Poker Forum

"Violence Begets Violence"....John Lennon

"Be Not... A Oppressor, A Victim, A Bystandard.."...Death Camp Survivor

THE QUESTION REMAINS WHAT CAN AMERICAN POKER PLAYERS DO ABOUT THE RECENT MOVES BY THE ADMINISTRATION TO BAN INTERNET GAMING. MOST IMPORTANTLY TO US, POKER. WELL THE WORDS OF THE DAY ARE UNITY, AND COHESION.

UNITED STATES TELEVISION RATINGS PROVE THAT THE NUMBERS OF AMERICANS WHO APPRECIATE THE GAME IS NOT ONLY SIGNIFICANT BUT THE BASE FOR AN EFFECTIVE POLITICAL VOICE. WHAT WE LACK CURRENTLY IS A COHESIVE PLATFORM UNDER WHICH WE CAN UNITE TO MAKE A REALISTIC STAND AGAINST THE CURRENT EFFORT TO BAN OUR FAVORED RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY.

THE NEAR POP STAR STATUS ACHIEVED BY WSOP, BINION'S HORSHOE, AND OTHER BIG TOURNAMENT WINNERS HAVE ACHIEVED IN THE U.S. ADD ANOTHER IMPORTANT RUNG TO THE LADDER UPON WHICH WE WILL CLIMB TO FREEDOM OF CHOICE. THESE PEOPLE ARE HOUSEHOLD NAMES.

TO DATE, THE AMERICAN CASINO LOBBY HAS RECOGNIZED THE POWER OF UNITING UNDER A COMMON FLAG AND SECURING THEIR POSITION IN THE U.S. MARKET. HOWEVER, THEY HAVE ACHIEVED THIS THROUGH INEFFECTIVE LONG TERM STRATEGIES OF MISDIRECTION AND FEAR. THEY HAVE SECURED RECENT LEGISLATION BY PORTRAYING THE ONLINE CASINO INDUSTRY AND ONLINE POKER ENTHUSIASTS AS ACCOMODATOR'S OF MONEY LAUNDERING, TERRORISM, AND CRIMINAL ABUSE. NOW HAVE ANY OF THESE ACTIONS EVER OCCURRED IN THE HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY,....POSSIBLY. BUT WHAT IS THE PERCENTAGE OF A POSSIBLE FEW HAPPENINGS VERSUS THE MILLIONS OF LEGAL AND HARMLESS PURSUITS OF RECREATIONAL POKER ENTHUSIASTS WHO ARE HONEST...ALMOST STATISTICALLY NONEXISTENT. THEY SECURED THIS LEGISLATION, AND THUS A VIRTUAL MONOPOLY WITH COERCION AND FEAR TACTICS. THIS PLATFORM WILL NOT STAND AGAINST COMPROMISE AND UNITY FROM THE VOICE OF THE ONLINE COMMUNITY AND THE SITES THEY SUPPORT.

IF WE SIMPLY AGREE TO COMPROMISE ON MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL ISSUES SUCH AS TAXATION OF U.S. REVENUE, REGULATORY AUDITS, POSSIBLY YEARLY ONLINE LIMITS TO CASH TRANSFERS, AND ZERO TOLERANCE FOR GAMING ON CREDIT THEN ENOUGH OF US COULD PURSUADE OFFICIALS TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT OUR OBJECTIONS. ALLOWING FOR THESE COMPROMISES WOULD ONLY STRENGTHEN THE INDUSTRY. OFFSHORE COMPANIES WOULD BENEFIT FROM A TAXED REVENUE OF U.S. PLAYERS VS. A LOSS OF ALL REVENUE FROM THE U.S.. REGULATORY AUDITS OF RNG'S AND P&L'S WOULD PREVENT FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING PROTECTING BOTH PLAYERS AND NATIONAL SECURITY. LIMITS TO ANNUAL CASH TANSFERS WOULD PROTECT BANKS AND THE INDUSTRY FROM GAMBLEAHOLICS, AND A BAN ON CREDIT WOULD MAKE SURE PEOPLE DON'T BORROW TO PLAY.

POKER HAS BENEFITED THE WORLD COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE. CELEBRITY POKER SHOWDOWN HAS CONTRIBUTED MILLIONS TO BOTH WORLDWIDE, AND DOMESTIC CHARITIES INCLUDING UNICEF(WHICH THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER IS AN AMBASADOR FOR), AND HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS.

UNDER THE U.S. DOCTRINE OF CHECKS AND BALANCES THE US SUPREME COURT HAS THE POWER TO ABOLISH THE RECENT LEGISLATION IN ITS CURRENT FORM VIA THE SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT. THEY BROKE UP STANDARD OIL, US STEEL AND AT&T UNDER THIS SAME LAW, AND THE CASINO LOBBY IS NOT TOO BIG FOR THIS ANALYSIS. THEIR PLATFORM TO SECURE THEIR MONOPOLY VIA INTIMIDATION AND FEAR WOULD CRUMBLE BEFORE THE BLIND SCALES OF JUSTICE. ALL THAT IS NEEDED NOW IS A UNITED FRONT FROM ONLINE PLAYERS AND HOSTS WILLING TO MAKE CONCESSIONS FOR THE COMMON GOOD, BUT DEMANDING THEIR RIGHT TO FREEDOM FROM PERSECUTION WITHOUT DUE PROCESS UNDER AMERICAN LAW.

THIS IS NOT A ABSTRACT REFUSAL TO ACCEPT DEFEAT. IT IS A MANDATE FOR AMERICAN'S AND ALL ONLINE POKER PLAYERS TO DECIDE THAT THEY WILL DICTATE WHAT IS DANGEROUS OR DESTRUCTIVE TO THEIR PERSONAL FREEDOMS. HOW LONG WILL YOU SIT AND LET EACH NEW REGIME DECIDE WHAT IS TOO DANGEROUS FOR YOU TO DECIDE FOR YOURSELF? SEATBELT'S, SMOKING IN PUBLIC, MACDONALD'S COFFEE TOO HOT, ALL EXCELLENT CRUSADES(WELL ALMOST ALL), BUT WHEN DO YOU STAND UP AND SAY, "I AM AN ADULT, NOT A CHILD RESPONDING TO MANDATES FROM AN WELL INTENTIONED, BUT NOT ALL KNOWING PARENT?" YOU DECIDE!

GET OFF THE FENCE...

EXAMINE...

DECIDE...

ACT...

bjdaze99

You make some good points bj. But i wonder why most people fail to see what I believe was the real cause of all this. The "poker" sites became full blown casino sites as the greed from thier own directors became top priority. I would have done the same thing the senators did as my political life would have depended on it.

I didnt ask partypoker for a blackjack table, casino games, backgammon, bingo, when I signed up but they put it there anyway. When I asked them to block all casino games on my account they refused even though they had the technology to do so. So now I say screw you partypoker. You got what you deserved you greedy pieces of crap. If they stuck to poker we might have never got this far.

Well maybe that takes care of party poker, but the last time I checked, this legislation covers ALL websites including those that ONLY offer poker.

The cause of all of this is irrelavent now. It is like discussing why the ship is sinking while standing on deck. What needs to be discussed now is, how the heck are we gonna stop it from sinking?

bjdaze99 is correct. It is time that our voice is heard louder than the whiney have not's who are only interested in telling others what they can't do, based on their warped sense of morality and hiding it under the guise of terrorism.

All,

First thing is to write a polite letter to your congress critter and both of your Senators. I wrote all 3 and their opponents in today's election. I pointed out that poker is a game of skill, not a game of chance such as state lotteries which are nothing more than a "tax on stupidity." One of the incumbents responded via e-mail and all 3 of the opponents responded. Answers were what I call Preacher/Politician answers. That's where they say a lot without actually saying anything in the hope that their dumb constituents will somehow, somewhere hear something that makes the constituent feel the politician is on their side. Of course this is what they tried to do.

I shall, quite simply, vote against every single incumbent since they were all co-sponsors of either the original bill or the one Frist tacked onto the port terrorism bill at night preventing anyone from having the ability to read it.

Second, and probably more important, is to join the Poker Players Alliance and support it so thousands of voices can be heard in unison. IIRC the PPA's membership has more than doubled since this law was passed. United we stand, divided we ... play solitaire.

Third, just as soon as the new congress is sworn in come January send a polite letter explaining poker and that it needs an exemption from the law just like horse racing and the lotteries have.

Fourth, don't stop with one letter to each of your congress critters. Insure they get at least one letter or e-mail or, best, a phone call to their Washington office at least once a week.

Fifth, encourage others to do the same. They are so far removed from normal life that they cannot know how we feel about an issue unless we communicate our positions to them.

Bob
Texas Rattlesnake Rancher

Simple Put, Until someone can produce absolute proof that Poker is a game of Skill instead of LUCK, this is the way it will be.

I believe this could be proven in a court of law... Just need someone with the resources to make it happen..

Thats my 2 cents

Actually, the word 'poker' is not mentioned in the UIGEA at all. I've read it and written about it, so take that for what it's worth. (Two grains of salt, at least.)

The problem was less that poker-only sites began to offer casino-style games, and more that online sportsbetting sites took a serious interest in poker offerings. That led to a blurring of the lines in how financial transactions were processed, with no distinction being made between sportsbetting and other forms of online wagering.

Sites such as BetOnSports and SportingBet PLC, and yes, even Bodog, were and are the ones that aggressively pursued the grey area, trying to capture a piece of all areas of the online market. BetOnSports is a very unusual case, in which the primary founder (Gary Kaplan) is a U.S. citizen and previously convicted gambling-charges felon who basically fled the States to start up the company. It's easy to attack an industry by going after the weakest link, and folks like Kaplan were that weakest link.

And then there's the financial-transactions kicker. Have you all not noticed that whenever a huge arrest or seizure occurs, it's always just prior to some major sporting event like the Super Bowl or the NCAA Basketball championship? Choking off someone like NETeller is a huge way to crimp that business at a key moment, which was exactly the U.S. prosecutor's plan. Do not doubt that this was done with full encouragement from the NFL and the NCAA, two very powerful and highly hypocritical organizations. The UIGEA was not intended to be an attack on poker, per se; poker is a victim of the pushback against online sports-wagering, though that's just fine for the hardcore religious right in this case. Brick-and-mortar casinos are ambivalent toward this because they would like to have a piece of the online pie themselves.

Of course, NETeller made it easy for the U.S. courts, by not having any merchant customers of note -besides- online gaming concerns. And again, the ones that they did serve were all clumped together, meaning no difference between poker and sportsbetting services.

Halli

Hallo

@all

..don´t worry be happy.....come to the * LAND of MILK and HONEY *.....here in AUSTRIA

U can play 24 hours.....just a joke....but they cann´t stop POKER anyway gl

servus

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