Though it’s not as calamitous as the War on Drugs, Washington’s War on Poker* is even dumber than that long-running fiasco. What they have in common, of course, is the criminalisation of consensual behaviour. As of today it seems that if you try and play poker online at Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker or Absolute Poker you’ll be greeted by this charming message:
The founders of these sites and a number of their colleagues have been indicted on charges of bank fraud, money-laundering and offenses against the (ridiculous) 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. That bill made it an offence for American banks to process payments to poker sites no matter where the poker companies may be based. Conveniently it did not place similar restrictions on online gambling on US horseracing, casinos on Indian reservations or state lotteries. Even Congress, stuffed with fools though it is, can’t claim there’s any great principle at stake here other than vindictiveness.
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