It took some three years, but the mainstream media finally \”gets it\” … if not in print, than at least online. Check out the Newsweek blog post, \”High Stakes for Online Gamblers\”.
Not only have they finally figured out how to condense everything from the shady passage of the UIGEA to undesirable results of unregulated online poker and payment processor issues to a few sentences followed by some well thought out mainstream-friendly paragrafs, but also, at the end, they give a little hint at what might come next, which could involve Full Tilt fighting the matter in courts:
Even if the UIGEA is enacted, it\’s unlikely online gambling would disappear completely. There are ways for American players to circumvent bank regulations, including setting up a foreign bank account. \”We\’re all holding our breath and hoping the petition will be accepted,\” Lederer says, but that isn\’t the industry\’s only option. Online poker could be legalized through the courts on the argument that the Wire Act doesn\’t apply to poker. The industry is waiting to see what happens Dec. 1 before taking any action, he says. But if they do head to court, Lederer likes the odds.
This is interesting, because time and time again poker has shown it can win in the judicial system, while the game-of-skill argument tends to carry no weight in legislative circles … where it\’s still just gambling, and maybe a matter of personal freedoms at stake.
(I also gotta agree with Lederer … knowing FTP\’s growing familiarity with the American court system, the money they\’ve got to spend on lawyers, and \”our issue\’s\” generally falling on the right side of the law … we all know where we\’re eventually gonna get … it\’s just a matter of how we get there.)