[ritehook]

Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, this is not of great importance, and even for many posters here, on this very specialized site, strictly of secondary (or worse) importance.

But for some, it is paramount. Their "pursuit of happiness" as guaranteed in the Constitution depends of being able to bet on sports, preferably online, and into a more secure and stable environment than books located in Wild West type banana republics. (Excuse my frankness, residents or patriots of the Caribbean nations that host bookie joints.)

Clearly, Pres Obama will not be as militantly opposed to sports betting as would a Pres McCain. Mainly because his core support does not rest among Bible Belt fundamentalist Christians, who wish to impose thier morality on the rest of us.

I think there would be a 50-50 chance that an Obama administration would OK sports betting - in a very limited manner at first, but widening it later, as the taxing of such funds proves a neat windfall.

Maybe not in the first term, but in the second. Or even the first, if the endless quest for tax monies to support the many diverse interest groups in our faltering republic continue to squawk like hungry birds, for more and more pieces of flesh, to be washed down with the blood of taxpayers.

Obama will not end this rampant and mindless American imperialism (guess how many countries there are that currently host, or suffer, US bases or military personnel?)

Not unless he wants to become "another JFK," in more ways than one.

Mickey Mouse could win this election by a write-in landslide, and the Military/Industrial Complex with their army of lobbyists will continue to rule.

And it wil take huge infusions of tax dollars to keep it all afloat, until the final sad denouement sometime a bit later this century.

Sports betting and online casinos are a logical source for funds. "Painless taxes" is how it may be billed, as no one really gives a sh1t about insane gamblers.

There may be a lot of camouflage bull about "raising funds to help addicted gamblers" or "closing an overseas loophole that allows terrorists to mask their money transfers in gambling funds." Bull like that.

The bottom line will be to get avaricious bureaucratic hands on all that lovely money.

What about the protests from the NBA and NFL? (I suspect that, at first, college sports will still be excluded from the equation.)

It will be pointed up by secret admin spokesmen that the NFL plays in countires (England, Mexico) where betting on the games is legal. And that a casino owner has an interest in an NBA team. And none of this ever troubled these sports corporations.

Negociations will be undertaken with NBA, NFL, MLB etc to insure that they get their cut of the fat betting pie. (Of course, a small portion of the funds will hypocritally go to run commerucials telling fukked up bettors to get thee to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, but that's just typical American Puritanism speaking, out of both sides of its mouth, as usual).

Personally, I think if Obama is elected to a second term we will have some form of sports betting lagalized in the USA.

Imperialist entities simply need huge quantities of capital to just stay even. And sports bet funds are right now mainly untaxed. And unregulated.

Mo' money, please. The plaintive cry of deathbed political entities. Just ask Rome (ca 100 AD) and the Soviet Union (ca 1985 AD). And many other examples from that bizarre movie called World History.

Play ball! And get your bets down, gentlemen!

[THEGREAT30]

Its important to me and there are politicians out there fighting for it and against it. As for will it happen on his clock, I dont know where to start on answering that.

[Willie Bee]

I just wish we could get the right palms in DC greased with the right amount of cash to get them to open things up for the US market. If nothing else, it just boggles my little mind that they can't see the infusion of cash it would mean for them to line their pockets as well as the pockets of their buddies.

[ritehook]

I kind of wonder, when that day arrives, will a site like SBR still be sustainable?

I mean, the rationale and purpose of this site is to rate the offshore books in the Wild Caribbean West, and to mediate disputes.

And to provide bettors with a forum to vent over the actions of this or that Wild West book.

Is SBR really needed to tells us if the Hilton or Caesar's will pay off on a bet, or if they will steal our funds?

Wouldn't you just go to your state's Fraud Bureau to file a complaint? Or some other govt agency?

[Panic]

Poker will have a good chance. Sports, I dont think so.

[ritehook]

Poker will have a good chance. Sports, I dont think so.

Sure, I'd say poker first.

Then, online casinos. Because both b&m poker joints and casinos already exist in some states, whether it be via Indian casinos or the legal poker places in states like Calfornia.

But, once these inroads have been made, the dam breached, so to speak, the logical bar against sports betting will drop. Esp if proponents can point out that (1) is has not particularly corrupted the games in countries that have it, and (2) the sports leagues can be sure of getting their "fair share" of the betting pie.

[donjuan]

Poker has a much better chance than sports, for a multitude of reasons including the fact that Obama is a poker player. That said, of course it's more likely to happen under an Obama administration.

[betbetter]

" The USA national debt has achieved the number, which cannot fit the renowned debt clock located in the center of New York. The device now is unable to display all the digits of the US national debt, Itar-Tass reports. When the amount of the deferral debt overcame the level of ten trillion dollars, the National Debt Clock near Times Square switched to figure 1 again and began to count the debt from the very start. "

At it's height the online industry was estimated at 12 billion.

Not enough there for the idiots in D.C. to swipe and then actually do something with the rest. Too much of a political hot-potatoe for them to care.

The zealots cared because it gave them something to actually do, other than abortion. And they knew they could win the gambling angle.

Unregulated and under the radar is our best hope. We won't bug you, don't bug us Obama et al.

[daggerkobe]

I don't see UIGEA being overturned any time soon, even under Obama.

Sports betting must be on the bottom of his to-do list. But I am confident that if the Republicons try to sneak another anti-gambling bill through, he would veto it unlike Bush & McCoot.

If Kerry or Gore had been president, there would be no UIGEA..... and we'd still have Pinnacle and Net-teller. I know the $5 betting neocons couldn't care less but they mattered to people making a good living doing this.

[betbetter]

I don't think if Dozer had been President he could've vetoed that bill. That port security bill would not have been sent back. By any politician because of a gambling tack-on. Was'nt a mistake it was attached to that one.

[Boner_18]

I don't think if Dozer had been President he could've vetoed that bill. That port security bill would not have been sent back. By any politician because of a gambling tack-on. Was'nt a mistake it was attached to that one.

Yeah that thing was rammed through and no pres. would have picked up the pen to line out an anti gambling provision. The real perpetrator is the congressman who added offshore gambling as his slice of pork... I'm not sure who it was but for some reason I think I remember it being someone from NM...

[bigboydan]

Poker will have a good chance. Sports, I dont think so.

I doubt anything will change in the state of offshore no matter who wins sir. If anything Vegas casinos would end up controlling the online poker monopoly.

[ritehook]

A senator (now retired) from Tennessee jammed the UIGEA, as a rider on the Port Security bill. I forgot his name, he was also a doctor. (NO, NOT RON PAUL!!)

bigbetter may of course be right. unregulated but undisturbed. I think the 12 bil could be a lot more. Esp if it attains of level of social acceptance as being legitimate enought to be decriminalized in the US

[durito]

Bill Frist