The U.S. government cracked down on several large internet poker websites and players. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss the real motive.
handmethekeysyousays...

I have so many issues with this video, I don't think I'll be able to recall all of them to write down. I'll preface all of this by saying that I'm an avid poker player and during my senior year of college ('04-'05) & the year after I graduated, online poker was my sole source of income. I now make trips to AC from NYC when my hectic work/social schedule allows.

1 - You think US casinos didn't want in on online gambling from jump street? Wrong. This is a HUGE industry. Casinos aren't the RIAA; they're willing to adapt to new sources of revenue & have wanted in since online gambling started started gaining traction in the US. I don't know what happened recently with Caesar's, but I assure you that casinos have been lobbying for a long time to get a piece of the action. There have been stories for at least the last 7 years about US casinos wanting to operate online gambling sites.

2 - I'm pretty sure that online gambling is not actually illegal. What's illegal is running an online gambling site. Very important distinction. What's also illegal is US financial institutions transferring money to gambling sites. None of this has any bearing on the players. If you can manage to get money to a site, you haven't broken any laws, the bank or credit card company has. This too is a very important distinction from "online gambling is illegal." Online gambling isn't illegal. Operating an online gambling site in the US is illegal. A bank giving money to an offshore site is illegal (this law was only passed ~4 years ago). But gambling online is not illegal.

3 - Are TYT really arguing that gambling should be legal everywhere and that antigambling legislature is a purely moral issue? This is sort of ridiculous. It's just good sense. I believe poker rooms should be legalized nationwide, but I don't agree that all gambling should be. Providing every member of the population the opportunity to play the slots after a hard day of work is a very, very bad idea. Not because the bible says it's wrong, but just from an economic standpoint. They seem to be arguing that the gov't disallowing online gambling is depriving people of their rights, as if gambling isn't illegal almost everywhere in the US. Very weak & (IMO) misguided argument here.

4 - One thing they're right about, though they didn't get into it at all, is that this is going to be VERY bad for some people. Some folks who make their living doing this will have anywhere from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up on these sites. I guarantee that freezing their accounts has ruined a number of people's lives. I would have liked some more on this topic. (Though I understand I'm probably not in the majority here)

5 - Can you get the fucking aspect ratio right on Cenk's camera? Is it really so hard to center-cut a 16:9 shot? Or is Cenk just trying to make himself look skinny? Speaking of which, why isn't this whole spot 16:9? It's 2011. How long are SD aspect ratios going to be around?

That's all I remember, and I don't want to rewatch this video and get worked up all over again. Bad reporting IMO. I feel like I say that about TYT very often.

Matthusays...

I don't follow the libertarian view that people should be left to their own devices. If they were, you'd see homeless junkies who gambled away their homes in the streets.

I think the easy solution is to tax the gambling industry up the wazoo. Make it profitable, but not billions of dollars profitable. When it's more profitable to open a casino than it is to open a school, you've got a problem.

swedishfriendsays...

>> ^Matthu:

I don't follow the libertarian view that people should be left to their own devices. If they were, you'd see homeless junkies who gambled away their homes in the streets.
I think the easy solution is to tax the gambling industry up the wazoo. Make it profitable, but not billions of dollars profitable. When it's more profitable to open a casino than it is to open a school, you've got a problem.


Laws and the severity of the punishment has been shown to be ineffective in regulating behavior. Cultural norms determine what people feel is OK to do (studies show no correlation between laws and severity of punishment in different countries and the behavior of the citizens of those countries. There is however a strong link between the culture of each country and the behavior of its citizens). Basically laws can remove troublemakers from the general population but laws don't change people's behavior in the first place.

As for gambling and schools, I would not want schools being run for profit.

Ryjkyjsays...

"Then they found ways to trick the banks."

Right, those poor, poor innocent banks getting tricked into making all those online poker transactions.

Truckchasesays...

More big money influencing US Govt actions, just like ATDHE.NET and other "homeland security" shut downs.

We have significant unemployment, vast income gaps and a crumbling infrastructure and our govt is spending time and resources cracking down on lost entertainment revenue. Who's controlling government now?

Duckman33says...

>> ^Matthu:

I don't follow the libertarian view that people should be left to their own devices. If they were, you'd see homeless junkies who gambled away their homes in the streets.


You mean we aren't and haven't been seeing that for years already? Wow where the hell have I been all my life? I could have sworn people have been losing their homes, families, and jobs for years due to gambling addictions...

Basically it's our lives and our money, and we should be able to spend it how we wish. If it puts us in the poor house, on the streets, etc. That's our decision to make. Not yours, not the Goverments, not anyone elses but our own. Period.

Mazexsays...

>> ^Duckman33:

>> ^Matthu:
I don't follow the libertarian view that people should be left to their own devices. If they were, you'd see homeless junkies who gambled away their homes in the streets.

You mean we aren't and haven't been seeing that for years already? Wow where the hell have I been all my life? I could have sworn people have been losing their homes, families, and jobs for years due to gambling addictions...
Basically it's our lives and our money, and we should be able to spend it how we wish. If it puts us in the poor house, on the streets, etc. That's our decision to make. Not yours, not the Goverments, not anyone elses but our own. Period.


Problem is most people are so stupid/misinformed/ignorant that all their supposed decisions are really just guided by large corporations, plus humans are horrible decision makers overall anyway, our brains aren't really structured to make good decisions in modern civilization.

Duckman33says...

>> ^Mazex:

>> ^Duckman33:
>> ^Matthu:
I don't follow the libertarian view that people should be left to their own devices. If they were, you'd see homeless junkies who gambled away their homes in the streets.

You mean we aren't and haven't been seeing that for years already? Wow where the hell have I been all my life? I could have sworn people have been losing their homes, families, and jobs for years due to gambling addictions...
Basically it's our lives and our money, and we should be able to spend it how we wish. If it puts us in the poor house, on the streets, etc. That's our decision to make. Not yours, not the Goverments, not anyone elses but our own. Period.

Problem is most people are so stupid/misinformed/ignorant that all their supposed decisions are really just guided by large corporations, plus humans are horrible decision makers overall anyway, our brains aren't really structured to make good decisions in modern civilization.


So you're telling me that the Government is better suited to make decisions on how to run my life than I am? They are human too, so what makes their decisions better than mine? Sure, we make bad decisions and we pay for them. Sometimes we die because of them. That's called survival of the fittest, or EIA.

Mazexsays...

Of course the government is better suited to make decisions than the average person, that's why they are the government.....(mostly)Educated and experienced in leading people, making decisions and understanding the needs of the country(rich people).

It's not really about who has the better decision, its about who can influence what supposed decisions there are. In reality there aren't really any decisions anyway but yeah..

"Survival of the fittest" So sad/funny when people throw this metaphor around and have no idea of its meaning.

>> ^Duckman33:
>> So you're telling me that the Government is better suited to make decisions on how to run my life than I am? They are human too, so what makes their decisions better than mine? Sure, we make bad decisions and we pay for them. Sometimes we die because of them. That's called survival of the fittest, or EIA.

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