I had a bit of a revelation the other day when reading this article. A couple of choice quotes:

When police found out the issues stemmed from a gambling operation, Alcantara said, they were obliged to look into it, along with state gambling control officials. Seeing adults gambling against a minor was the clincher, he said.

"If the adults are not going to look out for the welfare of this kid, we have to act."

It's unclear from the article who "Alcantara" is, but I assume he is a police officer connected to the case. Here's another:

Cary Weist, president of the local neighborhood association, said the problem has grown over time. "People want to come home and see it as their sanctuary, and all of a sudden there's anywhere from 20 to 40 cars in a one-block area – and they stay till the wee hours of the morning."

Residents have also noticed a jump in burglaries since the games began, Weist added.

I'll relate one more personal anecdote that tied everything together for me. I visited my parents over Thanksgiving, and we had a lovely dinner with my parents and grandparents - sans wine, but that's a different topic. They haven't seen me in a while, so we were discussing what I was up to. Naturally, the topic of this site, my work on it, and poker came up. "But it's gambling," my grandfather said. I defended that we're just tracking what people do legally in their own homes, and that was the end of it.

And now we get to my probably-obvious-to-most-of-you revelation: people over the age of 50 or so have this idea that poker is some kind of sin that will undoubtedly lead you quickly to alcohol, drugs and thievery to pay for your multiplying vices.

These people clearly have not thought about it much and are just acting out of some kind of preconceived notion that they assume we all share. Let's look at that first quote above, particularly the bit about "adults gambling against a minor." Now, how many 13 year old kids do you know who hang out with their mom on a Saturday night?
Most other 13 year olds are experimenting with each other or harassing shopkeepers. Instead, this 13 year old was learning adult interaction in a safe environment with a parent. Throw in a bit of math and some money management, and you've got the makings of a well-adjusted young adult. So, Mr. Alcantara, how was this kid's welfare being jeopardized?

Now take the quote by Weist. What she's saying is that a group of Silicon Valley professionals with full time jobs and discretionary incomes broke in to people's houses in the area before, during, or after their seedy poker games. That undoubtedly included prostitutes. Or something. It's preposterous! Her inborn inhibitions against gambling then spill over to parking near her and having the gall to leave late. "Late", here, is around 11:30, since tournaments were nearly always done by then, and most people left after losing.

It's like everyone who was born a generation or two before mine hears about poker in someone's home and immediately thinks, "Egads! There's a den of iniquity in a suburban neighborhood! We can't have that, send in the police!"

What clearly goes along with believing that poker is a sin is that those who do it are somehow degenerates. The police press release about the raid called them "unwitting participants." Let's ponder that for a moment. Of all the groups to label as unwitting, poker players playing poker should be about dead last on the list - perhaps between nuclear physicists and whoever invented duct tape. Every halfway decent poker player I've ever met is sharp witted, good with mental math, hard to trick, and can can spot a fake most of the time. Above all, they know how money works. If Bert (the group's organizer) were trying to pull a fast one on them, they would have been the first ones to call the cops.

The final piece to the puzzle is the reaction by the police department and the county DA. Much like an angry old man demanding that youngsters at a dance stop having fun, they brought the full force down to bust the place. How easy would it have been, and how much money would it have saved, if the cops had just knocked on the door and told Bert to knock it off or he'd be in real trouble? Hell, why waste their time? Just send a cease and desist letter, then check up a couple of weeks later. There are a few explanations. Here are the first two that come to mind:

1. The sheriff, DA, and a bunch of cops believed that poker is about three inches from drugs, gang bangers, and prostitutes.
2. The sheriff, DA, and a bunch of cops needed some new equipment for their weekly game.

Nearly everyone from my generation and most of those from the one immediately before see poker as a game that normal, law abiding adults should be free to practice in the comfort of their own homes. I wish I knew what the source of all this prejudice was.

I wasn't at the now-infamous busted freeroll tournamnet (thank God), but now I'm really curious: just what is the law on playing home poker games in CA? My current understanding is that it's legal as long as no one is on the take, i.e., all monies payed by players must be available to win back.

But is that really the long and the short of it?

I found a summary of California's gambling laws here, but I have no idea what it all means, so I'm asking the hive mind for some help. Any lawyers out there care to weigh in?

Here's a great article on what the UIGEA will actually (not) accomplish. What's the UIGEA, you ask? It's the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which congress passed last year. If you play any online poker, you already know about it. You also know that you're still playing online poker. Here's a quick excerpt:

What it doesn't do is make it a crime to play poker on the Internet. It doesn't directly restrict players from sending or receiving money. It doesn't spell out what forms of gambling are "unlawful." Specifically, it does not do what the federal Department of Justice ("DOJ") wanted, which was to "clarify" that the Wire Act covers Internet casinos, lotteries and poker.

Go read the whole thing

You've probably already read about (or experienced) it, but the Bay Area just got beat down like Elmer Fudd in a cage match, thanks to a string of storms that isn't done yet. While PG&E deals with several hundred thousand irate customers, online gambling sites are raking it in:

Bella Vegas, an online casino operator that has been offering 100% signup bonuses this week, reported soaring profits thanks to inclement weather conditions throughout the United States this past week.

Doyles Room, an online poker room, advised Gambling911.com that they have witnessed a dramatic increase among various regions in the States for their huge money Internet tournaments.

Honestly, what did people do before the internet?

So check this out. It seems that a company called Lightning Poker is rolling out a completely automated poker table with touch screens and a computer instead of cards, chips, and a dealer. It's even got realistic sound effects for shuffling and moving chips. The attraction for your average card room is that they won't have to pay a dealer.

Somehow, I don't see this getting big. There's a certain mystique in the riffle of cards and the clink of chips that the seasoned player will be loathe to give up. If you want an automated poker game, you can just play online. Perhaps newer players will go for it, but once the novelty wears off, I think people will want actual cards in their hands.

Apparently the US Government can actually enforce regulations. Against polluters? Against warrantless wiretapping? Against corporations who don't pay their taxes? No, you silly fool! Against online gambling:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Yahoo Inc agreed to a settlement worth $31.5 million to resolve accusations that the companies promoted illegal Internet gambling, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.

The companies were accused of receiving money from online gambling businesses to advertise illegal betting from 1997 through 2007.

Thank you, Washington, for going after the real problems in today's society.

Woo! First post!