Sorry to disappoint all of the doomsayers, but.........

[Rusty266]

Online Poker is here to stay. Is there anyone else out there that feels that way? Only a few it appears. I'm not surprised or concerned that I'm in the minority here, in fact I'm thrilled. Being a contrarian and taking the opposite stance of the general public is usually a pretty good play.

As I mentioned in another post whether its starting a new business, trading futures, handicapping the horse races or playing poker, pencil me into the minority category. The successful category, and as far away from the general public as possible. They have no clue and for the most part no common sense. But boy, do they love a good conspiracy theory. Doom and gloom grabs people attention. Its almost like an addiction, and people really want to believe the world is coming to an end.

I'm not singling anyone out or trying to insult anyone, its just the way things are. 95% of new businesses fail within 5 years. Most people playing online poker are losing players. Water is wet, the sky is blue, grass is green. The majority of people are on the losing end of the equation. Those are the facts, take them anyway you like, but no offense is intended.

If for no other reason, the fact that so many are on the same side of this gambling issue, makes me want to quickly gravitate to the other side. Sorry, its the contrarian in me. But you know what? It usually works. Remember the Y2K fiasco? The billions of dollars spent trying to prepare for the end of the world? Is there anyone out there that was not truly concerned with what might happen once we hit 1/1/00? I took the same stance back then that I'm taking now. I was in the minority. And wouldn't you know it? As usual, the general public was wrong. But they sure bought in to the deal didn't they? As I mentioned, its like an addiction and they love it.

But there are plenty of other reasons to want to be in the minority on this one. There have been hundreds of intelligent posts with convincing arguments as to how the online poker world will come crashing down. Some excellent reading, really. You know, just like there was in the months before Y2K and the end of the world. But many of the really good arguments are based on solid information and reasoning that is absolutely devoid of any common sense.

While it all looks good on paper, the end of online poker that is, I just don't see how it could possibly be accomplished. The RIAA has spent far more trying to end music piracy than the ten million allowed per year to fund the efforts of the anti-gambling bill. The problem was they stopped nothing. Sure a few people were caught, fined, and put on display in hopes that the rest would mend their ways. But it just didn't work. Why? Its too big to be stopped. Have you ever heard the phrase "There's power in numbers?" There you go. And guess what. Music piracy makes up a fraction of the money involved in online poker. Online Poker is a much bigger animal and while all of the ways it could be stopped make some sense on the surface, the reality is the complications involved in putting an end to online poker are unthinkable, insurmountable, impossible, pick out which one you like best. Its common sense. Its too big to be stopped.

One other thing to consider about the music piracy issue is the fact that the claim against it is legitimate. It is stealing copyrighted material folks plain and simple. Don't get me wrong, you can always make an argument against anything, and that's what has happened. The Microsoft killer himself, David Boies has argued against the RIAA, but come on folks, its pretty clear you shouldn't be able to take copyrighted material and do with it what you please. And that's exactly the point. If you can mount a successful argument for people that are clearly not doing the right thing, if you can't stop the practice, then how does that information apply to the online poker issue? The two issues are not even close. The government wants to tell tax payers how to spend their money? Poker is a game of skill? The government can stop people from investing money in offshore goods, accounts or companies, regardless of what the constitution says? The arguments are endless and we are dealing with an issue that is not illegal to begin with!

Oh, you thought it was illegal to play online poker? Interesting. I wonder why they have to try and pass a new law if it was already illegal? Couldn't they just move on to stopping the illegal activity? Jeez, wake up folks.

Now you want to tell me there are way too arguments that could be made in the existing laws and by passing additional laws they may be able to firm up the situation where online poker could be considered more illegal than it is now? Okay, I'll buy that. I'll agree that's its what the lawmakers are thinking anyway and they are attempting a move in that direction. But that's a long way from the end of online poker. When they stop music piracy, I might be a bit more concerned with the long term health of online poker.

Oh, I'll be expressing some thoughts with my Congressmen and Senators. Not that I believe online poker is in any danger, but I simply don't like them trying to screw with it. And its always a good idea to make your views known. They are spending my tax dollars on a lost cause, of course they do that often, but this time they are trying to affect something that matters to me. So I'll let them know what I think. In the meantime, I be in the online poker room and won't waste any time worrying about the future of online poker.

[Sephus]

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In the meantime, I be in the online poker room and won't waste any time worrying about the future of online poker.

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you sure wasted a lot of time on this idiotic post, though.

[AZplaya]

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you sure wasted a lot of time on this idiotic post, though.

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oh, and tl;dr

[Oberonn]

You make some valid points but the comparison of music piracy to online gambling falls short in key places.

As you said, "Music piracy makes up a fraction of the money involved in online poker. Online Poker is a much bigger animal..." and that is what concerns me.

As our country grew westward the expansion was fueled by by gambling, prostitution, firearms, and alcohol. Each of these has had a myriad of laws passed against them primarily on moral grounds. It is not unthinkable that additional laws will be passed against gambling and they will be enforced with the same vigor as other family-value morality laws. Music piracy does not even come close to these other morality issues that are considered to be destructive for families.

I am also concerned that online poker is lumped in with other forms of gambling such as sports betting and online casinos but horse racing and lotteries are treated differently. This is purely political and I think an effort needs to be made to differentiate poker in the same manner as horse racing and lotteries. This will involve a lot of money flowing to the politicians in the form of taxation and direct contributions.

There will be big changes ahead but I still think online poker is here to stay.

[larsjones]

Let's assume for a moment that online poker DOES cease to exist? Does this kill the enterprise? No. It makes it just like any other PROFESSIONAL endeavour. Then, players have to actually go into the "office" to make a living. I think it's great that poker has become an "every man" thing and I think there's nothing wrong with a "fish" beating the crud out of a pro on a given night. The thing is, the fish usually KNOWS they are a fish. I don't buy into the idea of residual idiocy in people. I never have. Online poker players are no better than any other player. Put any "good" online player in front of Doyle. What happens? I'm betting Doyle wins at LEAST 51% of the time. The internet is just another avenue for playing poker, asnd though I enjoy playing a game from home...I'm not adverse to driving to the casino.

[Lawman007]

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In the meantime, I be in the online poker room and won't waste any time worrying about the future of online poker.

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you sure wasted a lot of time on this idiotic post, though.

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nh, sir

[va1halla]

I think the people in the state of Washington thought they couldnt ban it also.

[Gregg777]

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I think the people in the state of Washington thought they couldnt ban it also.

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Did everyone quit playing???

Um... no....

[Wynton]

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I think the people in the state of Washington thought they couldnt ban it also.

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Did everyone quit playing???

Um... no....

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Sigh. We're not concerned that everyone will stop playing. We're concerned that significant numbers of potential players will never start and that the real casual player will figure it's not worth it to continue.

[DING-DONG YO]

Didn't Berge say something in another thread about people having their head in the sand? Think about it, OP.