DOJ Indicts Bookmaker.com, True Poker, Doyle's Room and Friends

[Nifty29]

It's getting ridiculous over there.

It seems that a person can't fart without being indicted.

The land of the free indeed.....

[3mptyseat]

Thats really bad news...

Want to know why Maryland...

Maryland casinos rake in nearly $13.6 million in April
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...,3950705.story


Protectionism at it's finest. I'll bet the government attorneys involved all have highly paid positions waiting for them at the casinos as soon as they retire from government....

Good point.

In the state with the most draconian laws against online gaming, Washington State, the penalties for users of gambling sites, including poker, are quite stiff, as the player is committing a felony, and what a coincidence, the largest lobby in King county is a casino group (Emerald Queen) and a major campaign contributor for Gov. Chris Gregoire's election was a Tribe from Spokane...

(http://www.seattlepi.com/local/artic...no-1276446.php)

Everywhere we look, the state is in bed with big business (violently scissoring each other in some cases). The system has eroded to such a point that transparency isnt even the problem... We now have no illusion of a sound and just system of checks and balances, and the only thing which is growing faster than the size of the federal government is the amount of debt that future generations will be saddled with...

The process has changed, and with it the policy has too... The process used to be center around fundamental principles as out lined in the Bill of Rights... But as special interest's have become the pocket books of lawmakers, the policies of the legislature have increasingly been 'for sale'.

...gambling experts say the state's arrangement, which gives the governor power to approve or reject gambling agreements with the tribes and allows those same tribes to contribute to political campaigns, is ethically problematic but not illegal.
"It's a payoff," said University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor William Thompson, who has been studying tribal gambling since 1988. "She shouldn't take any campaign money, nor should her political party, and it smells too quid pro quo for my liking."

And yet she has, and since her election, Gregoire has overseen the passing and placement of legislation that pisses on the constitution and has led to the uprise of literally dozens of places to places a bet in one form or another, in nearly every strip mall and shopping center, nearly every bowling alley and many a cafe and sports bar.

Here is a google maps search for places to gamble in and near downtown Seattle...



When you then consider that there are another 12 or so places with-in three miles to the west of this map, on and around Bainbridge Island, a place with a very low population density, and you further consider that most of these establishments are new, it becomes quite clear Gregoire's pacts with the tribes were not to keep the good ppl of Wash. St. away from the corrosive vice of gambling nor limit the expansion of tribal gaming(although it has done that)...

And I assert that the actions by the DoJ are, each and everyone, similarly motivated: by kickbacks, by campaign contributions, and by the same force on every bottom line.

ps: lol scissoring! !ror!
($)

[jetset]

One of the things that has always mystified me about the approach to online gambling by the US in general (and Washington state in particular) is the fact that every kind of gambling known to Man is tolerated and even encouraged in one form or another - and just about everywhere.

And yet there is this almost pathological desire to wipe out the internet variety....give or take a few vested interest legislative carve outs for the likes of horse racing, fantasy sports and state lotteries, of course.

The attitude is just so inequitable that it smells to high heaven of protectionism imo - and I'm not given to conspiracy theory.

The amount of time and energy that federal government authorities devote to exterminating online gambling, and the lengths to which they go, would probably eliminate the drug problem if focused in that direction

The sequence of events now unfolding, and the years of work by the DoJ and others now becoming apparent, suggests some sort of long term coordinated plan (I know - that sounds like a conspiracy theory!) and it is suspicious that as events unfold there are growing indications that the US land gambling majors are showing every intention of climbing into the internet gambling driver's seat once the main opposition has been driven out of US contention.

[Mousey]

One of the things that has always mystified me about the approach to online gambling by the US in general (and Washington state in particular) is the fact that every kind of gambling known to Man is tolerated and even encouraged in one form or another - and just about everywhere.

And yet there is this almost pathological desire to wipe out the internet variety....give or take a few vested interest legislative carve outs for the likes of horse racing, fantasy sports and state lotteries, of course.

The attitude is just so inequitable that it smells to high heaven of protectionism imo - and I'm not given to conspiracy theory.

The amount of time and energy that federal government authorities devote to exterminating online gambling, and the lengths to which they go, would probably eliminate the drug problem if focused in that direction

The sequence of events now unfolding, and the years of work by the DoJ and others now becoming apparent, suggests some sort of long term coordinated plan (I know - that sounds like a conspiracy theory!) and it is suspicious that as events unfold there are growing indications that the US land gambling majors are showing every intention of climbing into the internet gambling driver's seat once the main opposition has been driven out of US contention.

Bingo!! Give the man his prize. LOL

[lots0]

Yup I believe that Jet has it figured out.

Protectionism... is a nice word compared to "Corruption".
and this government protectionism is nothing but corruption at the highest levels of state and federal government.

All they are 'protecting' is the land based casinos profits and the political campaign 'donations' that those same land based casinos invest in the politicos.

[anniemac]

Everytime there is even a sniff of the possibilty that Texas might legalize slots, the gambling machines in La dump enough cash into the opposition that there is not a chance in hell it will pass.

Shreveport is 30 miles from Texas border, Delta Downs Racino is 15 miles from border and Evangeline Downs is about about 50. That's not counting all the other casinos in LA. Sunland Park in NM is about 1/2 mile from El Paso Texas.

Funny thing that online gambling is illegal in Louisiana. Imagine that!

I can't get the local police or DEA to arrest the local drug dealers that live around my house, but I am looked at as a criminal for spending my money entertaining myself gambling online. And let me tell you, if you think these dealers around here pay taxes on their money, think again.

[sunflower]

Yup I believe that Jet has it figured out.

Protectionism... is a nice word compared to "Corruption".
and this government protectionism is nothing but corruption at the highest levels of state and federal government.

All they are 'protecting' is the land based casinos profits and the political campaign 'donations' that those same land based casinos invest in the politicos.

I agree, hell the US land based casinos may of setup, ran and paid for the whole thing . I wonder when they open up their online operations they'll be accept international players?
Terry

[cpdnd31]

Here is what I don't Understand.

#1. Every day on TV, Via ESPN or the Game Show network, What do we see? Poker and what are the professional poker players wearing. Sponsorship patches and shirts and anything else. From where online poker sites. How long has this been around years.

#2. Why are they not vocal about what is happening? All these famous players why haven't you stood up and shouted no more? Why are you not pooling your money for radio ads, TV ads, Paper ads, I just don't understand it..

#3. We as gamers online in our own little forums, can bitch and moan all we want. We may know that our government is stealing but until the general voting public understands it they will be able to do all they want with us....

Why hasn't someone shouted from the mountain tops already... Who are they so afraid of... This is wrong beyond belief. Buy the dam commercials, make the adds get our sites back... This has been a hidden secret for all, unless you play online..WHY WHY WHY>>>>>>>>>>We need big names to attract attention.. we need press.. we need someone to say OK you took this money and now where is it.

Rant over TY....

[lots0]

The professional poker players are all running scared...

Quite a few of them were deeply involved or actually owned part of the poker rooms in question that were seized. The last thing they want right now is the attention of the DOJ.

Using Doyle Brunson as an example, it appears he got a heads up from the feds before the sting went down. He and both his children tucked tails and ditched "Doyles Room Poker and Casino" a couple of days before the doj brought down the hammer. Coincidence... I doubt it.

If you try to buy air time to promote the legalization of online gambling... no one will sell you air time. I know I tried for years.

The powerful in this country have decided that they don't want to share the gambling market profits with ANYONE, except the politicians they own or bribe.

[samoas]

The powerful in this country have decided that they don't want to share the gambling market profits with ANYONE, except the politicians they own or bribe.

It's hypocrisy diguised as democracy. What a joke, huh?