As a long time reader of Bill’s blog, when I saw there was an opportunity to write here, I knew I couldn’t pass it up. My expertise really falls further on the business and affiliate side of online poker versus the player side. Nonetheless, you can occasionally find me relaxing in the evenings after a long days work playing in SNG’s or smaller MTT’s.
Over 90% of the time I fail to cash in the tournaments. Okay fine, I admit it I am a donkey. I play far too aggressive, I don’t even know how to calculate pot odds, nor do I play each position properly. If you are ever sat at tournament table with me, you should probably be looking to double through me before anyone else.
But the beauty of it is, I know there are far better player out there than me, and that I’ll probably have to get lucky to win. This doesn’t bother me though. I love to gamble, and I find playing in MTT’s a couple nights a week to be relaxing. The money I win or lose is completely discretionary and makes no difference in my day to day life.
So this leads me to the point of this article. Why is there so much focus by the PPA and others on selling that poker is a skill game to the U.S. government. The fact is that less than 20% of regular online poker players are true “winning players”(It’s probably even less, I don’t know the exact statistic). The other 80% however are either break even or losing players.
Of course there is no question that poker is a skill game, I’m not arguing that. As poker players we are well aware of this. But when the numbers show that such a small percentage of players are actually profitable, I think it makes for a weak argument to our government. Sure, many people reading this blog are in that 20% and have mastered the skill of being a winning online poker player. A lot of the readers here even play poker for a living. I have much respect and envy for you guys.
But the reality is that a HUGE majority of online players are people with regular full time jobs who are playing with discretionary income, and doing so for recreation and entertainment. Put your hands up if you’re like me and would rather sit with your laptop playing a SNG than watch another episode of “Dancing With The Stars” with your wife.
There is nothing wrong with playing for fun and recreation either. That’s why poker is one of America’s greatest past times. Hell, I could spend the same $50 at the local watering hole getting plastered, destroying my body, and risking others lives driving home. Instead I choose to spend MY money in the comfort of my own home playing the greatest game in the world, poker. There are thousands of worse things I could be spending my money on.
The government can argue about the potential for addiction all they want, fair enough. But if they are really looking out for the people, then get rid of cigarettes, booze, porn, strip clubs, and every other vice out there.
The better argument should be focused on the fact that as American citizens we pay through the nose on taxes. If the United States government can spend trillions of our tax dollars on bailouts that include $500K AIG parties; well then for the love of God let me escape reality television in the evenings, and allow me to play a $10 SNG online. Furthermore the U.S. does not own the internet. When I login into an online gaming site, I am playing cards and transacting money on a server that is based in a legal jurisdiction.
Let’s call a spade a spade here. If gambling is so evil in the government’s eyes, then why is it that I could go into my local gas station every morning and buy $100 worth of scratch off tickets? Obviously the answer is taxes, we all know that. The whole point of this article however is that as tax paying, law abiding citizens, we should be able to exercise our first amendment rights and spend our money any way we please. My guess is that less than 5% of individuals who play online poker are what you would consider a professional winning poker player. For that 5% the skill game argument is great. For the rest of us however, we should be arguing that this so call prohibition known as the UIGEA is unconstitutional.
Please feel free to share your comments on this, as I’m sure there are a wide variety of opinions on the skill game argument. Thanks Bill for giving me the platform to write here.
Jeremy Enke is the founder of the worlds largest poker affiliate forum and a leading consultant in the poker affiliate market. More of his thoughts and ramblings can be found in his personal blog at www.JeremyEnke.com
Very interesting post mister! Really disturbing me how governments try to show how morally they are while its purely their own opportunistic goals that prevail. Grtz, Q.
Nice post, really like Argument For Online Poker To The U.S. Politicians.
Online poker is definitely a game of skill and the argument shouldn’t even have to be made. They consider online sports betting to be a “game of skill” and allow it to exist, why not online poker? It takes the same, if not more, skill to play online and play well.