The Death Of Online Poker (And Maybe American Liberty)
April 17th, 2011
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I was driving home from work on Friday when I got the text:
cnn.com
pokerstars execs indicted
domains seized by fbi
I didn’t believe it at first. But I checked the news and sure enough, the day that online poker players had always feared was finally upon us. The government had shut down the three biggest online poker sites, effectively ending online poker in the U.S.
While online poker is perfectly legal in most countries, it has been a gray area in the U.S. since 2006, when the SAFE Port Act was passed. It was mainly about port security, but an online gambling measure was added at the last minute. It essentially said, “Well, we don’t know if online poker is legal, but if it’s not, then it’s illegal for banks to process transactions for poker sites.”
Some poker sites stopped accepting U.S. customers altogether. Others were willing to let them play, but the problem was how to get money into their accounts. Since most payment processors didn’t want to get involved in this legal gray area, the poker sites had to find people who would. And they figured that as long as they were forced to do something a little bit illegal, they might as well do something a lot illegal.
That amounted to bank fraud and money laundering. The funny thing is that that’s really all this is about. No federal court has ever ruled that online poker is illegal.
I can’t really defend money laundering, but the government could just fine the individuals responsible instead of shutting down the whole industry. Really, the same government that couldn’t be bothered to prosecute the perpetrators of the financial meltdown has decided that they’re not going to let people play cards?
Looking at the tables on PokerStars, I see players from Russia, Chile, Argentina, Taiwan, Canada, China, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Israel, United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, New Zealand, Mexico, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Serbia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Estonia, Denmark, South Korea, Norway, Honduras, Paraguay…basically the whole world, except the United States.
Why don’t we have the same rights as people in these countries? What happened to the land of the free? Regardless of whether you happen to like poker, this is not a good precedent. Millions of people have lost a beloved hobby, and some people have lost their dream job.
What’s the point of trampling on this harmless pastime? The government couldn’t stop alcohol, and they can’t stop poker either. They’re just going to push it underground, missing the opportunity to regulate and tax it.
I’m going to go to work tomorrow (if software development is still legal), punch my time card and make a living without poker. Yes, I’ll survive, but the roses will smell a little less sweet, knowing I’ve lost this shot at the American Dream.
April 18th, 2011 at 5:13 am
Eternal Legislator ignorance from the preflop. SOP. Some bipartisan stupidity on the flop with that 2006 law. And the executive branch goes all in on the turn with these jackboot indictments, Maybe someday we’ll suck the liberty card on the river.
You only have to be slightly cynical to believe that, no, these people don’t do anything without a reason, and it will undoubtedly lines their own pairs of pockets. Just before this hammer fell DC passed a statute legalizing online poker within the borders of the district. Gave the franchise to a Greek company. Hm. Mm hm.
April 20th, 2011 at 8:47 am
I live in the U.S. but have a good blogging friend in Denmark. I sent this to him yesterday with the remark, “See, we can shoot each other but we can’t play poker.” I’m often telling him things like that – things we are not free to do here – that surprise him. As much as some of us love to throw around the F word “FREEDOM” around here, we sure do like to squelch that freedom when it disagrees with something a politician likes or wants to be known for.
April 20th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
@ Bill, great metaphors.
@ Christie, I’m sure plenty of our freedoms and non-freedoms must seem crazy from the outside. Like how you can’t get a prescription for marijuana to save your eyesight, but you can take LSD if you believe it connects you to God. Oh well, that’s politics for you.
April 21st, 2011 at 12:01 pm
If speculation proves true that Facebook will partner with the U.S. Government to create a National ID System, freedom will become more and more vague.
Thanks for letting me know about this subject.
April 22nd, 2011 at 12:01 am
@ Ari, when I heard about the national ID system, it immediately set off my spidey sense. It will be very interesting, and perhaps scary, to watch that play out.
April 23rd, 2011 at 12:26 pm
[...] Hunter Nuttall: The death of online poker [...]
April 26th, 2011 at 11:03 am
I’m so depressed about online poker being shut down, and, yes, reading the other posts, and watching the news, it makes me feel that it’s definitely true: America is no longer “free”. We’re dying fast (gas prices, etc…), but I just wanna say that’s it’s “funny” how right before Pokerstars shut down for U.S. players, I lost all my money in one day on that site… had a SUPER FRIGID COLD STREAK… hmm, I sometimes thought the site was rigged, but now… I’m thinking they took my money before they cut us off.
April 28th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
It’s painfully obvious that the big casino’s have something to do with it.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:43 pm
I’m always surprised by what’s legal and what isn’t especially as the world gets smaller and the melting pot grows ever more connected.
For example, I was surprised when a friend told me that High Fructose Corn Syrup is illegal in Canada.
May 4th, 2011 at 12:26 am
@ J.D., then I guess Canadians had better enjoy their medium fructose corn syrup while it lasts!
May 20th, 2011 at 12:51 am
Is it legal to play online poker in serbia? On Everest, Full Tilt or PokerStars? Would been nice if someone knows.. because I will soon be down on holiday and wondering if I should have my computer with me or not ..
May 23rd, 2011 at 7:12 pm
Just like the war on drugs… they waste billions fighting a losing war. Missing out on billions in tax revenue. Prohibition does not work for anything… period.
June 15th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Very simple solution, but takes guts: get out of Dodge. It’s turning into a police state, but most people will refuse to see it until it is too late.
Contrary to American wishful thinking and brainwashing, there are a lot of better countries than the US from which to make a living online. They are also more interesting countries, unless you find malls and suburbs interesting.