House panel approves Internet gambling ban

[denverbill]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060525/tc_nm/leisure_gambling_congress_dc_3

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.
House Judiciary Committee approved legislation on Thursday aimed at banning Internet gambling, an estimated $12 billion industry.

<snip>
t would also prohibit gambling on an estimated 2,300 Internet gambling sites, many run by offshore companies, and also require banks to block gambling transactions by customers, which the industry has argued would be difficult to identify.
<snip>

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There go those 'free market' 'anti-big government' Republicans, passing more laws to restrict my personal freedom again. I'm sure they are only concerned with my personal well-being though. It has nothing to do with the massive campaign contributions from Indian casinos, Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

[VegasWolf]

1. Okay? How are they going to enforce this? With PayPal and such

there are many ways to get your money in and out of overseas servers.

[izzie]

2. I can not see how they can make it work but

I bet a lot of people will be happy with it.

[denverbill]

5. It will make an awful lot of people extremely angry also.

Both my wife and I enjoy playing poker on the internet. I can sit down, be in a tournament within 2 minutes, play the tournament, and be done with it in an hour, all in the comfort of my own home.

Or, I can drive 1 1/2 hours to a casino, stand in line for 2 hours waiting for a table to open up, play at higher limits than I might prefer, and have no tournaments to play in whatsoever. At home I can choose my limits, choose the game, choose the number of people I want to play against, and be in bed 5 minutes after I'm done playing, instead of driving 1 1/2 back down mountain roads at 2 AM.

[closeupready]

3. what a waste of taxpayer money.

they need to be doing other things. "Stop picking people's pockets, and do something about Iraq!" I want to shout.

[Stand and Fight]

4. I don't even gamble, but this is really pushing it...

What a bunch of nonsense! I believe that adults should be left up to their own designs. If they want to gamble with THEIR money then they should be allowed to do it. I'm willing to bet you that the congress people pushing for this nonsense are in the pockets of the gambling industry...

[ekelly]

6. Exactly what I am thinking......

Can you say: "Brick and mortar casinos are tired of getting their pockets picked by online gambling" ?
(like they don't make enough already)


What a crock!
Adults shoud be allowed to gamble online if they want to.

[denverbill]

7. If brick-and-mortars had any brains, they'd be lobbying for online gaming.

If it was legal,they could set up their own casinos, which in all likelihood, would be much more trusted by people than some unknown outfit in the Bahamas, they would probably generate way more revenue, since folks like me who play a couple times a week would now play there, instead of the once every year or two I might visit a casino, plus, the government could establish some ACTUAL regulation of the gambling sites, which would help protect online players.

After all, why would I play at an unregulated, offshore site, when I can play at a regulated, US based source, where I would have some hopes of reclaiming my money if any shenanigans occurred.

[Ezlivin]

8. The House Judiciary Committee thinks this is the most pressing issue?

Gee, you'd almost think that they were more interested in politics than the law.

[pokercat999]

9. I love poker and am a frequent online player. They

can have my cyber chips when they pry them from my cold dead hand. The only thing better than internet poker is live poker. Unfortunately for me it's 10 hours away by car, and too expensive to fly on a regular basis.

[Hawkeye-X]

10. It'll never fly. I LOVE internet poker..

and I play sometimes.. what we do at home is OUR business, not the government's intrusive nose.