Politics isn’t one of them.
We’ve tangled good-naturedly (I hope that was good natured)
about a host of issues - and every time I’m way over here on the left, and he’s
over there on the right. He needed me (rightly
so) that it was Obama’s administration that brought the hammer down on Black
Friday (though they were enforcing the UIGEA, brought to you in 2006 by
you-know-who). And he ripped me a new
one on my example of congressional disarray in the recent Cabinet
hearings/approvals. And no doubt we’ll
tangle again.
But when it comes to online poker, we’re on the same
side. That’s because both the GOP and
the Dems are of one mind here. In the distant
past, there have been matters of morality or rights or touchy-feely concerns
that have caused one party or the other to cast a frown on the promotion of
gambling. But in the last 20-30 years,
with Lotteries, Indian Casinos, Riverboat Casinos, Racinos (horse-track
casinos), and a virtual explosion of gaming (don’t call it gambling) helping
states from Maine to California with their bottom lines, there is only ONE
issue that makes legislators turn their heads:
EM OH EN EE WHY.
Money. Cash. Dollars.
Dinero. Cold, hard bucks. Franklin Mint Chip.
Nevada licenses are being handed out to qualified vendors,
but…this article from the Las Vegas Sun (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/mar/03/only-big-fish-allowed-swim-nevadas-online-gambling/)
indicates it’s only the big fish that need apply. The law is pretty restrictive, requiring, “…a $500,000 operating license
to enter the online gambling market and restricts licenses largely to resort
hotels -- a
legal definition including 200 hotel rooms, a 24-7 restaurant, a bar and a
casino floor-- with a non-restricted gaming license.” (LVS, 3/3/13)
Exactly WHY does an online poker room need 200 hotel rooms? This would be akin to only allowing firms to develop “horseless carriages” that had at least 100 stables, 24/7 access to buggy whips, and a ton of hay. Obviously the guys with the money want to keep the money and they HATE HATE HATE competition. And their friends in Carson City helped them keep it that way.
Want
more proof? The new law in New Jersey is
similar, so, naturally, if one wants to be in the online poker biz, one needs
to own a casino there. And that’s what
PokerStars is trying to do, much to the consternation of the American Gaming
Association and the folks who pay their way (major casino owners). In a story reported in CardPlayer (and
elsewhere (http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/15119-u-s-casino-lobby-trying-to-block-pokerstars-entry-into-new-jersey),
the AGA says PokerStars should not be approved, “because the integrity
of the gaming industry would be gravely compromised by any regulatory approval
of PokerStars, a business built on deceit, chicanery, and systematic flouting
of U.S. law.” To their credit,
PokerStars deflected the hit, saying that “…the U.S. Department of Justice
explicitly gave it permission to reenter the U.S. if licensed by a state and
that it was allowed to bail out Full Tilt Poker.” Other countries where PS does work in tandem
with those in power (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, and
others) might take umbrage with the AGA.
It’s already been almost two years since US players were
frozen from playing online poker for money (legally), and, of course, the
jockeying to make it so (officially) started longer before Black Friday. Expect
the dragging of heels to continue, as they big boys with the big toys (and the
bankrolls to buy them) battle it out. It
will be fierce, it will be bloody, and it will be over when someone pays
someone some serious money.
When/if online poker does make its debut in Nevada or New
Jersey, expect the one with all the toys to win, eventually. It’s so predictable.
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