The Republicans have done it! They have successfully destroyed the online gambling industry by surrepticiously sneaking in anti-gambling legislation into the Safe Port Act, and the industry has now buckled under the financial constraints placed on it! Banks and other financial institutions have been proud to do their part in enforcing this act, and are more than happy to employ extra employees to maintain their vigilence over the industry! Player numbers are drying up in rapid fashion at the major sites, and the World Series of Poker is in danger of having less than 1000 participants like in 2003!
Wait a second.. this isn't true, is it?
There is one thing that the Republicans forgot when they tried to enact this bill. They forgot that the online gambling industry throws off billions of dollars in profits every year, and the people who run this industry are MUCH SMARTER than your average politician, especially your average Republican. The industry has already found workarounds to their funding problems, as evidenced in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article. The solution? E-Wallet companies based outside of US jurisdiction, and most importantly, e-wallet companies that use denominations other than US Dollars. This means that no transactions ever go through a US bank, thus making the anti-gambling bill largely impotent.
Numbers at the major poker rooms seem to be increasing, rather than decreasing. Recently, Poker Stars had a major Sunday tournament, in which almost 11,000 players took part! The prize pool was well over 2 million dollars. Full Tilt continues to ratchet up their advertising, and their player base continues to swell.
Not only that, but the major poker rooms are in fact running World Series of Poker sattelites, and Harrah's announced earlier this week that they are expecting 10,000 players in this year's event! So much for the doom and gloom predictions of just a couple of thousand players in the Big Event.
Not only that, but the chairman of the financial services committee in the US and the chairman of the judiciary committee are planning on introducting legislation that would repeal the ban on online gaming. Not exactly low level scrubs. And rumor has it that the two founders of Neteller are going to be let off and charges are not going to be pressed.
Don't go away! The online gaming industry is not dead yet, and in fact, might be ready for its second leg higher.
Filed Under: Miscellaneous Poker Articles
