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Online Gambling Bill Passed in House

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the place-your-bets dept.

rkcallaghan writes "The Washington Post is reporting that the House passed a measure that makes it illegal for banks in the US to handle online gambling transactions." There's still no such move in the Senate, but it's a step towards banning online gambling nonetheless. Since this bill isn't expected to affect the usual, legal ways of gambling domestically, one wonders if such legislation would be sought after, were online gambling to be headquartered here in the states, rather than overseas.

3 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Legitimate Business? by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The new gambling provision is not expected to affect gambling at tracks or casinos.
    That's right, gambling at tracks and casinos will be restricted to our nation's poorest areas, with the exception of Nevada. Indeed, something is rotten in the states of Louisiana, South Dakota, Mississippi, New Jersey ... all states with gambling in poor areas. It simply baffles me because if this was a legitimate business, the sensible person would allow it to thrive in a large city or everywhere. So, by these restrictions and odd placements, it's quite obvious that everyone knows gambling is detrimental to the populace and only promotes Pareto Law.

    Does anyone else question why gambling can only happen out in the middle of nowhere or in places where the a lot of the populace lives below the poverty line? Is there a correlation between these or is it causation?

    I'm from the mid-west and if you drive out to South Dakota, there'll be multi-million dollar casinos out in the middle of nowhere. Why aren't they in DC or New York City? It just doesn't make sense to me.


    I just don't understand things like slots where they show you the payouts right in front of you and they're not in your favor. Maybe I'm just more statistical than other people but I've only been gambling once like that. Poker, on the other hand, can be fun and social. It also has a clear cut 0 sum (aside from the rake) outcome for the players -- which is nice.

    And I don't want to hear any of this Native American loophole crap because there's an act for that enacted by our Federal Government. They control it in the end -- I don't buy it that it's affirmative action for the Native peoples. None of this "The Indians stole my money BS" because the government controls where it happens and takes their own cut through taxes.

    I don't think gambling needs to be abolished because it is, in fact, fun for people. In moderation, it probably makes you feel good -- just like drinking or tobacco. But when you sit down and do the math, people are raking in cash. Why doesn't the government enforce something like a maximum 5% take by the house? What I mean is that I'm sure the house is making on average something like 10-15% so why doesn't the government tax them back to 5% or allow the casino to give back to the local community through donations of this excess or building of community buildings? This isn't going to solve the social problems but I've heard that the tribe running Mystic Lake in Minnesota rakes in millions per member quarterly. I know a lot of them hand it out to members of their tribe but I don't know if that money is spent on things that necessarily benefit the community.

    I am truly baffled when it comes to the history of gambling.
    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Legitimate Business? by truthsearch · · Score: 4, Informative

      Are you serious? Every casino I've ever been in posts the odds at every game except poker (which would be impossible anyway). It's quite clear that your chances of winning are small and they're stated quite specifically. Slots are among the most popular "games" at casinos and the odds for every combination are laid right out there for you. I've never met a single person who thought they had a good statistical chance of winning at a casino. The rush people get is from winning when they know the odds of it happening are so slim!

      And what makes you consider gambling at a casino a con? All of the rules of every game are quite clear. You can read books about them. The casino tells you exactly how much they get to keep at each game.

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  2. Violation of personal liberty by Toby+The+Economist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is a violation of personal liberty for the State to forceably intervene in citizen's lives in this way.

    Gambling is a personal activity which, when not abused, harms no one else.

    You do not outlaw an entire activity from ALL people because it can be abused; you simply take steps to deal with the problem of abusive.

    The only justification for *forceable* intervention in another individual's life is *self-defence*.

    This principle is the very antithisis of Big Government.

    We pay tax through our noses for other people to progressively control our lives.