US Poker Players Express Support for Washington Online Poker Legalization
The Wall Street Journal organized an online poll to find out if online gambling legalization has enough public support in Washington. An overwhelming majority said that they are in favor of online gambling legalization.
Wall Street Journal conducted its online poll the day on which the first licensed and regulated online poker room was launched in Nevada. The poll was popularized through the Two Plus Two Forum and immediately attracted the attention of several US online poker players.
The poll, which was online for 24 hours, indicated that 98% of the poker players who took it supported online poker legalization in Washington. While 1,688 players voted in favor of it, 35 people voted against it. Several supporters also made a supportive post besides casting their vote.
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has also expressed its support to Washington online poker legalization. Rich Muny, vice president of the PPA, said: “The biggest tax hit on me — a 100% tax! — was delivered by Congressmen who wished to use big government to stop me from playing poker in my own home with my own money. Rather than wasting tax dollars on enforcement efforts designed to control what people do in their own homes, let’s instead license online poker.”
Expressing his opinions on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006, he said that it is ambiguous and unclear, forcing banks to act as online policemen to stop “unlawful Internet gambling,” something that the UIGEA fails to define. Various financial institutions such as the Chamber of Commerce, banks, Americans for Tax Reform, and others have also protested against it.
Speaking about how online gambling is largely undefined in the US, he pointed out that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) had in 2011 announced that the Wire Act of 1961 no longer applies to online poker. Besides, a New York federal district court had ruled that “poker is not gambling” according to the Illegal Gambling Businesses Act.
Stating that poker players in America consider poker to be “an honorable game,” he said that players are proud to play poker, owing to which they have decided to oppose “government action” against the liberty of the people. He concluded by saying, “I know I don’t need big government nanny-staters to use force of government to compel me to behave in a manner they believe is best for me. As Rep. Barton (R-TX), sponsor of last year’s HR 2366, the Online Poker Act, says, if you don’t want to play poker online for money, you don’t have to!”
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