Online Poker Question

Updated on April 18, 2011
H.A. asks from Cressey, CA
6 answers

Good afternoon,
I am curious if the recent shut-down of the three major online poker sites has affected any of you or your households? Do any of you enjoy playing online poker? How about your husbands? I'm also wondering what you all think of the government's decision to shut these sites down?

I agree that the bank fraud and misrepresentation of transfers was a huge NO-NO, but I don't like the idea of the government telling me how to spend my money. It is my understanding that, had they been willing to work with the sites that are being looked at, they would have been "getting their cut" all along and these companies wouldn't have needed to commit to fraud in the first place.

I will admit, I do love getting up early in the morning before my kids are up and playing a quick 6 player, $1.00 game while I have my coffee. My husband enjoys playing a game or two in the evenings after a long day. We each spend, maybe, $50.00 a year on this and we are both disappointed to say the least. But what angers me more than anything, is the idea that the government feels they can tell me I'm wrong to spend $50.00 of my money each year to play a game, but they refuse to regulate the oh-so offensive pornography that runs rampant on the internet and expect me to spend $50.00 a year for Net-Nanny to keep it from my children.

I'm guessing that some people are going to mention gambling addictions and the fact that a lot of people spend a lot more than $50.00 a year, but should those of us that are responsible gamblers be held responsible for those people that lack self control and common sense?

I'm very interested to see how you all feel about this.

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So What Happened?

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate your comments and the time you took to post them.

@Kristine D. - Thank you for the heads up on Ron Paul. I guess I can add that to yet another reason to cast my vote his way, should he decide to run in the next election.

@Mrsiamlove - LOL!!! I did not post this to be "scolded" by someone like you, nor to have it insinuated that I have either an "addiction", that I am incapable of doing basic math, or that I need to spend more time with my family. No, I am not under estimating how much I spend playing poker. Each time I win one of the $1.00 games, I nearly quadruple my money and finishing in 2nd place doubles my money. So, do I finish in the money every time I play? No, I don't. But I do win often enough to play well over 300 games a year on $50.00. You in no way even attempted to answer my question, but instead, took the opportunity to preach at me. In the future, maybe you should "check" yourself before you make assumptions about others.

More Answers

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K.D.

answers from Milwaukee on

Hi there,

I was pretty peeved on Friday when I tried to do a couple of dollar tournaments on pokerstars. I have maybe $20 in my account so nothing I am going to cry over but yes, the government sucks. If they aren't getting their piece of it-it's got to be shut down apparently.

I feel there are many bigger issues that the government should be concerning themselves with than on-line poker.

I totally enjoyed a few games on the weekend and the comfort of doing it from home and whenever I wanted to. I downloaded bodog.com last night. They are still running-it's a much smaller scale so I think it's flying under the radar and you could always do WPT-but that is like a club where you pay $20 a month and can do unlimited tournies for prizes and such. If you enter Season 9 you get a free month so....

I guess I am going to have to research the next batch of political candidates and see where they stand on this issue. I know Ron Paul was in favor of allowing it-he'll get my vote if he makes it in the running for Pres :)

Updated

LOL-I almost posted again in response to Mrsiamlove telling her the same thing as in your what happened post-that you win and lose and it was very possible to only spend the $50. Her post made M. so mad. I was thinking to respond something like even reading these questions and responding when you had nothing relevant to say was a waste of her time and she could be spending it with her family :)

If you go out to PPA.com (poker players alliance)-they have a list of websites still up and running. Like I said I downloaded bodog.com but haven't tried it yet. I will though-gotta keep up my $1 addiction-ya know.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

The sites weren't shut down to prevent you from gambling online. They were shut down because the operators of the sites were breaking the law. I totally get that it sucks for you, as this enjoyable entertainment has, for the moment, disappeared. But direct your anger at the real culprits - the folks who broke the law. And if you truly believe that the law is unfair in some way, contact your Congressional representatives and tell them what you think.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/15/business/la-fi-po...

1 mom found this helpful
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C.F.

answers from Milwaukee on

I play online bingo. I have been doing so for well over 10 years. I would rather play at home than go to a casino. I agree that I don't like the government telling M. how to spend my money either. The goverment realized they weren't getting their share because many of these sites have their headquarters in other countries to avoid paying taxes. Some of the sites I used to play at had to close as a result and even ewalletxpress a payment processer had it's funds seized.

C.C.

answers from Visalia on

nothing more convenient than playing poker on line. i dont play for money but bragging rights i guess, usually on FB or MySpace. i do play hold'em with family, us too with the $5 buy in.

E.D.

answers from Seattle on

Since gambling is Federally restricted, it really didn't surprise M.. Can't say it's impacted my life one way or another (I've never bet money online - J. isn't appealing).

Have you tried Party Poker? While you can't bet actual money, you can still play live tournaments (Texas Holdem, Omaha, five/seven card stud) with play money. It's not quite the same thing as playing real money, but in my opinion, it's not really poker if you aren't able to see your opponents! Alternatively, you could always set up a once a week/month game for change?

We are sometimes able to go to our friend's Hold 'em game - five dollar buy in, tournament style. It's a lot of fun. We take it much more seriously than our stakes would imply!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.I.

answers from Duluth on

i have a question for you, are you underestimating how much you spend?

you say you love getting up in the morning and playing a game, at 1.00$ a game. you realize there are 365 days in a year, and if ONLY you even play once a week, thats 52 bucks. if your husband plays J. ONCE a week also, thats 104$. if twice a week, thats 156$. im not talking about jane doe down the street, but im talking about you. it seems like you are highly underestimating how much you are spending.
i dont care what the govt does to regulate things and it doesnt matter really. the govt has more control over our daily lives than we know anyway. all of that doesnt really matter. what you should ask yourself is if you are asking this question because you are addicted. or to somehow justify your time and money spent playing this. you know you can play on facebook for free? or other sites? even neopets (kid friendly) you can play a version of poker, for free, as many times as you want. if its the relaxation you want, there are millions of FREE things you can do online. and most computers come with solitaire installed right on the computer. you can buy a poker computer game that you have to install, but still a whole lot more cost effective at 20$ than 156$+ a year.

anyway. good luck with this. theres no shame in having an addiction, we all have something that trips us up. if you are a Christian, an important message i J. heard was that satan doesnt care what you are interested in, as long as its not God. (not Christian? i apologize for any offense). so think about it, cut it out cold turkey, and find somethign else to do with your time. after all, you could play a card game together as a family with your children. there are SO many card games out there. for 5$ you could have thousands of hours of family bonding time. :) :)

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