why was this law passed?

[BlackAndRed]

[ QUOTE ]
Frist did this for popularity? Thats the craziest thing Ive ever heard! LOL - this guy is goning to be running for Prez? Freakin' idiot has shot himself in the foot with this one I think

[/ QUOTE ]

No way. It's a nice move by Frist. The Republican nomination will eventually likely be a two way race between a 'base conservative' (read: establishment hack), and a supposed 'maverick'. Frist is trying to position himself to be the favorite for the 'base conservative' spot, and this will give him some good credibility with the Christian groups that he needs to support him. Oh yes, and those groups have massive amounts of money, and in our pol system, money = success.

Plus, this is probably a nationally popular move. Dangerous online gambling predators are sucking impressionable children into their cluches, creating zombie-addicts who can't stop themselves from maxxing out mom's credit card on Party 3/6. Or so is the public perception.

[Hoi Polloi]

[ QUOTE ]
Besides that, the internet gambling ban is extremely hypocritical as we all know.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your argument seems to assume that politics and hypocrisy do not mix. I believe to the contrary that Senator Frist is pushing this crap because he wants to demonstrate to and convince the Donald Wildmons, James Dobsons and Jerry Falwells of the world that he is their boy. Offshore casinos are a relatively powerless target so by Frist's political calculation the downside risk is minimal.

Let me repeat, this is about power and has nothing directly to do with revenues, morals or principles. So reviewing those categories is quite pointless. The only recourse the opponents of this legislation have is mounting a credible political opposition. Putting the GOP into the minority in the House and/or Senate would be a good start toward that end.

[Suigin406]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Here’s a list of the types of firearms that are generally illegal to own under federal law:

* Fully automatic machine guns
* Gun with an obliterated serial number
* Gun not detectable by a walk-through metal detector
* Shotgun with a barrel length less than 18 inches, or an overall length less than 26 inches
* Rifle with a barrel length less than 16 inches, or an overall length less than 26 inches
* Silencer

It's a good thing my silenced, fully automatic, 17 inch barrel, non detectable by metal detector, obliterated serial number with a detachable 15 inch rifle barrel shotgun is safely under my bed.

[/ QUOTE ]

You got one too? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

u should show it to frist...give him a good demonstration on how it works...

[westmt01]

If the medterm elections were not a month away, and if the Republican party was not in danger of losing control of one or both chambers of Congress, this bill never gets ram-rodded through so quickly. It languishes for years, perhaps never reaching the floor of either chamber.

I'm a political independent, so this is not a politically biased stab at either party, but this law is just another attempt to portray the Republicans as the moral guardians of the universe ahead of an election in which they are extremely vulnerable. Of course, they are also throwing the "L" word into the ring (terrorism), to show the great uninformed masses that by banning online gambling they are also making our country safer from terrorists. It would be funny if it weren't so ridiculous.

We, the online poker community, are just another victim of the machinery of politics.

[BukNaked36]

I'll never understand how poker is so immoral when within two hours drive I have -

* State run lottery

* State run scratch offs

* State autorized dog tracks with slot machines on site

* State authorized horse tracks with off track betting widely available.

* State authorized river boat gambling (it's on the water, so...it's...OK?)

* State authorized Indian casinos (hey they're a whole different country so we can't control them - kind of like the Poker sites are in???)

[PokerSlut]

[ QUOTE ]
You don't think Harrah's, MGM etc all wanted this passed more than anyone?

[/ QUOTE ]

You are an idiot if you think the B&M casinos were LOSING money due to online poker. Anyone who has been playing poker since before the online boom could tell you that poker was practically on life support in many B&Ms before online poker started getting more people playing and into the B&M cardrooms. Over the past few years every casino in Vegas has added a poker room. There are easily 10x as many games going in B&M casinos now as there were a decade ago. If it has hurt any casino, it probably hurt Binion's the most.

Also, take a look at how big the WSOP (and other events like WPT) has gotten over the past few years thanks to online qualifiers. Harrah's had 9000 people at this year's main event and overall the WSOP generated so much action every cardroom in Vegas made out like crazy this summer. What B&M manager in their right mind would want that gravy train to end? If this bill turns out to really have teeth and stop people from playing online, we'll be lucky to see even half as many people in next year's WSOP.

[westmt01]

You used the key word: "State". The government gets a piece of all those activities. Of course if Congress had been smart enough to regulate online gambling instead of trying to squash it, the federal gov't would make money (tax revenue), B&M casinos would make more money (more people playing poker = more people visiting their poker rooms = more profits = more tax money for the State), abuses such as 11-year-old Junior playing on daddy's credit card would decrease dramatically, the number of fish would explode attracting even more fish increasing the scope of all of the above, and basically everyone would be happy.

But the government can't have that.

[BigBry]

[ QUOTE ]
What B&M manager in their right mind would want that gravy train to end?

[/ QUOTE ]

B&M manager and corporate casino heads are 2 very different things. Anything that takes away from the slot play is not a good thing in the big-picture view of a casino. My guess is they are neutral to slightly positive on this.

Here's a long-range prediction based solely on the fact the Reid (D-NV)rolled over at the last minute: the casinos hope this crushes the bulk of online sites. They also hope the Dems take the Senate. We get a study on how much regulating/taxing brings in, and in a few years we switch back, and US casinos are allowed to open gambling sites.

Anyway, I've worked for GOP Congressmen, State reps, and was on a GOP Board. After this move, I'm writing checks to Dem opponents in the swing races across the country. Let's see how well Frist's Presidential bid does when he's the guy in charge that loses the Senate.

[Johnny#5]

And then there's the argument that some of America's best minds are dedicating themselves to poker instead of increasing wealth for the country, since poker is a zero-sum game and all. As much as I hate to admit it, I think internet poker is -EV for the country as a whole.

Do I agree with the law? No. I'm the limited government type. I do think it was passed for monetary reasons and that the "Save our family" rhetoric is crap.

[westmt01]

This sounds very plausible. I still think Internet gambling will get regulated rather than squashed at some point. Yet more political dancing and wrangling needs to take place first.