The Poker Lab Rat

A call to standardize all electronic financial transaction to Euro as a default currency rather than the US dollar is long overdue.    

Gambling is and has always formed part of mankind’s cultural heritage. For many it is an integral part of adult entertainment, for others a livelihood. Many savour the challenge of beating the odds with the combination of luck, skill and statistical probablilty.

Gambling takes many forms and as technology progresses, so do the gambling choices available. The concept of wagering on an outcome has survived the ages and is here to stay through changes in a society’s affluence, changes in religions and of course, attempts at legislation. 

Skimming today’s online headlines I wonder what Americans - with their recently introduced Illegal Online Gambling Act and related legislation - feel about the following eye catchers from countries where gambling is acknowledged to hold a legitimate place in society.

OBEs for Kelly and Steen
John Kelly, executive chair of Gala Coral, and Michael Steen, a commissioner at the Gambling Commission, have both received OBEs in the New Year’s Honours list. They have both been given the award for services to the gambling industry. 

Professor wants gambling games to promote school maths lessons
Professor Alastair Gillespie, chairman of the Scottish Mathematical Council, has called on Scottish schools to use simple gambling games as teaching tools in order to make maths lessons more interesting.

Australia opts for pokies in shopping centres
The Australian state of New South Wales has passed a law allowing clubs with poker machines to open in shopping centres, but decided against imposing a ban on cash advances against credit cards for ATMs in the malls.

In summary, I consider that the US legislation is a cynical and ill-conceived approach to maintaining tax takes and will have little or no long term affect on the gambling habits of US residents.

The Internet is such an incredibly powerful tool and even the concept of blocking financial transactions to Internet based businesses is naive and demonstrates the US legislators lack of understanding of the potential for the USA to finally regain some global credibility. A call to standardize all electronic financial transaction to Euro as a default currency rather than the US dollar is long overdue.