My name is Brian, and I was a online poker addict for awhile there. Especially during the college years when the poker boom was just taking off. Thankfully the government helped me kick the online habit in 2006 when they ruled to shut down poker sites that used money laundering type violations. Not that I didn’t play at the home games or the occasional trip the the Indian Casinos, but it became a once in awhile kind of thing compared to playing poker while watching a baseball or basketball game. The sites were back up and running within a year or so, and I was never really clear on why. Either way, I was back playing at a reduced rate. Over the past few years my playing has tailed off a lot to almost non-existent for months at a time (probably for the better). Maybe I got over it because of the skill of some of the online players that I was playing with. I just couldn’t handle seeing some of the most ridiculous hands winning more than pocket aces. Those beats always leave a bad taste in your mouth, especially when it happens over and over and over. Plus, I just don’t have as much time to waste as I used to.
This weekend, online poker went on hold once again for US players, but the lawsuit coming up will have a much different effect on the online gambling world. Mainly, we will once and for all have some set laws in place. If the lawmakers decide that poker is not a skill game, which if you play online enough, you will believe there’s more luck than skill, then poker will forever be banished online in the US. If they find it’s a skill game, we end up with a new way to generate some tax revenue. As of now, there’s no concrete way for the government to tax this billion dollar business. That being said, I don’t think the government really cares about the legality of online poker, just whether they can line their pockets with the addiction that many like myself threw themselves at.
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
April 19th, 2011 at 5:39 am
chappy
Well considering the government is slowly inching towards bankruptcy they’ll be looking for any means necessary to raise even more tax revenues . Don’t worry though once Trump gets into office he’ll be taking care of everything ! LOL,LOL,LOL !!!
I’d never hit the online sites as such but in reality when myself and the buddies get together that’s when you actually have ourselves at the table .
tophatal ……………..
April 19th, 2011 at 9:32 am
Half the time you feel like the sites are rigged. It doesn’t feel that way when you are with the homies! Stick with the home games Al!
April 19th, 2011 at 10:41 am
chappy
Well that’s a given isn’t it ? What’s the saying …………” the house always wins ” . There’s a reason why they build those edifices in Vegas and why many of the sites are actually offshore , namely in places like the Bahamas and Cayman Islands . Someone has to reap the benefits ……and it ain’t you or me that’s for sure !
Well it looks as if the Bulls are on their way into the next round bar Rose coming down with a staph infection or a case of diarrhea which’d mean him not being able to play . I feel sorry for the Pacers’ Danny Granger ………… that guy can really ball !
tophatal …………….
April 19th, 2011 at 6:12 am
Good stuff, Chap.
As long as I played online for real money, I knew it was only a matter of time before our government eventually made it illegal.
I mean, gambling is illegal, right?
Even though I’m an avid poker player, I understand the dangers of it for many who could throw their hard-earned money away, and I understand the reasoning behind the government’s need to step in.
Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.
April 19th, 2011 at 9:30 am
Yeah, I thought it ended for good back in 2006, but they found ways around it to bring it back… I think gambling is only illegal because they are having a hard time taxing these companies since a lot of their money is offshore, but they are based in the US…
We’ll see what happens, but if they are taking more out of each hand to pay for taxes that might turn me off of it for good!
April 19th, 2011 at 10:57 am
chappy
Given that these companies have found ways to circumvent the laws that in essence the fools in Congress were too dumb to read when they were placed in front of them . Half of the statutes to begin with were written in part by Congressional aides at the behest of the lobbyists of the gaming companies and casinos who in some cases own a lot of these sites through shell corporations based overseas . A number of these sites have their so called corporate offices based in the Caymans , Bahamas , Liechtenstein and the Channel Islands , all sovereign territories where they aren’t answerable to the US government or IRS for that matter , as no laws have been broken within their domicile . And it’s certainly not the case with these sites it’s simply as you say the government wanting an end run at these companies . They’ve only themselves (US government) to blame to begin with anyway .
They should allow the sites to exist here in the US and then leave it to the states where they choose to incorporate as to what form of tax to be lien against them should there be a form of revenue sought . The federal government and when it comes to using its revenues responsibly has always been a friggin’ joke to begin with !
tophatal ………………