

Aided by Poker Devotees, Lawmaker Pushes to End the Ban on Online Gambling - mshafrir
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/us/politics/26cong.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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chris11
I think that this is probably a good thing, for the reason that the ban is
basically unenforceable.

Gambling sites can be legally operated from other countries, and I doubt that
law enforcement officers can easily catch gamblers.

In fact this law has protected some gamblers. Cynthia Haines lost over 70k
from online gambling and was sued when she refused to pay it. She counter-sued
saying that the companies should not have authorized the illegal charges. The
suit was settled in her favor.

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eli
Yes, and they haven't tried to catch gamblers. They just forced banks and
credit card processors to refuse to allow payments to gambling sites.

I'm sure there are ways around it, but most people won't bother.

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stcredzero
Gambling addiction operates on the same mechanism as MMO addiction. Given what
we know about behavioral psychology, it's not logical to regulate gambling,
but not MMOs.

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edmccaffrey
The LARP companies don't have the money for lobbyists.

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eli
Uh, except LARPs are legal and gambling isn't... ?

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jibiki
As far as I can tell, the point of the grandparent is that "professional and
amateur sports organizations" (as mentioned in the article) have money to
lobby against online gambling, but LARPers don't have money to lobby against
WoW(?)

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beaker
Interesting to note that online sports betting will remain illegal under this
bill due to intense lobbying by the NFL.

"Good handicappers can win against the house in sports betting, but it is
impossible for anyone to win in the long run on slot machines, roulette or
lotteries because they are totally random and based on luck with the house
edge built in. Australia has recognized this and told its citizens that they
are permitted to bet sports online, but it doesn’t want them wasting money on
gambling where they can’t win. In America (and Canada) the states would rather
citizens only bet on games where they can’t possibly win, hence essentially
making the legalized gambling a hidden tax. It’s truly unfortunate, but is
also a sign of the times." -H. Johnson, majorwager.com

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MichaelApproved
The country is losing billions to offshore poker sites in both potential tax
revenue and oversea company profits. To ban online gaming when it's perfectly
legal to do it in person is ludicrous.

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cellis
I really, really despise Barney Frank as a politician but i'm with him on this
one.

