Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

My journalism teacher asked each student to come up with a topic to write an opinion on. I had no idea until he called on me, then after a few seconds I said "poker should be legalized". A couple students giggled, and the teacher asked why I thought it should be legal. I said it gets unfairly lumped with other forms of gambling that are based completely on luck, like slot machines. He then asked me what I felt about the many families that go broke from poker. I didn't have any articulate answer for that, even though I believe it is mainly due to irresponsibility.

What would your answer be to his question?

Any other helpful tips on writing this paper would be appreciated.

Re: Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

1) "many families" - where are these many families, i dont see them anywhere. Of course there are a few horror stories out there. But there are a few horror stories for everything: Amway, daytrading, commodities, precious metals, your own shoe store, your own restaurant, your own B&B, the list is endless. Should everything be banned because a few people have bad experiences from it?

2) People who do have bad experiences need to educated and helped to stand on their own 2 feet again. You impair this recovery process if you blame the activity instead of the persons approach to the activity: if someone gets bad knees from jogging in ill-fitting shoes, does it help to blame the jogging or the shoes? No, it helps to explain to the person how important good fitting shoes are to jogging.

3) Your teacher is a nanny state fascist propaganda machine.

OK, maybe you shouldnt include #3.

Skallagrim

Re: Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

[ QUOTE ]
My journalism teacher asked each student to come up with a topic to write an opinion on. I had no idea until he called on me, then after a few seconds I said "poker should be legalized". A couple students giggled, and the teacher asked why I thought it should be legal. I said it gets unfairly lumped with other forms of gambling that are based completely on luck, like slot machines. He then asked me what I felt about the many families that go broke from poker. I didn't have any articulate answer for that, even though I believe it is mainly due to irresponsibility.

What would your answer be to his question?

Any other helpful tips on writing this paper would be appreciated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well if I had this topic I would follow a thesis that tracked prohibition as the central theme.

I would show that the current anti-gambling crowd has done as the anti-drinking crowd did, and has over stated the problem. The British Problem gambling study shows that gambling attracts about the normal distribution of people prone to becoming addicted to alomst anything. I doubt I can find the study but I read where some people who like to tan can get addicted to tanning.

I would then use the British, New Zealand, South Africa regulatory models to show that using revenue from the taxable income actually is the only way that true focus has been brought to help the "many families" who may get harmed.

Because in a prohibition model the gambling is not only immoral but now illegal, the government spends its recources fighting increased criminal problems and the actual "harmed families" have even less chance of ever receiving help from anyone as the State now has even less of a reason to help them.

Using prohibition as an example shows that this course of action as with drinking lead to more non-problem drinkers getting hurt and the government action actually causing more problems than it had before it took any action. The quality of the drink got worse to the point where people were dying from "bath tub gin", the bars were now controled by criminals, since there was no regulation the criminals ended up fighting for market share with tommy guns in the streets.

I can provide you a link to a paper that discusses how "criminalizing" the flow on money on the internet actually will lead to the quicker adoption of completely untracable forms of money. This internet revolution angle is perhaps the most worrisome to governments. Becuse it is the digital form of them "loosing control" of the streets.

As it is this "help the families" is a politically crappy position by our opponets. Sort of the extreme of Nancy saying "just say no to drugs." The small number of people who actually might be subject to harm are held out as the people to be helped when all they are getting is being used as a political tool. The opposition doesn't care one bit about them, actually those of us willing to discuss sensible not over burdensome regualtion are the only ones who really show any possible help for the people who will possibly get hurt.


D$D

Re: Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

Watch Barney Frank's speech on internet gambling and take good notes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-UpI1Ct-dg

"Now, people have said, well, some students abuse it. We should work to try to diminish abuse. But if we were to outlaw for adults everything that college students abuse, we would all just sit home and do nothing."

If you are more into reading:

http://www.house.gov/frank/internetg...gjuly2006.html

Re: Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

ty ty ty fellas


[ QUOTE ]
I can provide you a link to a paper that discusses how "criminalizing" the flow on money on the internet actually will lead to the quicker adoption of completely untracable forms of money. This internet revolution angle is perhaps the most worrisome to governments. Becuse it is the digital form of them "loosing control" of the streets.


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That and it is easier to evade taxes I'd imagine.

Re: Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

[ QUOTE ]
ty ty ty fellas


[ QUOTE ]
I can provide you a link to a paper that discusses how "criminalizing" the flow on money on the internet actually will lead to the quicker adoption of completely untracable forms of money. This internet revolution angle is perhaps the most worrisome to governments. Becuse it is the digital form of them "loosing control" of the streets.


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That and it is easier to evade taxes I'd imagine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't get me started on taxes and the ease of evasion.

That is material for an entire course not a single J class assingment. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]


D$D

Re: Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

Gambling addicts are addicts. They will lose all their money whether you outlaw it or not. The families are not helped by a ban - quite the reverse as it is legal you can force the industry to be socially respnsible, to allow self exclusion, self set deposit limits, to stop minors playing etc etc.

Look at it this way - is the gambling addict better off dealing with a legitimate business or having their gambling run by the mob, quite happy to loan with your legs as security?

PS the UK Gambling Commission prevalence survey that shows that even though gambling is now more accessible and Internet gambling has boomed there are no more problem gamblers in the UK is important evidence for why legalisation and increased availability does not harm more people.

Re: Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

First of all show why skill is important in Poker where it really doesn't have much to do with slots or roulette wheels. List the skills needed.
Next, quote heavily from Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenmann's book "The Mathematics of Poker." Use a couple of their toy games to challenge the teacher. Be sure to footnote the book.
Finally throw in a bit about addictive behaviors in general. Include things like eating, shopping, running, knitting and hand washing.

Re: Homework assignment on poker legalization
 

Realize your teacher makes less in a year than most people here were making a month pre-UIGEA. Make sure you dumb it down a LOT. Especially a male teaching school.

When that dumb SOB opens his mouth about families broke from poker ask him how much of a raise he got fro mthe lottery, and how many fixed income elderly people had to pass up FOOD and MEDICINE because they are addicted to scratch off cards at the gas station. Ask him if he wants to give it back.