President of U.S. / Online poker

Read this article at Poker King, and thought it had some interesting questions.

Will a Presidential Candidate's Stance on Internet Gambling Sway Your Vote in November?


There are two things that are going to be upon us before you know it: the 2008 World Series of Poker (begins on May 30th) and the 2008 Presidential Election in the United States (November 4th).

When the time comes to decide who will receive your vote in the 2008 Presidential Election, will a candidate's stance on Internet gambling affect your vote or is it a non-issue for you when you are deciding on who to vote for?

This is an important election in terms of Internet gambling in the United States. The UIGEA was snuck into the SAFE Port ACT, and instead the folding, the industry has persevered and kept growing. We had e-wallets fold and Neteller tangle with the Department of Justice and pull out of the US market, but still the online gambling industry continues to grow. The skies seem to be brightening and regulation of the online gambling industry seems more likely now, especially with some of the big casino companies (Harrah's and MGM Mirage) now in favor of legalization of online gambling. There seems to be some positive momentum right now, and it is important (for the industry) that a pro-regulation President is elected, or else we will go backwards.

Three people come to mind as those most likely to further the cause of legalization and regulation of online poker in the United States: Ron Paul, Hillary Clinton (supports industry position to study Internet gambling to see if it can be regulated) and Barack Obama (supports a study and supports regulation to "address the worst abuses.")

If you didn't really support a certain person for US President but they were pro-regulation, would you vote for them? If you considered yourself a Republican and made your living playing online poker, would you vote for Hillary Clinton over someone like Mitt Romney if they ended up winning the Democratic and Republican nominations?

The world of online poker is populated with many young Americans who have never voted before. If the issue of online gambling regulation is an important one to you (or any other issue for that matter), then you should make sure that you are registered to vote.

There is a good chance that nothing will happen in regards to Internet gambling over the next 4 1/2 years no matter who is elected; however, it would be nice to give the potential regulation of online poker the best chance possible to succeed.


Personally my vote for local government could be swayed based on a persons online gambling view. Not much ever seems to change locally no matter who we put in office. But when it comes to the president, I would vote for who I believed would be doing the right thing for our country, and who would be best for my children's future, with no concern about his or hers gambling views.

While I do consider Internet Gaming a somewhat important issue it is dwarfed by the state of our economy, so to me it is a complete non-factor in the upcoming election.

Well I supported Ron Paul before I heard about this, so this is just icing on the cake.

lol sneaky way to get politics in a poker forum, ok i was gonna rant and rave but i decided not to here so i'll just say GO RON PAUL

I caucused for Obama today in Nevada because of one and only one issue, the online gambling issue. If it weren't for that one thing, I'd be uncomitted, though perhaps still leaning for Obama a little bit. Not that I believe that he's the better choice for online gambling in general, it's just that he's a known poker player, so if it ever comes to separating poker, a skill game rather than a game of chance, from the rest of the online gaming pursuits, as was done with horse racing, Obama's fondness for poker just might make the difference.

Well I'm glad to hear Clinton is pro-online gambling, well at least not against it. But I heard McCain is avidly against it, I think he is the one we have to worry about.

As is Huckabee.