America Now report on online gambling addiction

Saw this report today on America Now:
It's disturbing that online poker is highlighted in the video because this is the scare tactic Adelson et al use in their fight against online gaming.

I think the real problem of adolescent gambling...or drinking, teenage pregnancy, huffing, drug addiction, sexting etc...is a lack of education and parental guidance or involvement. Kids can get addicted to lots of activities, but can be taught by good parents how to enjoy those (legal and appropriate) activities responsibly.

Here are some arguments in support of poker:




A summary from Poker Is Good for You, by David Sklansky (with permission to reprint):

"The government's attempts to outlaw poker are based upon a misconception of its nature and value. It is not 'just gambling,' and it should not be subject to the same rules and penalties as other gambling games. Instead, the government should allow you to play poker in regulated and taxed places because poker is good for you and good for America.

SUMMARY OF POKER'S BENEFITS
Because this essay is so long, you may not want to reprint all of it. We believe that a good summary is simply a list of the headings. Please feel free to reprint as much or as little as you wish."

1. Poker Is A Great Teacher.

2. Poker Improves Your Study Habits.

3. Poker Develops Your Math Skills.

4. Poker Develops Your Logical Thinking.

5. Poker Develops Your Concentration.

6. Poker Develops Your Patience.

7. Poker Develops Your Discipline.

8. Poker Teaches You To Focus On The Long Term.

9. Poker Teaches You That Forgoing A Profit Equals Taking A Loss (And Vice Versa).

10. Poker Develops Your Realism.

11. Poker Teaches You To Adjust To Changing Situations.

12. Poker Teaches You To Adjust To Diverse People.

13. Poker Teaches You To Avoid Racial, Sexual And Other Prejudices.

14. Poker Teaches You How To Handle Losses.

15. Poker Teaches You To Depersonalize Conflict.

16. Poker Teaches You How To Plan.

17. Poker Teaches You How To Handle Deceptive People.

18. Poker Teaches You How To Choose The Best "Game."

19. Poker Teaches You The Benefits Of Acting Last.

20. Poker Teaches You To Focus On The Important Subjects.

21. Poker Teaches You How To Apply Probability Theory.

22. Poker Teaches You How To Conduct Risk-Reward Analyses.

23. Poker Teaches You To Put Things In Context And Evaluate All Variables.

24. Poker Teaches You How To "Get Into People's Heads."

To be fair, the game of poker itself doesn't actually "teach" you many if any of the above things.

Poker is certainly a place where you can apply lessons you've learned about those things, and applying them will make you a better poker player. But an ordinary person just sitting down and playing poker won't learn a damn thing about the majority of those items.

IMO the best route to regulation is to be blunt and honest: people are gonna gamble. You can either tax it, regulate it and oversee it, or you can throw people to the wolves that are unregulated, untaxed offshore operators.

OzExorcist said:

To be fair, the game of poker itself doesn't actually "teach" you many if any of the above things.

Poker is certainly a place where you can apply lessons you've learned about those things, and applying them will make you a better poker player. But an ordinary person just sitting down and playing poker won't learn a damn thing about the majority of those items.

Click to expand...

Sklansky's full article does a better job by explaining how poker is good for you.

I agree that the casual or novice player is not likely to learn those things from an occasional poker game, any more than a beginner guitarist is likely to get much benefit from music unless he learns to play well. I think the point is you can learn those things by excelling at poker.

Here's another good one:

Why Kids Should Play Poker

The US will always, always, always have bored as hell soccer moms telling us what is terrible for us and that it will be the next downfall of the country. Remember when that guy jirated his hips on stage. Guess what? The republic still stands