Re: Online Stock Trading vs. Online Poker
 

Re: the zero-sum game.

You should at least consider inflation. If the value of an average investors portfolio increased by X and the average price of a basket of goods increased by X*1.1, did you really make money? This con is successful being pulled before our eyes right now. The market may be breaking new highs but if the government is printing money to make it so and the relative value of the dollar is dropping and the relative price of goods is rising, is it really a new market high? Just food for thought.

Re: Online Stock Trading vs. Online Poker
 

Trading vs. poker may not take us anywhere - but it's probably less about the quality of the analogy and more about who stands to lose profits as a result of "banning investing". At the end of the day, I agree, that the re-emergence of online poker will come when domestic corporations have positioned themselves in the marketplace to profit and not through some logical argument or battle in the courts.

This makes me think, if anything, we should devote our time to convincing Harrahs, MGM, etc that online poker would be a profitable venture for them. Then they'll move the money around in Washington to get it done.

It would make a great witty opening statement though. If one talked about the comparable negatives of online trading without referring to it as that, in a setting where everyone expected him to talk about online poker. And at the end reveal that his anecdote was about an online trader instead of a card player.