Or open an account in a U.S. branch of the Bank of Ireland or whatever and do a direct transfer. Gotta be a way to do it.
"I don't know why I just couldn't mail them a check if need be. I don't think my bank could refuse to honor it. Or open an account in a U.S. branch of the Bank of Ireland or whatever and do a direct transfer. Gotta be a way to do it."
Easiest way to do it is to open an account with Neteller (basically an offshore bank account - all the legitimate gaming sites accept it). I've been playing online for years and have never had a problem with them. pm me if you need more info.
Yeah, I'm already using neteller. I don't see how they can interfere with that. Is this another "get excited" moment where they don't actually have the technical means to disrupt the ability of Americans to play off-shore poker?
These cards have their names on them. Also, they have TX state issued picture IDs so they can use the cards (they are actually debit cards).
I know my oldest uses his card every so often so I'm not sure about being old enough to sign a contract....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.