Lately, when I think about the world of poker, I can’t help but look at things in a much darker light than when online poker was legal. It’s almost as though the recent crackdown of US sites has caused the illusion to dissipate, and I am able to see the poker world for what it really is. Sites like FullTilt were opportunistic monsters, and not the vanguard of poker that we all expected it to be. The big online poker players are now all ex-patriots, playing online poker from Canada, Mexico and Europe, leaving the dregs of the US online poker community behind. Live games have been more popular, but that only causes us to face, in person, a reflection of ourselves that can sometimes appear desperate, lonely, broke and sad.
Of course, that’s not all I see. I can still appreciate the game for what it is. To me, poker is the perfect blend of mind game and strategy. Sure, it attracts some dregs, but that is only because it is associated with gambling, which has been widely regarded as a vice. And with those dregs come cheats and scoundrels, but that will happen in any area where things are largely unregulated (I’m looking at you, Wall Street.). The game itself CAN remain pure, but to do so, we require places to play that are safe and regulated. I don’t see online poker returning to the US for another 3 years at least (2015 is my best guess). But in the meanwhile, we can still play in casinos and home games, and at times underground games, when desperate.
I’m not quite there, but I can definitely appreciate those who left the US to go to a foreign country. It’s not just about getting to play poker. It’s about reclaiming our freedom. The end of FT was necessary. It was a company that was increasingly turning into a sham. It didn’t start that way, but it sure as shit ended that way.
On the other hand, a sites like Pokerstars.net actually offered what they advertised, a safe place to play online poker. At least there, you could play solid poker, win some cash, and know that your money actually existed somewhere in the world, ready to be withdrawn when you are ready. At least they were able to stay afloat through their European and worldwide player base. Plus, their continued success is encouraging to the US market. If Italia Poker players can safely play poker on Pokerstars.it, there should, presumably, be an adequate model for the US to take.
In the meanwhile, I will continue to play in the live games with degenerates, gamblers, bums, scam artists, and do-nothings. And I will use those dregs as a reminder that, as amazing as the game is, it is a game, and its up to me to make sure that I’m playing the game and the game isn’t playing me.
Until next time, make mine poker!
November 8th, 2011 - 1:16 pm
Wall Street unregulated? Earth to the esteemed barrister; come in.
The laws have never stopped increasing. The ones that worked were set aside using reasons like more restrictive than foreign competition.
Gambling isn’t exclusive to poker rooms. And laws without enforcement are as bad as no laws.
I know this guy in New York. He frequents illegal poker rooms. He is an officer of the courts. Go figure.
P.S. Great confirmation you live. Thanks for the post.
November 9th, 2011 - 12:39 pm
Ken, admittedly, I am not a stock market or derivative market guru. But what I have learned from various resources is that the way the big Wall Street firms work (and the small ones too, likely) is that they find a loophole, and they exploit it for short term gains at the expense of the common man. You may be correct about the existence of regulation, but the whole Wall Street collapse shows that the regulations were either insufficient or were not enforced. So, yes, you are right. There are regulations governing financial markets. They are merely inadequate in the face of corporations (and individuals within these corporations) who only care about short term gains without regard for how their manipulation of the system will cause a downfall.
November 9th, 2011 - 8:31 pm
Actually Ken is only partially right. The laws and regulations used to exist but they have been eroded over the last 20 to 30 years not to mention that new schemes have been devised that never were regulated, ie, the derivitives that caused the last collapse. Whatever happened to anti usury laws? 30 years ago the interest rates charged by todays credit card companies would have had hem prosecuted for loan sharking. (for those that forget or are too young to remember, they were eased back in the days of heavy inflation when even a mortgage could run 15%. Inflation was tamed but the regs never came back thereby leading to the loose credit card market yet somehow the lenders did get the govt to tighten up bankruptcy laws when their practices had them getting hit by defaults right and left. Same with the banking and financial regs enacted after the collapse of 29 to keep banks from playing around in the investment fields which caused a lot of the problems back then. Glass-Steagall went out the door and in came financial institutions too big to fail. And I would still like to know how hedge fund managers get to pay capital gains tax on their income for running a hedge fund? Sorry Ken, Jordan is right, Wall St is virtually unregulated these days, they ain’t much better that FT.
November 10th, 2011 - 8:28 am
Hey Wolfie, actually you went into detail on what was my point.
You might want to throw in the small government agency that recognized the derivatives problem and where told to shut up by Clinton Treasury. If current regulation were clear and enforced, wouldn’t need piles of stupid, knee-jerk laws. Instead of tweaking they are adding another 400 page bill.
November 27th, 2011 - 10:07 pm
I am a conservative who supported deregulation of the banking industry. Now I think deregulation was a huge mistake and the Glass-Steagall Act should be restored and hedge funds should be more regulated or even banned. Glass-Steagall prevented banks from owning securities firms and expanding to multiple states. While I once thought this law was anti-business and outdated, I now realize regulation is necessary to keep the banking industry safe by keeping banks from growing too big. Glass-Steagall is a proven law that protected the American financial industry well for 70 years and needs to be brought back immediately.
The financial crisis of 2008 and the current economic problems are partly due to the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the failure to regulate hedge funds. I am certain the world economy cannot risk another meltdown now. There is simply not enough money to bail out governments and banks of the world again.
The Dodd-Frank Act was enacted as replacement for Glass-Stegall, but I believe this new law is weak and doesn’t go far enough to prevent banks from owning investment companies, controlling banks from growing too big, and regulating derivatives enough. Bank of America, a bank, now owns Merrill Lynch, a brokerage firm, for example. Merrill Lynch recently moved $75 trillion of derivatives to the FDIC insured Bank of America side. If these derivatives
fail, Bank of America will be affected, and how will the US government bail them out? The
derivatives market is $600 trillion, but the economy of the ENTIRE world is only $74 trillion.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-18/bofa-said-to-split-regulators-over-moving-merrill-derivatives-to-bank-unit.html
http://articles.boston.com/2010-03-12/business/29329389_1_derivatives-gary-gensler-regulator
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/countrytemplate_xx.html
Billionaire Warren Buffet called derivatives “weapons of mass destruction” and Newt Gingrich thinks repealing Glass-Steagall was a big mistake.
http://www.economist.com/node/12274112
http://news.yahoo.com/newts-15-seconds-sun-094500280.html
Normally I am an optimist who doesn’t go around saying the sky is falling like a paranoid Chicken Little, but from my reading from trusted mainstream sources I have become quite worried about the economy. If I understood the risks of derivatives and debt in 2007 and said something, no one would have believed me. Now I hope people will listen when experts say the government needs to better regulate the financial industry.
Businesses and banks may say that regulation slows the economy, but I think that if the Glass-Steagall Act is not restored and hedge funds are not more closely regulated, there will soon be no economy at all. While I realize restoring Glass-Steagall and regulating derivatives is complex and difficult, I believe making a law is easier than repealing one.
I suggest reading “The Big Short” by Michael Lewis for a readable introduction to the financial crisis and why the banking industry needs to be regulated.
Restoring Glass-Steagall and regulating derivatives is a urgent problem and is not a issue that can wait to be fixed. I cannot stress this enough. Write to your elected officials, talk with your friends, and contact the media urging the government to make Glass-Steagall a law again and ask legislators to better regulate hedge funds.
“Too big to fail” is simply too big.