Back in 2004 we ask readers the question, “Should Greg Raymer Be Arrested?” after he won the 2004 WSOP Main Event. Reason being he got into the tournament with a cheap seat he won on an online gambling site, an act that was pseudo criminal. The criticism was quite blunt from the then huge frenzied school of Internet fish wanting their pound of flesh and then some. Most response emails begin with Dear Dumb Ass, You are so stupid…because I even suggested there would ever be a legality problem with Internet poker rooms. Well, that was then and this is now, so we must factor in all of the dark waters that have passed under the Internet poker bridge.
Hard to know where to begin since there has been so much…the arrest of BetOnSports senior executive…arrest of a second Internet CEO that dared come to the USA, passage of the Frisk bill…instant $9 billion loss to Internet gaming companies registered on the London market, pull out of USA market for many poker sites including monster Internet poker room…Party Poker.com…giant Euro bank site Neteller has more than $50 million seized by the Feds and cancels operations in USA…and on and on. Yeah, you can still play on the Internet but the security of your money has really become a very real obstacle with many Internet players losing cash in playing accounts.
So, once again, we ask, “Should Doyle Brunson be Arrested?” Would justice be served by the Feds taking down the Godfather of modern poker? After all, he is connected with an online gaming site, Doyle’s Room, and he personally guarantees the security of your money that’s complete with a reproduction of his signature in current print ads. Wouldn’t this be a final coffin nail in the game’s recent stellar rise to near legitimacy here in the USA?
The legality of Internet poker in the USA hasn’t changed since we asked in 2004 if a WSOP Championship winner be arrested and charged with a crime because of Internet poker connections. It remains more as an act of prohibition than an actual defining law and nothing has changed. The Frist bill only covers money transactions in relation to the Internet gambling is evil and immoral thing. So, should poker’s biggest, most respected Champion, Doyle Brunson, be arrested and hauled away to make society safe?
While you ponder this hypo question, I just heard on CNN that ninety people died today in explosions in Iraq, that’s a nine table poker tournament sized chunk of humanity.