Around the United States thousands of people gamble online. This new rage blew up big and fast. Within a few years of the World Series of Poker being televised, the recognition of poker and other forms of gambling grew rapidly. This is evident as many more people began participating in the World Series of poker and online. Over the past couple years I have watched new poker websites sprout up all over the internet. It seems like every week I have another friend putting their money into a new sight.
Now Congress is trying to make it illegal. Not just place restrictions on internet gambling, but make the practice entirely illegal. Should they have the right to do this?
Many people believe that gamblers know what they are doing and spend their own money so they should be allowed to gamble. But do they really know what they are doing? Many gambling sites, while still random in distributing the cards, make there be bigger hands. It is much more common in online poker to get straights or full houses or four of a kinds. Why do these sights do this? Because many of them take a small portion of each pot, so bigger pots result in more money for them. These websites also make it so players hit streaks and win hands they shouldn’t win. When a player hits a streak many of them keep betting even when it is over, because they think they can win with bad hands. And once they go cold, other players start beating them when they have worse hands. Then once a player loses their money they turn around and buy back in, because they remember the hands they won and think they can do it again. While they also remember the bad beats hey justify them in their minds and think that it won’t happen to them again.
It’s a vicious cycle that engulfs many of Americans. But one could still make the argument that the government still shouldn’t ban internet poker, because it is those people’s fault for being ignorant. This is true, however, I don’t believe the government wants people not to gamble so they save their money. The government would prefer that these people invest their money in the economy, especially in times like these. I agree with this as I feel that the people who are willing to gamble their money could do it in ways that would be much more beneficial to the economy.
3 comments:
So basically you are saying that you think the government should make Internet gambling illegal so that people don't gamble so much and instead spend their money in ways that stimulate the economy? But I think a lot of poor people gamble in order to get money to spend. They don't have much in the first place, so they put down what they do have in order to get enough to buy their dreams. And then the winners do usually blow it all in about a year and end up poor, but doesn't that stimulate the economy? This is a good topic. What do others think?
I think that this blog is very interesting. My friend back at home had an other sibling that did internet poker, he won a lot of money. I don't think that there is anything wrong with internet poker. It is just a different way of entertainment, but it is also very addicting so people should know when to stop. I do not agree with the government trying to make it illegal. It is not the governments job to tell people where they should spend their money or not. The government is here to protect this country, not tell people how to live their life. I wouldn't understand why they would try to make internet poker illegal but regular poker not?
I agree that generally people should be allowed to spend their money how they choose. However, poker on gambling sites isn't real poker. Sure the same hands beat each other, but the odds are messed up. Nowhere on the sites are players warned that the odds involved with real poker are taken out.
I had a friend that bought in with $50 and after a couple months he turned it into over $9,000. He didn't do this by playing poker, because he didn't play his hands. He relied purely on whether he was hot or cold. During a hot streak you win with almost every hand your dealt. I watched him call a $160 bet, pre flop, with a 3,2 unsuited. That's a pretty bad hand, but he ended up winning.
I just don't understand how it can be called poker.
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