Cash Out
- October 6
This past Monday, Congress voted to ban internet gaming,
so to speak.
They didn't make it illegal for you and I to play it.
What they did instead was to make it illegal for banks
or credit cards to accept transfers to and from gaming
sites, adding that the gaming sites could be presented
with legal action should they accept any money from the
U.S. As a result of this action, sites such as Party
Poker, Cryptologic, Boss Media, Pokerstars and 888.com,
according to their press releases, soon will no longer
accept American money to be played on their site.
Needless to say, the reaction has been swift and
profound. Why in the world is our government doing this?
I don't buy the argument that gambling is 'bad' for
people and is corrupting our lives.
In a previous article that I wrote, I said that if the
government really wanted to do something about the
situation, they would be dealing with the problem with
education and information, not
punishing people financially.
And the financials seems to be what the issue is. It's
not about teaching us about the horrors of gambling.
It's not even about protecting us from ourselves. It's
all about the power of the almighty internet dollar -
and the fact that the US Government isn't getting a
piece of it. So therefore, if the government can't make
any money from taxing it, it must be bad for us, so
therefore, make it illegal.
Welcome to the new prohibition.
I am sure you are asking that if the casinos are
protesting it, then why don't THEY put their own
gambling programs online? Simple answer. When was the
last time you have been to Atlantic City or Las Vegas?
If you haven't, or if you want to go, then get ready to
shell out at least $100 for a room (and that's for a
weeknight. If you want to spend the weekend at the
Boardwalk, then prepared to see over $500 walk out of
your wallet), another $50 (or more) for food, and $50
over that for entertainment. Want to go shopping on the
malls? Add $200 to that, and another $50 for the arcade.
Adding it all up, then that's $500-$1,000 spent...even
before you walk into the casino. That's also $500-$1,000
that doesn't go to the casino and stays with you if you
just decide to play online instead.
So you don't go to Atlantic City or the casinos to
gamble. You don't even have an online account. So this
doesn't affect you, right? Well, if you like watching
gambling on TV, it most certainly will affect you. You
know Poker Superstars, The World Poker Tour and Ultimate
Blackjack Tour? Do you know who financially backs those
shows? Yes, the online poker companies. If they realize
that they aren't going to make any money in the U.S.,
then they are going to pull out advertising
dollars...and TV revenues, which means financial backing
of the
shows. That means that these editions of these poker
shows could be the last ones you're going to be seeing,
should the bill get passed and signed.
What can you do about it? Well, in less than a month, we
celebrate something that the government has not taken
away from us - the power to vote. The bill has been the
brainchild of Bill Frist (a Republican from Tennessee),
and the majority of the people who passed it were
Republicans. In order to have any chance to overturn the
bill, you have your duty as an American to go to the
polls and get rid of the people that passed the bill to
begin with. You'll have to check out who voted for what
in your area.
We are always giving out excuse after excuse on why we
don't vote. The most common excuse has been
traditionally 'well, there's no issue there that I
really care about'. If you are in the male demographic
of 18 or over, then chances are that this is something
you do care about - and care about greatly. If this
can't get you up to vote, then nothing will.
You have a few weeks left to register to be eligible to
vote. Use it or lose it. You're in danger of losing one
of the rights of what you should be able to do on the
internet. Don't lose a right that the founders of this
country fought very very hard for you to have.
Gordon Pepper would rather make money in the comfort
of his own home than to drive the two hours to Atlantic
City. E-mail
him at
gordon@gameshownewsnet.com.
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