Ironies of the WSOP
I have read and digested the article (see below) on the legality of on-line poker by my learned colleague, The Poker Prof. Apparently, the Internet poker rooms are not only illegal but could result in the loss of the money in your bank accounts. For most of us this would be a top-level catastrophe. Does this really happen? Absolutely! One of my lawyer friends acquaintances relates horror stories of unlucky on-line players having bank accounts, credit card accounts and even Paypal accounts frozen by the federal powers that be because the owner did something (often the ‘something’ is not well defined- more like the smoke than the actual fire) as simple as depositing or receiving money from an on-line casino account. Even though the seized accounts are usually reclaimed; you may rest assured that many weeks or months will have passed. Your money is unavailable to you during this period. Additionally, you are racking up some hefty legal expenses. Try to imagine how your life would be impacted if you were suddenly cut-off from your money, credit cards and bank accounts.
The question now becomes, Should 2004 WSOP Champion Greg Raymer be arrested, punished and subsequently disbarred for having knowingly broken the law by playing in on-line casinos? Should the $5 million first place money be seized and placed into some general public fund to assist enforcement authorities in their quest to protect us from ourselves? That WSOP platinum champion’s bracelet could be a great center piece in the DOJ’s trophy room. How about all the other players that won on-line tournaments and seats into the WSOP? The FBI can easily check the WSOP rosters to identify and nab this horrid group of evil-doers. It appears The Poker Prof has done his homework and outlined all the steps required to arrest and bring to justice all of these law breakers. Think about how much better you will sleep knowing that this blight to mankind has been eradicated. I only say this for the greater good of the whole.