Legalized Online Gambling Opions Please

[wal66]

I posted this earlier on another site but want more opinions so I will ask at all my forums. Don't go getting all hissy, it doesn't mean you aren't special (in some cases even SPEEEEEEEECIAL) it just means I want a wide veriety of opinions.

I have asked this as a question and said it as a statement but I just don't understand WHY the U.S. government can't recognize the potential windfall from legalizing and taxing online gambling in all forms.
Just imagine for a moment. Brick and mortar establishments in Vegas could open their own sites and be endorsed, as well as promoted by a lessor tax rate for those using them. sportsbooks outside the U.S. border would be legal to U.S. citizens as well but at a higher taxaton rate.

I realize MANY are not in favor of taxation but think about the benefits for a second.

(1) It would be make tranactions easier to and from.
(2) Potentially it would develope a REAL and trusted watchdog with legal authority to intervene when anything fishy developes.
(3) As already stated it would be a windfall of revenue for tax based revenues.

I guess I am naive but I simply can not wrap my head around the continued Moral delima preventing this from becoming a reality.

I would love to hear from someone with experience, knowledge or even an opinion on this.

[Fishhead]

It is 100% legal now, why do we keep hashing this over and over like it is not???????

[pokernut9999]

Offshore books do not want it legalized by the US government.

[Brock Landers]

Republicans are faggots...pretty simple.

[wal66]

Offshore books do not want it legalized by the US government.

I don't think I am smarter than I am so I will only GUESS that would be true solely because if it were legal they would be held accountable.

To that I would ask this, would they not have many thousands, 10's of thousands even of new customers if it were legalized?

[Fishhead]

Is the oil spill hitting Costa Rica?

[wal66]

Fish, I admit I have disrupted a few of your threads when you are being a dumbass or trying to be funny but I have never dumped on one of your threads if you were asking or commenting on something serious.

I would appreciate the same consideration.

[Fishhead]

Check out the TWOPLUSTWO forums for insight and responses that are noteworthy on this subject.............good day.

[mrmarket]

You can rattle off lists of potential benefits from legalization of gambling/drugs but they will never be accepted by johnny bible thumper and his paid lobbyists. Politicians don't give a shit about anyone but themselves as long as they get reelected.Reelection means power and power brings in the money. If they have a voting base that consists of "family value" (whatever that means) they will play to their base. The same goes with whoever is elected president as he needs these people as well.

Logic is a foreign concept in the political process. Money and power are the real drivers. The system is easily rigged because people on average are pretty stupid and get controlled by religious demagogues,shysters,smarter people quite easily. They supply easy answers to complicated problems and the public like the simplified world. Politicos recognize this and take advantage. Thus is life.

[wal66]

You can rattle off lists of potential benefits from legalization of gambling/drugs but they will never be accepted by johnny bible thumper and his paid lobbyists. Politicians don't give a shit about anyone but themselves as long as they get reelected.Reelection means power and power brings in the money. If they have a voting base that consists of "family value" (whatever that means) they will play to their base. The same goes with whoever is elected president as he needs these people as well.

Logic is a foreign concept in the political process. Money and power are the real drivers. The system is easily rigged because people on average are pretty stupid and get controlled by religious demagogues,shysters,smarter people quite easily. They supply easy answers to complicated problems and the public like the simplified world. Politicos recognize this and take advantage. Thus is life.

This is sad but so very well said and obviously true.

[JohnGalt2341]

Absolutely wal66. This is why EVERYONE that truly believes in Freedom should vote Libertarian.

[Fishhead]

Absolutely wal66. This is why EVERYONE that truly believes in Freedom should vote Libertarian.

[wtf]

wal you seem like a fairly smart dude, move

america is not so great, eventhough the press keeps telling you it is

it wont be legalized in our lifetimes, maybe next generation

[Fishhead]

wal you seem like a fairly smart dude, move

america is not so great, eventhough the press keeps telling you it is

it wont be legalized in our lifetimes, maybe next generation

[wal66]

wtf, I have considered moving once I retire but the problem is America is the only fat friendly country out there. Well Japan maybe but I look absolutely horendous in a thing and my knees are bad so Sumo wrestler isn't an option.

[Swinging Johnson]

The legalization of online gambling is coming to the United States just as sure as prohibition was ending in 1933. The very reason it remains illegal in the US is because traditionally the vast majority of Americans do not gamble on sports with any frequency and therefore it has not been a subject that merited much attention (I know everyone here thinks everyone out there gambles every day on sports but the fact is we are a significant minority) until the advent of online poker and the mainstream popularity. Now people are becoming more aware and most Americans never gave online gambling a thought until they became curious and were told it was illegal. That then begged the next question...why?

Well, that is indeed a good question. What's the answer? The fact is it is predicated solely around a puritanical perspective that is as archaic as bootlegged moonshine and zoot suits. Now one could at least respect the government's position if it held the moral highground and consistently forbade all forms of gambling. However, the hypocrisy and absurdity is evident in state lotteries, scratch tickets, horse racing (where the government takes a percentage of the handle), keno, daily numbers and of course the casinos cropping up throughout the country where the revenue is shared by the individual states. Therefore, it is safe to say the government cannot hang it's hat on principle. Yet, the sportsbooks, online casinos and online poker rooms remain verboten because there has never been any political collateral to be gained by taking a pro-gambling stance. It would be ludicrous to pander to a small voting block comprised of avid gamblers, bookmakers and perhaps some adventureous businessmen. There was simply no reason for a politician to even glance in this direction. If anything it would, at best eleicit an arched eyebrow from their constituency and at worst rankle the right wing conservatives. So, the laws stood and nobody much cared...until online poker became mainstream and Arnie in accounting and Harry the plumber got curious and decided to spend a few hours and a few bucks in an online poker room to see what it was all about. And you know what? They liked it! They're not going to stop going to junior's little league games or their daughter's recitals but it's not a bad way to spend some down time every now and again. But now they're finding out it's illegal and poker sites cannot even accept their **** cards anymore (even the platinum ones!). This is why online gambling will eventually become legal because the people are aware, they want a choice and the politicians are now realizing there is political capital to be had in the form of taxes! A perfect storm of more Americans becoming aware and politicians believing they invented the wheel by forecasting billions as a result of legalizing it and taxing it.

Once the first domino falls and poker becomes legal, then the major casino companies will enter the fray and bang the gong for online casinos. Yes, the big boys in Vegas were initially against it but when they understood this thing called the internet was here to stay they decided they better join'em because they sure as hell won't beat'em. Can you imagine Caesar's Palace or Wynn or Trump salivating at this? No bricks or mortar, no employees to speak of, no comps, no staff, no property taxes, electrical bills, etc....And the best part is they have instant credibility. People already know their name, they have brand identity and they sure do know how to promote. As for the offshore sportsbooks did someone say they don't want it legalized? Nothing could be further from the truth. They will pay taxes and they will pay them with a smile on their collective faces. No worrying about getting arrested at the airports when they step on US soil, banking problems disappear, money transfers are perfectly legal and banks are glad to have their business. Best of all they too can promote. Finally, the US will see jobs created by these companies who want to work in their own country and not offshore. Many won't because of the cheaper labor but there will be some and that means jobs.

The only obstacle is the far right pontificating about the evils of gambling and the bible belters feigning outrage and at this point, most of it is feigned as all but the most devout Christian politicians grasp that state sponsored gambling is already here and we need more money in the coffers. Ironically, I am a moderate Republican but I could not disagree more vehemently with my party on this issue. It is disingenuous to make a moral argument against it and it is arrogant to ignore it.

I am fukkin exhausted.

[wal66]

Swinger, if this thread does nothing else it has gotten an honest and serious opinion/reply from you.

[Swinging Johnson]

Swinger, if this thread does nothing else it has gotten an honest and serious opinion/reply from you.

Wal, it's certainly an honest opinion but I also humbly believe it to be the right one. I just hope someone besides you, reads it!

[wal66]

Swinger, sadly most of your fans are closet Johnson'ers. They read just don't acknowledge they read.

[Swinging Johnson]

Swinger, sadly most of your fans are closet Johnson'ers. They read just don't acknowledge they read.

Dear God boy....I never thought of that. I know there is no shortage of people who openly voice their contempt for me as they view me as an obnoxious tout but have never thought that some of those same people may actually...like me? They Like me? They really, really like me! (obvious reference to Sally Field's Oscar speech). I dunno Wal, sometimes I feel like a beef distributor selling to vegetarians. Quality meat maybe but to the wrong audience.

[wal66]

Consider yourself their "Guilty Plaesure" Swinger.

[Swinging Johnson]

Consider yourself their "Guilty Plaesure" Swinger.

Oh Wal, only if I can consider you, mine. Come here often? What's your sign? Your place or mine? No seriously though, you are one of my must reads as I've told you that before. You have an uncommon honesty when you write. I have never met you nor have I spoken with you yet i would swear you are what you appear to be. That's very rare. And as for my previous comment. I must qualify my statement by saying that I have a far different rapport with most posters here than I do at the other forums. I don't have the same kind of baggage because I have never promoted myself here. But I do believe guys like us live outside the mainstream on SBR because our interests transcend gambling. That's not to say that SBR is all gambling all the time as these threads will attest. That's just one thing that makes SBR unique is the variety of characters. But I feel you and I as well as a few others are a bit more chatty when we do post.