NYC poker: safety and legalization

[piggity]

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Can everyone please stop straying from the point of this thread? Poker is for all people; the law does not discriminate between "uneducated, degenerate gamblers" and "professionals."


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That is a bit naive. Fighting a policy battle on behalf of lowlife degenerate gamblers would not be the same as fighting one on behalf of a group that included well-to-do white collar professionals. In that sense, the demographic of the player base matters.

That said, it's a steep uphill battle either way. Everyone should just suck it up and move to CA.

[nineinchal]

Funny how he thinks creating a petition will change things.

If poker comes to NYC a few more events have to happen. First the slots have to open in Aqueduct and Belmont. Then the tracks (whether the NYRA or whoever else gets them) have to start singing the blues how the horsemen and the government can make more money if only casino gambling were legalized. Then there has to be a debate about how people in poker games can or can't behave themselves (more will say can't), a public referendum (or propostion on the ballot) then maybe someone will move.

I expect there to be legalized poker in New York, just give it five to fifteen years, when the government needs a lot more revenue.

[TMTTR]

Bloomberg has little control over this. Serious solution involves Albany and possibly an amendment to the NYS Constitution. Good luck with that.

[FireStorm]

It is rather laughable to think that writing a petition will accomplish anything. Underground poker is illegal, plan on it staying that way. Seems naive to think that just because a group of underground players who don't want to drive to AC complain, that laws will be changed. I'm not really sure that legalizing it is any sort of great solution. If it's legalized, what prevents it from being overexposed in the form of being on every other block?

[NickyC]

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Poker attracts educated and financially secure people - people who understand probability and wish to control their own destiny.

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lollllllllllllll

[AngusThermopyle]

Player: Please legalize
Politician: Why?
Player: Because it is safer if it is legal
Politician: But it is unsafe for my political career if I vote to legalize

Note: 'Player' can be a poker player, an IV drug user, or a prostitute. Same argument. Same response from the politico.

[nycbuddha]

Legalization has little chance of occuring, in my opion. As suggested by others, politicians have no big upside in supporting legalization, and a major risk of being seen as supporting degenerate gamblers. Yes, yes, I know that's not what most of us are but that's how I think we'll be perceived. I wrote an opinion piece in the Times about the Playstation (only after it had been closed, of course) and pushed the upside, decent players, regular folks, etc, but I doubt if anyone was particularly influenced by it (except for players who gave me nice pats on the back).

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe something sane could come from Frank's death. I certainly hope so, he was such a decent guy. Seeing his picture in the papers makes me very sad and I wish something good could result from something so bad.

[jjshabado]

[ QUOTE ]
It is rather laughable to think that writing a petition will accomplish anything. Underground poker is illegal, plan on it staying that way. Seems naive to think that just because a group of underground players who don't want to drive to AC complain, that laws will be changed. I'm not really sure that legalizing it is any sort of great solution. If it's legalized, what prevents it from being overexposed in the form of being on every other block?

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But its not really illegal right? Its just illegal for the house to profit. What are the chances of getting some sort of exemption or small poker-related exception to allow businessmen/women to open poker rooms.

Things like clubs where you pay a membership fee, or where you pay a cover to get in, or something along those lines. It seems like the approach with the best hope is to take small steps in the right direction. Blanket gambling (ala casinos) is unlikely to ever happen in NYC, but thats not really what we care about. Its also something thats hard to make arguments for.

I'm very aware that I know next to nothing about the current legal situation and future road blocks to legal poker rooms.

[redfisher]

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I know some club owners won't report a robbery because they don't want the police to know of their location.

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Your KNOW this? prove it. I dont think you can. Edgar went to jail for calling the police during an armed robbery, there is far more evidence that suggests club owners encourage police cooperation than any anecdotal evidence that suggests owners will ignore the safety of their patrons by not communicating with the police department after a robbery.

Seriously... blanket statements about something you guess is true only creates more problems. Sure its possible that there is a bad egg in the community, but the vast majority of operators have been on the level.

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TT,

Please document one case where the operators of a poker room called the police after a robbery where no one was hurt.

Please note that it must be after the robbery. Calling the cops when your life is on the line doesn't mean squat.

It's intuitively obvious that illegal cash businesses don't call the police when they get robbed. You're the one who has to prove that the operators of illegal card rooms involve the police after the fact.

This is the issue with all the posts from the shooting thread comparing non-casino games with legally sanctioned games. You can't walk in any casino or casino area in the US withoug seeing a cop or licensed security guard. Illegal games don't have that.

[jjshabado]

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Please document one case where the operators of a poker room called the police after a robbery where no one was hurt.

Please note that it must be after the robbery. Calling the cops when your life is on the line doesn't mean squat.


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If they always call the cops during the robbery (which seems to be the pattern) its hard to show times when they've done it afterwards.