[chipandachair]

Feds Hound Bodog - Forbes.com

[checkm8r]

This ticks me off. The GOP talks about individual rights and freedoms, etc., but they then deny my right to play poker over the internet. Libertarian, here I come.

[BassVillan]

U.S. Gov't = thieves.

[JoseRijo]

And poker != sports betting, which is why Bodog got so much attention.

[BassVillan]

I am not all that familiar with the U.S.'s war on online poker within the U.S. so could someone perhaps explain to me why pstars seems to be running like a well oiled machine with checks arriving safely in my mailbox without any of these types of articles being written about them?

[Jonah 99]

Originally Posted by checkm8r

This ticks me off. The GOP talks about individual rights and freedoms, etc., but they then deny my right to play poker over the internet. Libertarian, here I come.

Obama will fix it!

Hope, Change, Poker

[JM]

Originally Posted by BassVillan

I am not all that familiar with the U.S.'s war on online poker within the U.S. so could someone perhaps explain to me why pstars seems to be running like a well oiled machine with checks arriving safely in my mailbox without any of these types of articles being written about them?

Because they seem to be smart enough to run their operation completely offshore and not put their money in US based banks. The problem comes in when the operations are either run by citizens or they have parts of the operation on US soil or in US banks and in some cases with US allies like Great Britain or the UK. For instance Intercasino is based in Canada and won't take US customers anymore. 32Red is based in GB or Isle of Mann and won't take US customers because of treaty agreements & such.

[BassVillan]

Originally Posted by JM

Because they seem to be smart enough to run their operation completely offshore and not put their money in US based banks. The problem comes in when the operations are either run by citizens or they have parts of the operation on US soil or in US banks and in some cases with US allies like Great Britain or the UK. For instance Intercasino is based in Canada and won't take US customers anymore. 32Red is based in GB or Isle of Mann and won't take US customers because of treaty agreements & such.

Let me go back and look at the paperwork but if I remember correctly all of the checks I've received from stars have been issued from a bank within the U.S., Chicago/Cali and others I think. While these checks haven't been huge they haven't exactly been small either.

[ipgyst]

The rich people have the politicians' ears, and what fading sport do a lot of them have a financial stake in? That's right, horse racing. **** horse racing - it is a dying, antiquated form of entertainment. If you like it, fine, but try to find any kids in high school or college who care one bit about it.

To protect their investments, the rich people have gotten the politicians to exempt their pastime when it comes to electronic wagering and give them a monopoly. It seems politicians are more interested in keeping a few of their rich donor friends who will give them cushy jobs in the private sector when they get voted out of office than in providing a safe place for people to exercise their freedom and generate billions of dollars in tax revenue. Kudos to California for seeing the light and examining this. Constitutionally, this is an easy case for states' rights for the first state smart enough to regulate and legalize online poker. North Dakota had a chance, but they didn't have the stones to pull it out. One day it will happen. Until then we have legalized electronic interstate betting for steroid-injected equines. And we also have federal law enforcement spending millions of dollars chasing a few million dollars here and there because a few thousand people want to play some online poker. Great.

If rich people liked to smoke bud, it would be legal too. That wouldn't generate any tax revenue or anything either.

[abby99]

Originally Posted by ipgyst

The rich people have the politicians' ears, and what fading sport do a lot of them have a financial stake in? That's right, horse racing. **** horse racing - it is a dying, antiquated form of entertainment. If you like it, fine, but try to find any kids in high school or college who care one bit about it.

To protect their investments, the rich people have gotten the politicians to exempt their pastime when it comes to electronic wagering and give them a monopoly. It seems politicians are more interested in keeping a few of their rich donor friends who will give them cushy jobs in the private sector when they get voted out of office than in providing a safe place for people to exercise their freedom and generate billions of dollars in tax revenue. Kudos to California for seeing the light and examining this. Constitutionally, this is an easy case for states' rights for the first state smart enough to regulate and legalize online poker. North Dakota had a chance, but they didn't have the stones to pull it out. One day it will happen. Until then we have legalized electronic interstate betting for steroid-injected equines. And we also have federal law enforcement spending millions of dollars chasing a few million dollars here and there because a few thousand people want to play some online poker. Great.

If rich people liked to smoke bud, it would be legal too. That wouldn't generate any tax revenue or anything either.

That's certainly the way it is in Illinois. The racing honchos are very well connected politically, and I think that racing is actually subsidized with public funds. We have legal off-track betting places. The state runs a lottery and advertises it aggressively. We have casinos, too, although many people in the Chicago area prefer to play in Indiana (fodder for another thread). But my little low-stakes home game is illegal. Sigh!