Poker in a Post-Allegedly-Ponzi World

No, this will not be some insightful, informative post on where the online poker industry is at present.  Quite frankly, I could care less about online poker at this point.  I do still play the occasional game with my son, but it is not really challenging me at all.  I am out of work, with no bankroll, and a place to play poker only 20 minutes away.  Is this the definition of hell?  Maybe if I was as poker obsessed as I was 4 or 5 years ago, the answer would be yes.  I am finding I can live without poker.  Not that I want a pokerless existence. 

The main problem I have seen and continue to see with online poker is not getting the website to run a clean game and keep their books straight.  The main problem is cheating players.  And it is not just that they cheat.  It is the erosion of trust the sites have because they allow cheating to go on.  This is the reason that when I was playing with real money, I was playing the lowest stakes (that and lack of bankroll).  Why would I want to play in the middle or upper levels when I know there are easy ways to cheat and get away with it.  I don't consider myself too much of a mark.  I am always trying to figure out how thing can be done and cheating with online poker seems to be a fairly easy thing to do. 

Legislation:  Do states really believe they can make money with online poker limited to their own state?  I am not sure how.  The big sights had one thing going for them.  They had tons of players, at all hours of the day and night.  You wanted to play a game, it was there.  With State-limited poker, there would be a lot fewer players out there, fewer games, fewer dollars to rake.  And cheating would still occur.

What is the solution to online poker?  I don't know.  At the very least it needs to be heavily regulated, audited, and policed.  I think the best level to do this in the US is to do it at the national level.

Enjoy the Pokery Goodness,

mortal_one