Internet gambling hurts

The transformation brought about by the Internet is amazing. The change involves not just good but also bad outcomes such as online gambling. The gambling on the internet involves hundreds of thousands of people and billions of dollars. The online gambling business makes money by exploiting human weakness. It is not just individuals who are losers, but the United States of America too, as online gambling drains the national wealth.

It is a good bet that there is almost no chance of any gambler winning at online gambling, which are controlled by online casinos outside the juristiction of the United States. The US government does not protect online gamblers, they are on their own. The casinos are always the winners while the gamblers are always the losers. It's easier for online casinos to control the games without the knowledge of gamblers. For instance, the Kahnawake Gaming Commision (http://www.kahnawake.com/gamingcommission/kgc091109b.pdf (Archive copy)) admitted cheating occured at Ultimate Bet from 6/03-12/07. A software "glitch" allowed some insiders at Ultimate Bet to see all players cards. A poker message board poker forum named 2+2 operated by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth discovered irregularities on Ultimate Bet's Texas hold'em games. The community at 2+2 blew the fraud case wide open by exchanging unusual bad beat stories concerning UB. The cheating discovered by the heroes of 2+2 is most likely the tip of the iceberg concerning the online casino industry taking advantage of players.

Article published at http://www.examiner.com/x-18051-San-Francisco-Blackjack-Examiner~y2009m9d13-Internet-gambling-hurts

Once again you have no idea what you are talking about.

It is a fact that Ultimate Bet cheated its players with the Kahnawake Gaming Commision link provided. This proves that cheating exists. Depends on what side of the fence you are on, Pro21. The article makes sense and stand by the premise that internet gambling is toxic to United States players.

Somewhat puzzled by this statement . . . why is internet gambling "toxic" to players from the United States? Bizarre statement if you don't mind me saying so. If you accept that the majority of online games run by legitimate gaming organisations are not rigged, then players from the US have the same chance of overcoming the HE as anyone else from anywhere else? The choice as to whether to play or not is, of course, a personal one.

When I played online BJ with a legitimate UK based organisation (albeit their online license was issued in the Channel Islands somewhere) the results were always within 3 Std Devs of the EV, and with the bonus offers available at the time the overall net outcome of HE+bonus was +EV. But unfortunately no longer so, which is one reason why I don't bother anymore.

As I understand it, the big issue for players in the US is more about getting paid than being cheated. I'm quite sure there are some rigged aspects of online casinos (it's surprising how often one wins big the first time one plays a free or practice game at an online site never visited before), but for the majority of online games offered by recognised providers (in the UK it's Ladbrokes, Gala, William Hill etc, all highstreet names) there's no reason why they should want to cheat the general public - I'm sure they make by far plenty of money without having to resort to cheating.

Do you get paid for writing this stuff?

In one sense, internet gambling (and gambling in general) hurts. Despite the advantages it has for us, online gaming causes millions or billions of dollars to be siphoned out of the US economy out to God-knows-where. Even I have been fooled by crooked software once; a real gambler will be fooled every time.

On the other hand, what are we going to do, ban every destructive habit? If I were king, the first thing I would do is allow any casino with a state-issued gaming license (NOT Indian casinos!) to run an online casino subject to the gaming authorities of their state. It would be tough to argue against. We could even sign up the global warming-believers, as a virtual trip to Las Vegas will produce less CO2 than a physical one. :laugh:

Online casino cheating was determined by the Kahnawake Gaming Commision http://www.kahnawake.com/gamingcommission/kgc091109b.pdf (Archive copy) concerning Ultimate Bet. Many online gambling sites including UB are based on Kahnawake property near Montreal, Canada, which begs the question, are other online gambling sites cheating us from there? Being paid off is enough of a problem for Americans while cheating us on top of beating us is reason enough to not legalize it. Are you newb99, a paid agent for online casinos in the UK?

There are plenty of examples of land-based casinos caught cheating, but I don't see anyone using that as the basis to claim that all land-based casinos are toxic to players.

Yes, UB cheated. Yes, there are certainly other cheating incidents online which we don't even know about. To me that doesn't make the whole idea of online gambling a problem. Instead, it means that we would all be better served with regulation and oversight. As an advantage player, having more casinos choices is better than fewer choices, whether they be online or land-based.

Ahrr! Ken, which side of the fence are you on.

No - I'm not sure such an animal exists. And I'm not an affiliate of any of them either.

Decidedly in favor of online casinos. Of course I have a financial interest in the issue since I derive affiliate income from my websites (albeit not from the US right now). Still, I would be in favor of online gambling without that influence.

On the other hand, cheating when discovered should be prosecuted in every way possible, which we regrettably have not seen yet in the UB case. I hope that is yet to come.