Friday, May 13, 2011

Does the US Justice Department Care if You (Americans) Get Cheated Playing Online Poker?

You always read and hear that one of the US Justice Department's biggest reasons for its seemingly endless legal pursuit of online poker sites such as Full Tilt and PokerStars is that it just cannot stomach the fact that US players fall prey to online poker cheats using bots, collusion and other forms of cheating to wipe out their accounts, including plain and simple "wiping out accounts" without the victim even getting to an online poker table.

Is this true?

Absolutely not! The US justice department couldn't give two aces about whether or not you get cheated playing poker online. Many US attorneys probably think you deserve to get cheated if you're breaking the law to play poker online. The truth is that the Justice Department prosecutors chasing online poker moguls are motivated by nothing more than politics. What better way to shine up their resumes than by busting online poker bigwigs raking in billions through their "illegal" activity. Indictments and subsequent convictions bringing either jail time, fines or both can further a prosecutor's career, especially one with higher aspirations in government.

That said, We still must heed the one and only real and legitimate claim that the US Justice Department has in its campaign against online poker being played from the United States. That is the fact that minors and even young children can get access to online poker sites and gamble at a very tender--and DANGEROUS--age.