Online gaming, especially poker, has had a bad rap for the last few years, primarily because of the spamming activities of the few. Unfortunately for many fans, several U.S. states have passed, or are passing, laws banning online gaming. While these bills may span all types of online gambling, the attacks appear to be focused on poker in particular.
What I’m wondering is whether it’s all due to guilt by association. Sports betting is a huge industry ($2-3 Bln/yr?), and rife with corruption, if the movie Two For The Money, with Matthew McConnaughy and Al Pacino, is to be believed. How long did interested parties battle to have sports betting made legal? Regardless, they eventually won, and it’s a huge business that sometimes ruins people’s lives.
So why is addiction to sports betting not as bad as addiction to online poker? Why is it okay that people mortagage their homes to buy Powerball-style lottery tickets in the hopes of landing the big prize, only to end up with just a few thousand dollars?
Just my opinion, but maybe it’s guilt by association. Athletes can do no wrong, not matter what antics they’re up to. Athletes – the males at least – have girls, money, and fast cars. As Paris might say, that’s hot. Poker, though, is associated with criminals and hoodlums.
It doesn’t matter that Cbetcasino Poker is a thinking game that requires years of skill like any game, if you want to be good at it. But it just doesn’t have the flashy, sexy athletes to be poster boys and girls, to raise the profile in a more acceptable light.
So maybe next year, Phil Ivey will pierce his face, get tattoos, and spike and colour his hair in constantly changing electric colors. Or they could just invite The Rod-Man to throw a few temper tantrums when he blows his hand, just because he’s too special to follow the rules. Or maybe he was thinking about how he let Carmen Electra slip through his hands, into the waiting arms of Dave Navarro.
