Tropins Blog

Now the UIGEA, and all the laws regulating the poker community is most assuredly old news to the majority of online poker players in America, and so is the recent online scandal by two top poker sites.

But on December 3rd, the evening news giant “60 Minutes,” aired a show detailing the intricacies of the plot that cheated some 20 million away from the pockets of several players on these sites, and several of which were American.

This was the first wave of the wake up call. When we look to the past, and think about other things in the history of the world that people still did, such as alcohol and the problem of bootlegging thereafter, it’s hard not to look at online gambling any differently.

We see what happened when the industry became regulated. It became quite profitable, and people stopped worrying about getting bad whiskey. The same is projected to happen to the poker industry.

Not only would more people have access to the game, but people would be more prone to trust in an industry that’s mandated by law to play by the rules. Then there’s the whole tax revenue that provides extra incentive.

Regardless of what happens, the phenomenon isn’t just going to go away. There are still thousands of players who are playing online even after the UIGEA and all the other preventative measures. So the options quickly become clear. Do you regulate to protect the interest of the people, or do you continue to let it run the way it runs with no system of checks and balances for those who choose to pursue it the way it stands.