Long Odds For Online Gaming Legislation In US 148
Posted
by
timothy
from the how-about-liberty-unadorned? dept.
from the how-about-liberty-unadorned? dept.
crimeandpunishment writes "The odds of Congress passing legislation to legalize and tax online gaming are probably no better than those of filling an inside straight, but some lawmakers are pushing for it anyway, hoping to lay the foundation for future passage. At a hearing Wednesday, one lawmaker cited numbers from industry analysts that Americans bet nearly $100 billion a year on the Internet, generating $5 billion for offshore operators. He said laws to prevent online gaming are no more effective than Prohibition was to alcohol."
Prohibition (Score:1, Interesting)
"He said laws to prevent online gaming are no more effective than Prohibition was to alcohol." ... or to pot
"Sure we'll let you gamble..." (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Your money is not yours (Score:5, Interesting)
For #3, It's no more gambling for a bad/new player than for a good/seasoned player. The fact that they're bad at poker doesn't change what poker is unless we're getting into a "cat in the box" thing here where actions/observation determine the outcome.
For #4, I think Full Tilt is onto something with their new Rush Poker. They'll never come right out and say that this new method greatly reduces the possibility of cheating because that would acknowledge the fact that cheating among players is very possible in standard games. But, in Rush Poker, each table is created on the fly from a pool of players for each new hand. So there's no way to get several of your buddies seated at the same table unless you happen to randomly be seated together but then you won't have time to do anything about it because you're only there for one hand then you're moved to a completely new table with a new group of players. It has kind of a "crack heads on meth drinking Red Bull" feel because it moves so fast but it definitely cuts down on the potential for cheating among players.
As for cheating on the server side, I'm all for regulation. Bring those servers onto US soil with independent oversight and auditing.
Yes, people could still get to offshore sites and try to avoid taxes, no problem. But, if iTunes has shown us anything, it's that people are willing to pay a premium price for a product that's trusted and easy to use.
Online poker should be a freakin' DREAM for the government. There's no hiding your activity. Every deposit is logged. Every transfer is logged. Every withdrawal is logged. It should be the easiest thing in the world to tax accurately and efficiently. Way easier than the bajillion card rooms scattered all over the country. And it should be easy to spot and flag problem "gamblers". As I just said, everything is logged. Mine the data and use it to reach out to those people.