The Blog of Kenneth Kirschnick.......Welcome to a place for my thoughts to be shared with the world...Anything goes here, politics, religion, life, music, academics, poetry, writing, films, etc. I have no boundaries in life, so there will be no limits here either...Enjoy!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Why is the news media in America hiding the biggest poker story ever?
I am curious as to why major news corporations such as CNN are not following the biggest story concerning Americans and their poker habits. The only news sources are gaming magazines, or those affiliated with the business of online poker. In case you don't know by now, the F.B.I. and D.O.J. have indicted several executives for money laundering and bank fraud. The three sites of Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars, and Absolute Poker have been shut down and are unavailable to Americans at the moment.
This means that any player having money in their account will be forfeiting the funds to the U.S. The U.S. is trying to recover 3 billion in restitution. The funny thing is this money will never be given to anyone that played on the site. It will be used for lawyers and stalemates in the courts. There is not going to be a short trial, but instead a very long escapade into the world of online poker. I find it all to be quite disturbing that the U.S. is going to spend a lot of taxpayer money trying to convict these executives of mob-style actions. If successful, the sites and all others operating in the U.S. will be closed.
If the government would have passed the bill last fall into law concerning taxing the industry, then we would still have been "blacked out" of the sites also. The bill that was put to a vote contained language concerning a blackout period so the government could work with the Internet sites and get them to pay their taxes. I don't mind government regulation concerning poker sites because of the scrutiny that would be put on the random number generators. There have been numerous times that I have been suspicious of the way cards play. This applies to winning and losing, so it is not because I lost, but instead I have seen consecutive hands won by me that were very suspicious. Apart from this aspect of the online gaming industry, another major point has to be highlighted. The poker pros that collect major sponsorships from these sites will probably be hurt the most.
Every WSOP event, which happens to be starting in a few weeks, has numerous players promoting these sites with the patches, clothing, and other items containing the logos. These players rely on sponsorship to increase their wages, just like Michael Jordan and Hanes, and Nike, or Tiger Woods and men's deodorant. Poker has become a sport, and regardless if you are right or left in the political spectrum, it is true. The game itself has been played for quite a long time in America. Going back to the Wild West era, when saloons had card games in the back, or television shows highlighting Maverick, or Kenny Rogers singing about The Gambler. Even Marvel and Gambit jumped on the bandwagon.
All this aside, it is funny to me why the news organizations have ignored this huge story over the past 48 hours. Even CNN, with their "so-called" unbiased agenda, is refusing to acknowledge the story. It is reminiscent of the military guy killed by three Hawaiians at Senor Frogs last fall, and it was swept under the rug. Nobody in the media heard about it. The only reason I know it happened was because I was there when it did. I talked to the security guards on duty, I talked with my buddies who worked at Senor Frogs, and yet nothing was ever printed in the news. It was a cover-up, and if I didn't know any better, this is going to become one too. There are a lot of poker players in this country, so that in itself makes it worthy of national coverage. The fact that the major networks have failed to do any stories on it in the past 48 hours makes me skeptical of the agenda setting from their executives.
Even if the government is pressuring them to keep quiet for a few days until all the paperwork is published, that doesn't make any sense because the New York Attorney General for the Fed sent out the information on a newswire. And the site at Full Tilt Poker has a warning page from the FBI and DOJ. You can look for yourself below at the link. I have added some other links to the various media outlets covering the story, but you can see that they are all from poker magazines, none of them are major networks covering the story.
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/
I guess the biggest hypothetical situation to raise here is if Football was shutdown, or Baseball was shutdown, then it would get the biggest news coverage ever. Do you remember the lockouts, that is always front page news, and it is covered widely on the major networks. When Pete Rose was indicted for gambling on his team, did the news cover it immediately and completely? Yes, they did, so why when 11 executives running one of the biggest businesses/sports on the Internet get indicted on money laundering and bank fraud, did the news say "nada?"
http://www.onlinepokernews.org/poker-news/fulltilt-poker-shut-down-by-fbi/2610
http://www.lotterypost.com/news/230343
http://www.businessinsider.com/online-poker-players-get-their-money-back-2011-4
This means that any player having money in their account will be forfeiting the funds to the U.S. The U.S. is trying to recover 3 billion in restitution. The funny thing is this money will never be given to anyone that played on the site. It will be used for lawyers and stalemates in the courts. There is not going to be a short trial, but instead a very long escapade into the world of online poker. I find it all to be quite disturbing that the U.S. is going to spend a lot of taxpayer money trying to convict these executives of mob-style actions. If successful, the sites and all others operating in the U.S. will be closed.
If the government would have passed the bill last fall into law concerning taxing the industry, then we would still have been "blacked out" of the sites also. The bill that was put to a vote contained language concerning a blackout period so the government could work with the Internet sites and get them to pay their taxes. I don't mind government regulation concerning poker sites because of the scrutiny that would be put on the random number generators. There have been numerous times that I have been suspicious of the way cards play. This applies to winning and losing, so it is not because I lost, but instead I have seen consecutive hands won by me that were very suspicious. Apart from this aspect of the online gaming industry, another major point has to be highlighted. The poker pros that collect major sponsorships from these sites will probably be hurt the most.
Every WSOP event, which happens to be starting in a few weeks, has numerous players promoting these sites with the patches, clothing, and other items containing the logos. These players rely on sponsorship to increase their wages, just like Michael Jordan and Hanes, and Nike, or Tiger Woods and men's deodorant. Poker has become a sport, and regardless if you are right or left in the political spectrum, it is true. The game itself has been played for quite a long time in America. Going back to the Wild West era, when saloons had card games in the back, or television shows highlighting Maverick, or Kenny Rogers singing about The Gambler. Even Marvel and Gambit jumped on the bandwagon.
All this aside, it is funny to me why the news organizations have ignored this huge story over the past 48 hours. Even CNN, with their "so-called" unbiased agenda, is refusing to acknowledge the story. It is reminiscent of the military guy killed by three Hawaiians at Senor Frogs last fall, and it was swept under the rug. Nobody in the media heard about it. The only reason I know it happened was because I was there when it did. I talked to the security guards on duty, I talked with my buddies who worked at Senor Frogs, and yet nothing was ever printed in the news. It was a cover-up, and if I didn't know any better, this is going to become one too. There are a lot of poker players in this country, so that in itself makes it worthy of national coverage. The fact that the major networks have failed to do any stories on it in the past 48 hours makes me skeptical of the agenda setting from their executives.
Even if the government is pressuring them to keep quiet for a few days until all the paperwork is published, that doesn't make any sense because the New York Attorney General for the Fed sent out the information on a newswire. And the site at Full Tilt Poker has a warning page from the FBI and DOJ. You can look for yourself below at the link. I have added some other links to the various media outlets covering the story, but you can see that they are all from poker magazines, none of them are major networks covering the story.
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/
I guess the biggest hypothetical situation to raise here is if Football was shutdown, or Baseball was shutdown, then it would get the biggest news coverage ever. Do you remember the lockouts, that is always front page news, and it is covered widely on the major networks. When Pete Rose was indicted for gambling on his team, did the news cover it immediately and completely? Yes, they did, so why when 11 executives running one of the biggest businesses/sports on the Internet get indicted on money laundering and bank fraud, did the news say "nada?"
http://www.onlinepokernews.org/poker-news/fulltilt-poker-shut-down-by-fbi/2610
http://www.lotterypost.com/news/230343
http://www.businessinsider.com/online-poker-players-get-their-money-back-2011-4
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