BILL that could end ONLINE POKER...

[teddyFBI]

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stupid question: if this bill passes, does it mean that americans cant play online poker or that you cant play online poker while in america? thanks.

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neither.
use the search button.
or google.

[TheAnswer]

why isnt this in legislation.

[pipsqueak]

But couldn't they ban having your bank fund neteller or neteller doing an eft to your bank?

[theblitz]

So, the fact that he can still bet on the horses doesn't count?
A gambler with a problem will ALWAYS find somewhere to satisfy his needs.

[Gregatron]

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Sigh, this has been posted in so many places. The bill, even if it does pass, seriously does not change anything. Aside from scaring some fish, and apparently a bunch of 2p2ers, all it does is disallow credit cards and and other electronic transfers from dealing with our poker sites. They CANNOT stop you from using neteller, and from there your money can still go into a poker site just as it always has. The vast majority of credit cards already don't allow you to deal with those gambling sites, so there won't be any noticeable effect. The heralding of this being a "ban on online gambling" is absolutely absurd. They wouldn't even be able to stop poker sites from advertising on television, given that those sites offer free poker, which is perfectly legal.

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I think this is actually debatable AJ. There is some speculation that this would actually lead ISPs to block access to internet gambling sites. I am not arguing this is or is not the case, but there are some respected posters in legislation arguing that it is very possible (logistically).

[MrWookie]

Also, I might be mistaken, but it would seem this would block IGMPay-type transactions as well.

[pretender2k]

So how will this stop an addicted gambler from blowing the same money in a B$M casino?

[DING-DONG YO]

It would block US financial institutions from funding online gambling accounts. This would include just about anything you could think of, checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, debit cards. Pretty much anything.

IGMpay/neteller/firepay transactions would no longer be processed by your bank.

[jds1201]

I will not let the MAN hold me down! Fight the POWER!

[groo]

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Until I read the Slate article about that self-proclaimed "professional poker player" who gambled away his entire bankroll and then went through nearly all of the family's untouchable rainy day reserves, I would have been 100% dead set against this bill - couldn't see the other side. Now, I must admit that I find myself thinking about the damage that is done to families by problem gamblers. I'm no longer so sure that my position is as well-founded as I once believed it to be.

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How do you feel about the addicted shopper that spends all of the families "untouchable rainy day reserves" on clothes bought on the internet. Or people that unknown to their spouses apply for and recieve $1000's of dollars in credit cards and max them out on meaningless/useless purchases that run the family into financial ruin. Or.....the list goes on and on.

People with these problems need help, but even if the government were capable of helping them (which I don't believe it is), it's not the governments place to do so. Stupid people can not be protected from themselves, and unfortunately it's up to the families to protect themselves. In other words, some people make bad choices, are idiots, or are just plain sick. It's not my job, your job (unless you are a therapist or something similar) or the governments job to fix them. To restrict our civil liberties in order to protect these broken people would be a terrible and dangerous precedent to set. It would be similar to saying, "That guy over there is mentally ill, so everyone has to live in an asylum."

Rant over