Tweet
My friend, Brock Bourne, who finshed 74th in the main event in last year's World Series of Poker, wrote the below article which covers some valid points about the actions of the Department of Justice in shutting down online poker rooms.
The recent events of Black Friday (April 15, 2011) has had a tremendous impact on the lives of many Americans. It has always been my belief that our government cared about it's citizens. After watching the Black Friday fiasco unfold, I now realize how wrong that statement is.
Here are the Top 10 ways DOJ has hurt our economy.
1. Tax Revenue - instead of picking up literally BILLIONS of dollars in annual tax revenues, our government has chosen to try to punish American's for playing a game of poker.
2. Media Companies - ESPN & NBC (the 2 largest poker program providers) have lost, by my approximation, approximately $250,000,000 in annual advertising revenues. This has obviously cost many of their employees their jobs. No ad revenue, no programs. Gone are Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker and many others. No longer will we be able to watch many of the tournaments that were covered on television. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
3. Casino Employees - with the downturn in entrants for this years World Series of Poker main event, there won't be a need for nearly as many poker dealers, floor people, coctail servers and on and on. These people are now out of work. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
4. Professional Poker Players - now that American's are locked out from playing online poker, many people who have chosen poker as a profession are scrambling to find either a job (which as we all know is kinda tough now) or move away from the USA just to follow their dream. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
5. Writers/Bloggers - many people make a decent living writing about poker on blogs and web sites. They earn money from advertising dollars generated by the traffic they provide. A quick check on flippa.com and others show that you can purchase poker related web sites for pennies on the dollar. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
6. Casino Companies - as crazy as this may sound, companies like MGM, Caesar's Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands and others benefited from their relationship with online poker rooms who sent many people to their land based tournaments via online satellites they ran. With no way now of holding massive satellite tournaments, the casino companies will have a much harder time filling their events. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
7. Electronics companies -Online poker players are junkies for having great computer setups just for playing poker. With over 50,000,000 poker players in the USA, I wonder just how many of them purchased a big double screen computer just for playing poker? I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
8. Credit Card companies -Visa and Master Card earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from processing transactions for players to deposit and withdraw money from online poker rooms. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
9. Professional Services - accountants to do the players taxes, agents for the poker professionals and others are now losing clients who are no longer making money. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
10. My personal bankroll - I loved to play poker online and was very successful. Last year I won (For FREE) a seat in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. I was fortunate enough to finish 74th and won $94,000. This year I did not even have an opportunity to try and win a seat. I did not go to Vegas, did not buy an airline ticket, did not get a hotel room, did not eat out in Vegas, etc. I was just one of many who played in the WSOP from winning seats in satellites. The money I won, I put back into the economy by paying taxes on it and buying things. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
The recent events of Black Friday (April 15, 2011) has had a tremendous impact on the lives of many Americans. It has always been my belief that our government cared about it's citizens. After watching the Black Friday fiasco unfold, I now realize how wrong that statement is.
Here are the Top 10 ways DOJ has hurt our economy.
1. Tax Revenue - instead of picking up literally BILLIONS of dollars in annual tax revenues, our government has chosen to try to punish American's for playing a game of poker.
2. Media Companies - ESPN & NBC (the 2 largest poker program providers) have lost, by my approximation, approximately $250,000,000 in annual advertising revenues. This has obviously cost many of their employees their jobs. No ad revenue, no programs. Gone are Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker and many others. No longer will we be able to watch many of the tournaments that were covered on television. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
3. Casino Employees - with the downturn in entrants for this years World Series of Poker main event, there won't be a need for nearly as many poker dealers, floor people, coctail servers and on and on. These people are now out of work. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
4. Professional Poker Players - now that American's are locked out from playing online poker, many people who have chosen poker as a profession are scrambling to find either a job (which as we all know is kinda tough now) or move away from the USA just to follow their dream. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
5. Writers/Bloggers - many people make a decent living writing about poker on blogs and web sites. They earn money from advertising dollars generated by the traffic they provide. A quick check on flippa.com and others show that you can purchase poker related web sites for pennies on the dollar. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
6. Casino Companies - as crazy as this may sound, companies like MGM, Caesar's Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands and others benefited from their relationship with online poker rooms who sent many people to their land based tournaments via online satellites they ran. With no way now of holding massive satellite tournaments, the casino companies will have a much harder time filling their events. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
7. Electronics companies -Online poker players are junkies for having great computer setups just for playing poker. With over 50,000,000 poker players in the USA, I wonder just how many of them purchased a big double screen computer just for playing poker? I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
8. Credit Card companies -Visa and Master Card earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from processing transactions for players to deposit and withdraw money from online poker rooms. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
9. Professional Services - accountants to do the players taxes, agents for the poker professionals and others are now losing clients who are no longer making money. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
10. My personal bankroll - I loved to play poker online and was very successful. Last year I won (For FREE) a seat in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. I was fortunate enough to finish 74th and won $94,000. This year I did not even have an opportunity to try and win a seat. I did not go to Vegas, did not buy an airline ticket, did not get a hotel room, did not eat out in Vegas, etc. I was just one of many who played in the WSOP from winning seats in satellites. The money I won, I put back into the economy by paying taxes on it and buying things. I wonder just how much money this has pulled out of our fragile economy.
Comment