The Government Flu
Friday night Congress approved an Internet Gaming Ban. It was piggy backed at the 11th hour on a Port Secrity Bill, one that was formed unilaterally and bipartisan, so it stood almost no chance of being denied. Essentially, to vote against this bill would be a vote against anti-terrorist legislation. We were doomed from the moment it was suggested.
The silver lining is that only the larger gaming sites will be affected. Only sites with American ties can be forced to stop, such as Full Tilt, Pokerstars, and Party Poker, which are all publicly traded on Wall Street. They will likely continue to do so, but will only allow users outside the US (mainly Europe and Japan) to deposit real money into their account. All other sites will conitue to do business as usual per international internet laws. The only restriction now is that no US banks can transfer money into a poker account, which hasn't been an issue in years due to sites like Netellar and Paypal.
There will definitely be a slowing down of the popularity poker has seen in recent years, which sucks for people like me, who play daily and depend on the fresh fish to lose their money to me. The average recreational poker player won't play online if there's talk in the media of illegalities. That leaves only two personality types as regulars of the game; those who love to play, and are generally decent players, and degenerate gambling addicts. Knowing that the addicts are a minorty, if not rare, I'm bracing for online poker to tighten up and get a lot harder over the next few years. I better play as much as possible in the near future, if only to absorb all I can before it turns into one giant stalemate.