DELAWARE EDITORIAL CALLS FOR LEGALISED ONLINE POKER
24 July 2009
WSOP used as an "economic jolt" example
The state of Delaware, which recently refused to be
intimidated by the big US sports leagues and passed
legislation to permit sports lotteries to help it
through tough ecomomic times, was the scene for a
further demand for gambling legalisation at the weekend.
And online poker featured prominently in the call.
The Delco Times editorialised that the legalisation
and regulation of poker, and in particular online poker,
could generate valuable revenues for the state, and it
used the recent World Series of Poker tournament in Las
Vegas as an example of the potential impact of a more
enlightened approach.
"In Las Vegas earlier this
month, 6 494 poker players were willing to ante up $10
000 each as they rolled into the Rio Casino & Hotel to
play in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker,"
the editorial observes.
"That is nearly $65
million devoted to one poker tournament, and that was
the tip of the iceberg. There were 56 other events of
various sizes and buy-ins during the 2½-month event.
More than $173 million in prize money was handed out,
with millions more going to the house, millions more
spent on hotel rooms and meals, millions more doled to
dealers hired specifically for poker’s version of
Lollapalooza …
"When you consider the money won,
revenue earned and paychecks cut, the WSOP is a shining
example of how a leisure activity can provide an
economic jolt.
"While poker’s boom in popularity
this decade has led to the expansion of poker rooms in
casinos, by far the place where the game has enjoyed its
largest growth and introduced itself to hundreds of
thousands of new players is through online sites," the
editorial points out.
"You would think that the
federal government might want to ride the rise of
poker’s popularity and reap the benefits of the money
online players are willing to put up to test their
skills. That, however, isn’t the case," it reports,
before going on to give a summary of the restrictive
attitudes adopted by the US Congress, and highlighting
the fact that despite these, ".....thousands of
Americans still play online, while the offshore
companies that run Full Tilt, Absolute Poker and other
sites use loopholes to work around the law."
The
writer emphasises the skill vs. chance differences
between poker and "skill-free" gaming like slots,
pointing out that poker players can and do have
long-term success because it is a game where strategy,
deception and opponent analysis are beneficial skills.
"There have been far bigger issues on the docket for
President Obama’s administration while it wrangles with
the recession, but every day it puts off this [legalisation
of online poker] matter is another day a source of
federal income is being shrugged off. What makes online
poker’s ban more puzzling is that there is very little
resistance from the other side. All signs are that
legalization would get through Congress with little
trouble, and that President Obama would sign it gladly,"
the editorial concludes, acknowledging Congressman
Barney Frank's HR 2267 and Congressman Jim McDermott's
HR 2268 current proposals for legalisation.
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
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