China to Online Gamblers: We\’re coming to get you!

I\’m kinda glad I didn\’t respond to that spammish email trying to sell me pokerati.cn … the Commie reds are about to embark on a six-month, eight-agency crackdown on online gambling. Chinese officials did not respond to inquiries on whether or not running the campaign between now and August had anything to do with timing of the World Series of Poker.

Not sure how deep any in our industry have dug into the possibilities in China yet, but hey, that \”Bodies\” exhibit could probably use some new prisoners to pose playing poker.

More on the China crackdown, where you may notice vague similarities to what\’s gone down in the US of A:

Online gambling \”has caused large cash outflows from the country and seriously disturbed social and economic order,\” said a statement posted on the public security ministry\’s Web site Monday.

The campaign aims to \”bust a number of syndicates from home and abroad that collude to organise gambling activities on the Internet and severely punish the illegal rings,\” it said.

Authorities will also clamp down on underground banks and third party payment platforms that provide cash transfer services for gambling sites, as well as Internet operators that provide Web access services, it said.

\”(We) will clean up gambling information and Web sites across the board,\” the statement said.