OK so in thinking of this whole online poker being illegal, something came to mind…a parallel if you will.

The deal is, for those who dont know, putting money into an online poker account is illegal. Some sites are getting around this and letting us play.

But lets boil this down to the roots. You can subscribe to tons of online sites, and pay per month or per use. The trade off is, you cant get money out. You are essentially paying for a service with no return.

Then you have online games. You can buy and sell digital items in games like World of Warcraft, Second Life, and others, for a profit if you are good. Some folks make their living selling items in these games…deriving wages for time spent ‘playing’.

So it seems that, in our backwards-ass society: it is ok to pay for a service, either recurring or monthly. Also, it is ok to pay for a service, then use that service to derive wages (WoW, Second Life, etc). BUT, it is NOT ok to put money into an account, and use your skill and knowledge to make money playing poker.

Another parallel can be drawn to the stock market, which in my opinion for most people is more gambling than poker is. Yes sure there are investment stratagies in stocks, but there are playing strategies in poker. Plus, i would argue, its harder for the average person to learn how to effectively trade stocks and make money in the market than it is to make money at poker. The list can go on and on, but i will end my rant here.

So do what you have to do to keep playing…after all, Alfonse D’Amato is on our side!

Raise on.