Cashing in my virtual chips

By Katie Pecci
The Collegian

A king of hearts on the river gives me a full house of kings and .eights and I am up $3,000 in only a few hands on high stakes Texas Hold ‘em. Too bad it’s not my money.

The new epidemic sweeping the nation, even the world, is not a new strain of avian flu. It’s online poker and it’s luring everyone with a home PC and pocket aces, that’s a pair of aces for you poker beginners. Too bad it’s illegal.

Illegal, indeed,which is why it is both exciting and disappointing that I am up thousands of dollars. I don’t get a check in the mail or direct deposit to my checking account but I do feel like a Las Vegas high-roller in my pajamas on a Monday night.

With the never ending broadcasts of celebrity and professional poker tournaments, PokerPulse.com said “the game of poker is now the third most watched television sport on cable TV—behind only car racing and football.”

Web sites like PartyPoker.com offer free online poker to anyone who wants to participate. The United Kingdom based company has found a big market in the United States even though online poker violates federal anti-gambling laws. One of the three primary laws is the 1961 Wire Act, a movement to curb illegal sports betting over interstate telephone lines.

According to the online tracking firm, 1.8 million players—more than 70 percent from the United States throw their chips into the virtual pots.

The Web site is advertised as a free place to try out your poker skills and learn new ones. Once the player is there, it’s up to them to find the link that takes you to the real wagering.

So if most of the American population is jumping onto the poker bandwagon, why not let the people earn real money? After all, it is the player’s money that is at stake. Even Las Vegas casinos cannot get a piece of the action for the same reason people aren’t allowed to on their PC in their own home, the goverment.
Brian Stone, a psychology major, said if students are using their own money while gambling online the government shouldn’t have any say.

“Who is the government to say how you should spend it.” Stone said.

If we are allowed to spend thousands of dollars on a plasma television at Best Buy, why can’t we spend the same thousands on a pair of eights?

Is the government afraid Americans would decide to make our money from poker and decide not to go to work again? Or maybe it’s the people on Capitol Hill who want to make sure we don’t have too much fun.
After a hard day on the job, it may be nice to put a few extra dollars in your pocket by clicking the raise button on your home PC screen.

Even though there are already laws in place to prohibit online gambling, Arizona’s Senator Jon Kyl is planning to reintroduce legislation this fall to ban online gambling, despite the fact that versions of the same bill have been pushed out of Congress for the last eight years.

Sounds as if the people want to legalize online poker. It’s the government who’s opposed. And if we are really a democracy then why not continue the pursuit of happiness by allowing the people to make a few extra bucks at the virtual green velvet table.

Katie Pecci is a senior majoring in  Mass Communication and Journalism.  E-mail this columnist at [email protected].