When US bans online poker - the european thread

[Synergistic Explosions]

I grew up proud to be an American.

I'm not as proud anymore.

[Sciolist]

I really don't think this bill will pass. There're too many casual players in the US - the Interactive Gaming Council, a Vancouver-based lobby group estimates 12.5m online players from the US.

There aren't many issues where 12.5m people actively care what the result us.

If it did pass, I guess we'd be looking at 2001 levels of play again - back to sites rarely hitting 10k players etc. I doubt PS or Party would go bust, but I doubt it'll be pretty. I sure hope they've been saving. I'm surprised there isn't more European marketing by both right now, just in case...

[BlueSmurf]

Well, if America suddenly got eaten by a big fish, prime time in the poker rooms (the ones left) would still be 8 PM to midnight CET for us Euros, because we need to get home from the salt mines and corn fields, have dinner and read our kids to sleep.

@ Synergistic Explosions: I'm sure this Puritan wave will wash up eventually and make room for a counter-trend. Let's hope it happens before Orwell's "1984" begins to look like the good old days.

[BlueSmurf]

@ Sciolist

Are you kidding me? Our newspapers are filled with poker room ads and Stars are recruiting EPT players like there's no tomorrow. They are so desperate that they are buying whole page ads, even though it's actually illegal (there's a state monopoly on gambling ads here, which is being contested - thank heavens - at the European Union high court), but there are so many, that the D.A.'s office has more or less given up. At bus stops, railway stations, from billboards ... it's insane. My boss commented the other day that finally the Red Army is coming for us - and they've disguised themselves as poker sites.

Cheers,

Smurf

[Sciolist]

I'm in London.

I've not seen anymore in the last 3 months than beforehand... It's not illegal to advertise the real money tables in the UK, but the reason there're .net sites is that they're play money only, which is legal.

[BlueSmurf]

Oh ... I suppose you had the big poker wave before us. So what I'm seeing is not so much an increased European marketing campaign as merely a fight over a new market.

[DrPhysic]

As was stated, the smart money says the bill will never pass. It could possibly sneak through as an ammendment to some other bill, but it is unlikely. The US congress is composed at this time of three basic segments: the right wing bible bangers who were elected primarily to legislate their own religious beliefs, who would of course be against anything that might be fun for somebody, the left wing liberal bunch and a pretty strong group of moderates from both sides of the aisle that have most of the sense (such as it is) in congress. And they will not let somebody kill a cash cow that they can tax instead! They might kill online poker by making it -EV with the taxes, but that's another thread.

Doc

[ipp147]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm in London.

I've not seen anymore in the last 3 months than beforehand... It's not illegal to advertise the real money tables in the UK, but the reason there're .net sites is that they're play money only, which is legal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Sciolist,

I am very surprised at the lack of advertising in the city - I would have assumed that this is swarming with your demographic there. Your marketing people should run something there.

[Uglyowl]

[ QUOTE ]
They might kill online poker by making it -EV with the taxes, but that's another thread.


[/ QUOTE ]

-EV for who?

[Overdrive]

[ QUOTE ]
I predict a bunch of 5/10 multi-tabling, American 22 year old pros skirt the law (if it should pass), until one day a heavy knock on the door and a painful introduction to "Homeland Security".

[/ QUOTE ]

You know as strange as this sounds, if this bill passes this could really happen. This bill calls for a 5 YEAR PRISON SENTENCE for playing poker over the internet. It also provides the means for going after and ARRESTING casual poker players. All they have to do is use the same methods they use when going after those monsters who use the internet for child poronography. They can easily come after and arrest anyone for doing something on the internet that is illegal, we all know that. This 5 year prison term for playing poker on the internet will probably make alot of pros stop playing as well, and cetainly cut down on the casual players by about 99%. Even if there is a convuluted way around the funding mechanics of getting money to a poker site would you want to risk 5 years in prison for playing poker? They can easily monitor everything you do on the net you know and this bill calls for prosecution of internet poker players. Not good for freedom.