SHOULD ONLINE POKER BE ILLEGAL?

The Truth About Why The US Government Is Trying to Ban Online Poker...

SHOULD ONLINE POKER BE ILLEGAL?

So why do you think the U.S. Government wants to insist that online poker should be illegal? Moral values? George Bush under pressure from the right wing Christian Coalition? Genuine concern about gambling getting out of hand? Think again! The casinos in Las Vegas make $1,000,000,000 per month! That’s right. One Billion every four weeks. $1,400,000 an hour. That kind of money buys a very powerful “lobby” with the U.S. Government which raises huge federal taxes from the State of Nevada. The Vegas casino owners certainly don’t want the likes of you and me to start enjoying playing poker and roulette online where they can’t make money from it. The American airlines don’t want you to sit at home enjoying yourself and George and the boys need all the cash they can get so they can wage war with anyone they don’t like. If the CIA can figure out a way to blow up computers that are supporting Texas hold’em online you can look forward to a pre-emptive strike on your PC in about ten years time. Meanwhile, enjoy the privilege of not being patted down by an armed and uniformed Mr Doughnuts after you’ve made the fourteen hour flight to the Desert. Nothing wrong with Vegas, but once a year is quite enough to examine what popcorn can do to the human body.

If you want a sure-fire bet when it comes to the US government and gaming legislation: hypocrisy’s the odds on favourite.

TOURNAMENT TIPS
The best tip I’ve heard for tournament play came from Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. He says, “Pump it or dump it!” In simple terms he means either raise of fold pre-flop. If you don’t, you’re telling your opponents you’re weak. Wrong signal in a tournament. If your cards are no good, dump ‘em. If you have a strong pre-flop hand, then raise. If you’re hand isn’t worth a raise, it’s no good for a call either. This kind of behaviour makes it very difficult for the other players to read you. That’s exactly what you want to achieve in a tournament.
The second best tip is to remember tight conservative players hardly ever win tournaments. You have to steal blinds and get aggressive. Tournaments aren’t the same as social poker.

MOTTO TO HAVE IN MIND
You should always be trying to mislead your opponent. You don’t just have to make the right decisions to be a good poker player. You have to assist your opponent to make the wrong ones. That makes you a great poker player. It’s fun too.

All The Aces Daily Poker Column: Saturday 23rd July 2005: SHOULD ONLINE POKER BE ILLEGAL?