A less than modest proposal

[Falstaff]

My plan to get more attention paid to this issue by the folks that run the sites. You know, the sites that we voluntarily keep in business by paying the rake?

*link deleted*

[poorolrich]

sounds good

[Wynton]

Let me get this straight: we should boycott the sites for a few days to galvanize them into action? Don't they already have plenty of incentive to keep poker legal?

[Falstaff]

You would think, wouldn't you? But with so many people on these boards trying to find workarounds and different ways to fund sites,were I someone running a poker site I would certainly feel like I had nothing to worry about, that as long as I didn't mind never setting foot in the US, I'd keep getting new fishies with prepaid debit cards or fly-by-night payment processors.

The fact is that we haven't seen very much action from the sites or their compensated representatives. Mike Sexton made a big stink, and Lederer, Ferguson and Raymer went to Capitol Hill, but where's Calvin Ayres and all his money? Where are the owners of the sites or the guys that made millions off the IPO of Party?

If we can show them that there is more to be lost by apathy than can be maintained by moving to new markets, then the logical business model becomes fight rather than flight.

I have updated my proposal after a conversation with Full Tilt Poker.

*link deleted*

[ollie5050]

[ QUOTE ]
Now I see your idea, and I raise you all-in.

Donating OUR money, that we pay in tourney fees and juice, is one thing. MATCHING those tourney fees and rake with a donation from FTP is another thing entirely.

AND making a dollar-for-dollar donation of anything won by a Full Tilt Pro in that weekends FTOPS series is starting to be the kind of cash it's going to take to get noticed in a DC streetfight.

[/ QUOTE ]

For some strange reason [other than the all in comment] I like this idea. any idea if that PS in on this bandwagon?

[currently have funds there(PS) nowhere else at the moment]

[Petomane]

It's really not up to us to figure out how to get money in and out of poker sites, it's up to them. Maybe once the dust settles i.e. the Superbowl is over, they'll find solutions.

I kept my bankroll on Neteller and I'm in the same boat as many here.

I've not been reading good things about Epassporte, the WU thing seems delayed, the cashier's check would also take a while. But that's not the problem. Efficient cashouts are.

Since PokerStars has really tightened up in the past week anyway, it's best to take a break and see if they can find a better way.

I'm sure nobody wants to give up the U.S. market unless they absolutely have to.

[keebler61]

"I'm sure nobody wants to give up the U.S. market unless they absolutely have to."
Precisely.

Hopefully this means a huge overlay for me.

[jlkrusty]

Uhhh... did any of those gasoline strikes (emails asking people to not buy gas on a certain day) do anything to change the price of gas? Maybe they gave people a warm fuzzy.

[Jooka]

[ QUOTE ]
"I'm sure nobody wants to give up the U.S. market unless they absolutely have to."
Precisely.

Hopefully this means a huge overlay for me.

[/ QUOTE ]


lol.

[Billman]

[ QUOTE ]
Uhhh... did any of those gasoline strikes (emails asking people to not buy gas on a certain day) do anything to change the price of gas? Maybe they gave people a warm fuzzy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Big difference: The number of people who gasoline and the number of people who play online poker are vastly different. Stars gets 11,000 - 12,000 people on a good night. What happens if 5000 people boycott them? 5000 people boycotting buying gas isn't even a blip.

[Billman]

[ QUOTE ]
You would think, wouldn't you? But with so many people on these boards trying to find workarounds and different ways to fund sites,were I someone running a poker site I would certainly feel like I had nothing to worry about, that as long as I didn't mind never setting foot in the US, I'd keep getting new fishies with prepaid debit cards or fly-by-night payment processors.

The fact is that we haven't seen very much action from the sites or their compensated representatives. Mike Sexton made a big stink, and Lederer, Ferguson and Raymer went to Capitol Hill, but where's Calvin Ayres and all his money? Where are the owners of the sites or the guys that made millions off the IPO of Party?

If we can show them that there is more to be lost by apathy than can be maintained by moving to new markets, then the logical business model becomes fight rather than flight.

I have updated my proposal after a conversation with Full Tilt Poker.

http://pokerstage.blogspot.com/2007/01/modest-proposal-redux.html

[/ QUOTE ]

Falstaff,

I would recommend that you don't ammend your original call to action. Doug's response is total BS. Ask Michael Bolcerick how much money he has to work with. It's next to nothing. If FTP was really supporting players rights they would be donating millions of dollars to the cause. That Lederer and Ferguson took a field trip to Washington last year is commendable but falls far too short of actually doing something meaningful like contributing a large chunk of their revenues.

And I'm not just singling out FTP. How about all the site's committing 1/2 of their proposed ad spending on television advertising and shoot some anti-anti-gaming commercials? That's what they need to be doing!

[Falstaff]

I think it's probably too late to amend the call to action anyway. The beauty of a boycott call is that it's very simple - Don't play poker online or in a casino for three days. Boom. Done. Easy to remember. Easy for people to copy and forward.

All the other stuff is hard to manage and that means it's harder to motivate people to do.

Thanks for the kind words.

[Falstaff]

If you think this is a good idea, please Digg this post so more people know about it!

*link deleted*

[Sniper]

Uuughhh...

Aside from shameless spamming Blog plug... that should get this thread deleted...

Your idea of "harming" the Poker Sites in order to get them to take action, is just backwards... You want to show the Poker Sites that US customers are worth fighting for, not that they are a bunch of idiots looking to cause trouble!