will on line poker survive with the bad economy

[Stu_Ungar]

And I Hope that they start taxing online poker. But only if they figure the tax and regulate the sites along lines similar to the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Well if they started taxing in the US then it should start getting easier to join poker sites too.

Here in the UK income from gambling is not taxed... it seems a strange notion to tax it.. simply because if you can tax, it allows people to offset gambling losses against their tax bills.

Just seems a huge tax scam waiting to be exploited.. people offsetting their tax bills by loosing large amounts of money to companies that suddenly vanish.

Thats essentially the jist of why the government here doesn't get involved with trying to tax gambling income!!!

 

[PoKeRFoRNiA]

correlation of bad economy and poker. That's a good one. It's hard to say. Some people say people will play poker more. some people say, people will stop playing poker to save money. it's very hard. But honestly, i think it reduces instead of increasing. bcz although people who usually play poker will keep playing. but there are people who play poker for fun as hobby, not to build bankroll. those people will stop playing.

 

[TheDude]

Yes Unger, a very valid point and an issue well understood when I lived in Nevada.

But I should point out, (and it has been 9 years since I left Nevada so my #'s are a bit out of date), the tax on gambling winnings exceeding $1199 was in the neighborhood of 28%.

If you only have to offset a few barely taxable payouts, you can probably offset a good bit of the tax, but it's tricky and a BIG hassle. Coming up with loss statements exceeding your reported winnings isn't often easy. My personal experience with trying to offset winnings was that you were very lucky to bring the tax rate in line with all your other reported income.

 

[TheDude]

Personally, I think any tax on online poker specifically, should be something like a haf-point rake tax collected and paid just like a sales tax. It would be cheap/easy to track and collect without adding six dozen new pitfalls and loopholes to the personal income tax codes.

Maybe we should start another thread to discuss tax implications?

 

[Stu_Ungar]

Yeah I see what you mean.. again this is kind of whats done in the UK.

You don't pay tax on winnings.. but you cant claim tax back against losses.

However companies pay tax on their earnings from gambling so the personal tax is sort of collected that way. Its easier and cheaper to collect tax if you collect it from the companies rather than the individuals.

 

[argan]

should be fine, its a passion for most of the people who play it, and we spend money on our passions before otherthings sometimes

 

[illphillllllll]

the economy will have little to no effect to online poker. as long as people are allowed to play, play they will. i would guess each site has a growing clientele on a monthly basis.

 

[Theblueduce]

My bet is that the on-line industry will do just fine.

 

[jedimoose]

Dont quote me on this but i believe that there have been studies of gambling in bad economic times, and that in fact it actually increases. Cant see it slowing down any time soon.

 

[JaBone30]

Its definately not goin to slow down, old habits die hard. We were built on dreams and poker is the 1 dream that anybody can acheive.
Sure there are mathmatics and implied odds that help give you an edge but as in football any given sunday, or in this case, any day can be your day at the poker tables.

 

[TheUndertaker]

I think the online poker industry will survive it just might have less people playing trying to save money.On the other hand people might see it as away to get some income if they win that is lol.

 

[Nickmond]

A lot of people use gambling the way others use drugs, to feel good. Bad economy or no, some will always find a way to their action in

 

[capt_dugout]

im broke disabled and unemployed yet here i am lol

 

[WCFields]

Grandma sounds... ooops. Do you have a pic?

Online poker is here to stay. The numbers are staggering.

111,000 x $1 = $111,000 x 365 = $40,515,000

 

[WCFields]

im broke disabled and unemployed yet here i am lol

You might want to update your screenname to Capt_digout.

 

[Jungl3 Jim]

it will probably fall off, not not considerably.
PPL like me play at times cos we can't be bothered going out.
Things will even out in around 5-6 months is my bet

 

[EvilEmperor]

I read a book called The Midas Touch a while back. It's an autobiography about Tommy Smith the legendary Australian race horse trainer who grew up during the depression. Every pub had an illegal bookie and the way he described it nearly everyone was gambling.

The money at the Sydney track back then was just phenomenal. He mentioned that a $100K bet on a fav would barely move the price. Pretty impressive especially when you consider how poor everyone was. He also mentions the guy he was working for sending him to the shop to get 1 egg ON CREDIT!!!. How secure would you feel about your job if your boss sent you out to get 1 egg on credit?

Reading that book made me realize that we live in pretty prosperous times. Even with all the drama that's happened lately. Hopefully it'll never get as bad as described in the book.

I think online poker will be OK as long as people can still afford internet access which is relatively cheap these days.

 

[dropdead1]

Nope, it's obviously dead. I logged on this morning and there were only 111,000 people on Stars and 32,000 on Full Tilt.

looooooooooool.....when times are tight people do the strangest things to make ends meet!!!!!!

 

[maolitas]

Yeah, I think that especially when the economy is bad, people needs to spend some good times.
And even if the economy is bad, the wealthy people keeps having more and more money.
I think online poker will grow again and again!!

 

[capt_dugout]

why would i want to update screen name ?
this is me where ever i go lol.

 

[UnknownFlush]

Well, I think they will survive a very long time in pokerstars & full tilt poker. Whenever there is a lot of people trying to connect throught Pokerstars & Full Tilt Poker website they traffics running in a lot and while using Google Ads they earn quite of million dollar every days.
So I don't think they have to worry anything about that and they have sponsorships or so on.

To capt_dugout

Even thought that are you, to make sure that are confirmed that is you. People making fakenick and that isn't fun right so also good to updated the screen name. BTW capt your posts ther isn't quality and do nothing for 1st posts treads Questions.

 

[Tygran]

Short Answer: Yes

Long Answer: Duh, Yes

Long(er) Answer: Lots of people are still doing just fine... they aren't going anywhere. In a down economy, lots of people turn to various forms of gambling for either an escape or hoping for a quick buck. Some will also walk away from it but I wouldn't be surprised if it more or less balanced out in the long run. I could maaaybe see some of the smaller US sites struggling a little but Stars and Fulltilt aren't going anywhere short of government interference (much worse than now).

 

[dillingerdis]

Yes

Its not like playing poker online is comparable to buying that extra bag of expensive coffee or eating at the best restaurant because you have tons of cash. I think most people look at it as a hobby rather than an expense that could be cut out. Plus the only thing that would really put a damper are the people depositing. I dont think anyone with money on one of the sites will complain. The power of a good healthy poker addiction is quite a force.

 

[gotalljax]

3 things that always do well in a bad economy:

1) Alcohol Sales
2) Gambling
3) Lottery Ticket Sales

Have no fear - Online poker is alive and well.

 

[WCFields]

Yes

Its not like playing poker online is comparable to buying that extra bag of expensive coffee or eating at the best restaurant because you have tons of cash. I think most people look at it as a hobby rather than an expense that could be cut out. Plus the only thing that would really put a damper are the people depositing. I dont think anyone with money on one of the sites will complain. The power of a good healthy poker addiction is quite a force.

Hobby is a good point. If golf is your hobby how much moolah do you spend for one 18 hole tee up a month?
All expenses considered about $100?
That's about $400 a month if you disappear every weekend.

I've never come close to either playing poker online.

Eating, drinking, and being merry at tavern poker is a different story. Thank goodness for live cash games.