Re: Poker\'s future -- internet and live
I would lay odds that internet poker will NOT be banned for U.S. players. However if it were, this is how it would play out:
1. As a movement to shut the door on internet poker picks up steam and appears to be imminent, poker afficionados react by cramming their NeTeller accounts with all the spare cash they can muster, knowing this is their last chance.
2. For a while this inflow of fresh cash makes the internet games even more lively and everything is cool.
3. As each U.S. player takes that inevitable bad run of cards/play, his bankroll diminishes to an uncomfortable level.
4. At this point the player at least subconsciously tightens up and becomes more conservative in an effort to maintain remaining bankroll.
5. This plays right into the hands of the European players, many of whom are a touch more aggressive than average anyway, and eventually all the U.S. bankrolls end up in foreign hands.
6. The U.S. players are left with only home games or B&M poker rooms, which experience an explosion of participation/profitability. Those of us who live hundreds of miles from a cardroom are left with few options.
<sigh>
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