Online poker players and affiliates were given a fresh boost of support this week when Bloomberg.com published an editorial titled, “Online Poker Should Be Dealt a Fresh Hand: Regulation.”
The editorial centered its arguments on points that are very familiar to the affiliate world— that poker is a game of skill that should be offered by a well regulated, legal gaming industry.
Business Actually Asking for Regulation
Bloomberg’s take is particularly interesting given the fact that most of the business world is clamoring to work in a less regulated environment.
Not surprisingly, the scandal surrounding Full Tilt Poker’s fall was cited as an example of what would not happen if online pokers sites operated in a regulated environment.
The author also pointed out that most states are already heavily invested in legalized by way of lotteries. The Bloomberg editorial board pointed out that state supported lotteries are not only monopolistic, they offer significantly worse odds than online poker.
Pro-gaming comments from West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, who has advocated domestic online gaming, were also cited in the piece. Senator Rockefeller believes that gaming could add as much as $70 billion to Federal and State coffers over the course of ten years.
Support from the Mainstream Media
The editorial is particularly noteworthy given the site’s large audience which includes plenty of Wall Street and Washington heavy hitters.
This isn’t a well reasoned argument from a blogger with a small audience of industry insiders. Bloomberg is a very large, respected and mainstream news organization.
While Bloomberg.com was established, and is still owned, by current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he is not involved in daily operations at the news service or web site.
Bloomberg himself has offered differing opinions on legalized gambling. He’s on record saying that there’s no point in sending gaming businesses offshore when they could be based in the U.S. That said, last year, the Bloomberg administration shut down New York’s OTB Parlors due to budgetary constraints.
Want to learn more about the legalization of online poker? Check out all the news you need in our brand new Legal Updates section.