Bob CollinsIf people are willing to risk losing their money on the Internet, is that a problem?
The U.S. government this week shut down the biggest online poker sites.
A new poll out today suggests the problem isn’t poker per se. It’s the Internet. The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey “finds that 61% of American Adults believe individuals should be allowed to play poker or other games for money in their home or a friend’s home. Twenty-two percent (22%) disagree, with another 17% who are undecided. ”
But 42% say the people who 61% say should be allowed to play poker, shouldn’t play it on the Internet. Forty-one percent said it should be OK. Not surprisingly, the opposition is strongest among people who don’t go online much for anything.
“It’s clear to me that the major land-based casino companies in Las Vegas want to enter the market,” a spokesman for the online poker industry told PRI’s The Takeaway today. Tim Flores says, “and they have been working with the right politicians to make sure that they kind of get their way.”
At least one state may want a piece of the action. In Iowa, the state Senate has approved a bill to study whether the state should legalize online poker.
