BarryG - Online Poker should be legal in 6 months

[gbporkpie]

Barry has an audio blog?

[Christophers]

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barry,

you are the light of my life

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[JPFisher55]

Usually I post in the Legislation forum. However, I thought that I would clarify some matters for this discussion. One, neither the IGREA nor Rep. Wexler's bill to exempt skill games, including poker, from federal anti-gambling legislation conforms to the WTO decision. To conform to the WTO decision the US must (1) permit foreign firms to offer all online gambling services to US citizens without regulation or taxation of these firms or (2) prohibit offering all online gambling including horse racing, state lotteries and fantasy sports in the US for both domestic and foreign firms. Two, any federal legislation in this area will supersede any current state law. The state laws that prohibit online gambling likely violate the commerce clause of the US constitution. Any attorney in the state of Washington has already filed litigation challenging its recent ban of online gambling. Also, these state laws violate the WTO decision.
If Barry is right and the pending WTO sanctions (granting of IP sanction to Antiqua will by the key) force compliance efforts by Congress, then any regulation or taxation, outside of normal income taxes paid by individuals, can only affect US companies operating on US soil that enter the online gambling market. No country attempts to regulate or tax foreign firms that operate online gambling sites and offer these services to its citizens. Even the recent UK legislation only affected firms operating on UK soil. Some left the UK due to the high tax rate of the UK recent legislation.
IMO, if Congress acts it will be due to pressure on the Dems from the music and entertainment industry caused by the WTO granting Antiqua the right to ignore US IP laws or it will be due to court decisions against the UIGEA, due any day, or against the Wire Act in the BetOnSports case.
I agree that Mr. Greenstein will be a excellent representative for poker players, but he will need help from one or more of these events.

[Ratamahatta]

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if party comes back im moving to Stars and FT and not leaving my house for the next 5 yrs DUCY?

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[llHessll]

Isn't this horrible news? Even if PartyPoker comes back the gov't will tax it like income (like 25%) and it will be impossible to play for profit high than like .25/.50 .. You just won't have a big enough edge. I mean would Aba play people at 50/100+ where he has, say, a 5% edge if he's gonna get taxed 25%??

[AKoffsuit]

Let's hope and wait for the next influx of new players from Asia

[jono]

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Isn't this horrible news? Even if PartyPoker comes back the gov't will tax it like income (like 25%) and it will be impossible to play for profit high than like .25/.50 .. You just won't have a big enough edge. I mean would Aba play people at 50/100+ where he has, say, a 5% edge if he's gonna get taxed 25%??

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can we start banning people for stupid posts?

[markksman]

I have only gotten through the first 9 pages but did not see this addressed. I think a lot of people here are missing the boat.

For the existing Poker Sites, this is potentially their WORST nightmare. The ones pushing for legalized US Poker gambling are the big Casino Corporations. Harrah's, MGM/Mirage. They are not allowed ANY online presence now.

As soon as this changes, they will be the dominant market forces. They will have the trust of the general population. Who you going to put your money with one of the largest corporations in the world, or someone in Antigua.

Short of being bought by the big casino companies, I think this is potentially disastrous news for the big poker sites. As once the US presence is established they will easily be able to expand and accept poker players from around the world.

People thinking they are going to be pimping it on Partypoker 1 year after such a thing became legal, are just not seeing things through.

I think for the experienced poker player it will be a huge boon. For the experienced poker site, not so much.

[JPFisher55]

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I have only gotten through the first 9 pages but did not see this addressed. I think a lot of people here are missing the boat.

For the existing Poker Sites, this is potentially their WORST nightmare. The ones pushing for legalized US Poker gambling are the big Casino Corporations. Harrah's, MGM/Mirage. They are not allowed ANY online presence now.

As soon as this changes, they will be the dominant market forces. They will have the trust of the general population. Who you going to put your money with one of the largest corporations in the world, or someone in Antigua.

Short of being bought by the big casino companies, I think this is potentially disastrous news for the big poker sites. As once the US presence is established they will easily be able to expand and accept poker players from around the world.

People thinking they are going to be pimping it on Partypoker 1 year after such a thing became legal, are just not seeing things through.

I think for the experienced poker player it will be a huge boon. For the experienced poker site, not so much.

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In general, I agree. However, it depends on the level of regulation and taxation that an online poker site operating in the US must endure. Typically, Congress regulates too much and the affected industry incurs high cost complying with the regulations. In addition, Congress and the states tend to tax gambling concerns too heavily for them to compete with offshore sites. If Harrah's etc. has to charge a 6-10% rake to make a profit, then people will continue to play at Poker Stars etc. Of course, if Congress doesn't over regulate and taxes are not too high, then Harrah's etc. will dominate the industry.
Also has to happen before US based online gambling sites are legal.

[Eponymous]

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and Dikshit gives you handjobs under the table.

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Given his name, buttsecks would be more appropriate than handjobs.