It appears the FBI has shut down Fulltiltpoker.com, pokerstars.net and absolutepoker (the three largest internet poker websites) on Friday.

I'm not a real player but I enjoy a free game now and then and I love watching the tournaments every now and then. I wonder what this means for the entire industry.

I wonder how altruistic this move is but I'm "betting" money played a huge part in this (meaning it's not so much the government's interest in shutting down these websites for moral or ethical reasons than it is shutting down these websites because they don't pay taxes like the brick and mortar casinos and because a lot of big corporations (Public Gaming Corporations) have been losing a lot of money as well as states losing a lot of tourism dollars (Nevada and Harry Reid).

Here's the link to the story: Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker onling gambling websites indicted

Mr. W

Well, sure - there's buttloads of money to be made in gambling and that's why it's so tightly controlled.

Though gambling can be highly addictive too and sometimes it's just more trouble than it's worth to legalize it. Places like Vegas and Atlantic City have managed, but not everyone is willing to control it the way they do.

Ever notice how all of the "vices" that attract people to a place like Vegas - gambling, prostitution, alcohol and drugs - are all highly addictive behaviours and substances?

There were signs before XWH left, and a few since then, that he may have a gambling problem as well as being SA and NPD (NPD is just another name for attention addict). One addiction often leads to another, so no surprise there.

You can make tons of money off of somebody's addiction but you have to be prepared to deal with the downside of, well, making tons of money off of somebody's addiction.

It's no coincidence that organized crime is so often the force behind the above-mentioned money-making activities. Unlike the average person, they can and will do what is necessary to deal with making money off of somebody's addiction, cause that's a very tough way of making a living.

Will be interesting to see what happens next with this.

Card rooms are legal in my state, so if that was something I wanted to pursue, there are several in town.

Then we have the casino on the reservation, and the slots there operate the same as the slots in Nevada.

Looks like they got busted for laundering to avoid the federal law banning internet gambling.

They'll be back up. Too much money to be made with them on the sidelines. ONce they figure out a way to efficiently tax the online sites, they will be up an running again.