Originally Posted by
eejit101
1 - Stop giving money to the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) who have done basically nothing, aside from make it worse.
2 - Create the worlds largest petition.
3 - Hope Obama gets a 2nd term. Id say you have a better shot with Obama than a replacement.
4 - Have someone in the senate than can actually work out Capitol Gains. Surely they have to realise that taxing online poker far outweights the ethical and gambling issues related to it.
My personal thoughts are this - I live in the UK. We can play poker online, casinos, bingo. The sites are taxed by the government, the players are not. You are not taxed personally on any winnings. I won $65k, i keep $65k, the site pays the tax out of the rate etc. I am also a person. I work to earn my money, I pay tax on what I earn. I then pay tax on what I spend it on. If i choose to gamble with it, I am not harming anyone. I am not commiting a terrorist act. I am not laundering money. The sites have checks in place for this, in an interview with Ladbrokes I had a few years ago, I talked to them about the checks. They are thorough thats for sure. Its near on impossible, and insanely stupid, to launder money like this. Over here, I can go to the casino and play poker, no tax, the casino pays it out of the rake. I can walk into a high street bookmakers and place a bet. On the street which I live on there are 3 such establishments, all fully legitimate, all multi-million pound companies. 2 floated on the stock exchange.
Now for Americans. You guys are the same as us. Our government has a way to let everyone play poker (over 18) if they so choose to. Why cant you? We dont have to pay tax on our winnings as they are winnings, not earned income. If poker was my job, then yes I would look into the legal ramifications. But it isnt. So I wont. why should you? You have been banned by nearly all casinos and poker sites now. Why? Are you not ALLOWED to do what you want with your own money? Fine, if it is detrimental to the world, yes, ban the hell out of it. But you are playing other people, with their own money. Its a game of skill and luck, the percentages are unsure depending on what game you are playing, but it is a game like no other.
And it sucks that we live in a world where a recreation that can be fun, risky, rewarding, exciting, and fruitful, is banned due to public perception, money, tax, and stupidity.