[memphis57]

Let's be honest - there is a FAR greater chance online poker will be legalized if there is a way states and the US government can get direct tax revenues off it (beyond income tax on winnings). Fairness arguments will carry us only so far. We need to get greed on our side, and there is more than enough slush in the system to pay hefty taxes.

But how can things be structured to allow such tax revenues? The very factors that make it playable despite the law make it hard to tax. Kentucky can't pass a law that all online players in Kentucky have to pay a tax, or that Party Poker has to pay a tax proportionate to Kentucky dollars spent.

So how can government tax online poker, if legalized.

One argument is that if it were legal, US-based companies could enter the market, maybe take it over from PP and thus pay corporate income tax on all that rake. But I doubt that argument by itself will be enough - benefits are too far in the future and too uncertain in amount.

So how could state and federal governemnts tax online poker?