Of course this was engineered by indian & vegas casinos and no, it's not fair - first time that's ever happened in Washington - mark this date, history was just made in any case, the moral case for allowing casinos is weak, online betting non-existent at least casinos DO get people out of the house online betting just turns computers into more of a crack fix, than they already are
This is going to kill the WSOP since most of their qualifiers came from the internet sites. There goes my dream of winning $15mil at the 2007 wsop.
MAIN Reason for all the hubbub... Billions of $$$ flowing around the On-Line wagering, but the Govt. did not get a dime of it as Taxes.. If they can't tax it...They make it illegal.
With all due respect, why should offshore, especially online cos, be obliged to pay tax to the US? That is ridiculous! It seems like US is sending a clear message and has been doing for a long time, if you want to do business with Americans, you have to pay tax to the US. I don't agree with that, but it seems like the only way out for online gaming sector to get back their US participants. Win some, lose some.
Even if they agreed to pay U.S. taxes, the Congress and Prez would have still passed this. It's only partially about taxes. Ever heard of Jack Abramoff?
I knew you heard of Jack Abramoff. On a side note, I'll be interested in what happens from here; i.e. will the offshore betting rigs just give up and pack it in. I believe they would lack "standing" to bring a legal case before U.S. Courts to test the constitutionality of this new law (maybe 'Interstate Commerce' clause?). But I am unsure of this as it seems the U.S. can haul the proprietors before U.S. Courts for criminal prosecution.
It's 'Boiling frog syndrome', and they've just raised the temperature yet again. The gov't need not worry- there will be no riots in streets or masses of cast Libertarian ballots. Yet again, <b>Freedom</b> has been proven to be a good solid short. Keep thinking the two big political parties are your only option, and watch this gluttonous monstrosity of a federal government grow... and grow... AND GROW... until it consumes us all. ~Cass
No argument here...If they want the US players $$ they should pay the US their taxes. Same for the players too. I can say that I have done my share of on-line wagers in the past... convenience is the reason on-line worked. Plus you would get better odds on a game, than at a local casino. The real issue is ...all this legislation is coming out of the US District, in St. Louis. We have our US Attorney (Hannaway) trying to impose her morals and ideas on everyone else. Tell you what....take care of the political bribery, meth, and violent crime issues at home first...