Poker is Gambling!

According to Wikipedia, following is the definition of gambling:

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value (referred to as "the stakes") on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period.

Online poker was interpreted by the US government tp be gambling and thus was incorporated into the Unlawful Internet Gaming Act of 2006 (added on at the last minute to the Port Security bill... so any Congressman or Senator would have to vote against keeping our Ports safe in order to keep online poker legal... didn't happen)

The bill, as defined by most experts, did not actually make the act of online gambling an illegal act, but rather made it illegal for the financial institutions and payment processors to facilitate the act of online gambling. This caused many online poker sites to find apparently illegal ways to have players fund their poker accounts and illegal ways to pay funds to players upon their withdrawals.

April 11, 2011 was Black Friday for online poker players such as myself.  Executives at the 3 major online poker sites of Poker Stars, Full Tilt, and Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker were indicted on primarily money laundering and wire fraud charges and online poker came to a crashing halt for residents of the United States.

To date (August 24, 2011) Full Tilt Poker has not refunded money that was in player accounts ( A good friend of mine has $50,000 tied up in Full Tilt, and this figure in miniscule compared to many other players). Full Tilt has insisted all along that they will make good on refunding player funds, but it hasn't happened yet and only time will tell. Full Tilt's license is now shut down by the gaming commission which regulates it, so they now owe the world's players funds along with US residents.

Poker Stars quickly returned player funds to US residents and now continue to be a leading online poker site for the rest of the world.

Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker has completely shut down and hopes of their player funds ever being returned to players appears futile.

Since then, the US government has shut down several other smaller poker sites.

Now that is a quick rundown of the thrashing online poker players have took since Black Friday, April 15th, 2011 through today, August 24th, 2011.

I will not argue as to whether or not poker is gambling. By the Wikipedia definition, it can only be interpreted as gambling. However, by the same definition, here are some other gambling activities:

Starting a Business

Buying a House

Investing in the Stock Market

As far as the short term aspect of the definition: Poker has daily ups and downs. Business has daily ups and downs. The Stock Market has daily ups and downs. The daily ups and downs of poker  are often less than the swings in these other gambling activities.

People who know what they are doing in business make money, people who don't lose money. People who know what they are doing in the stock market make money, people who don't lose money. People who know what they are doing in real estate make money, people who don't lose money. People who know how to play poker make money, people who don't lose money.

Skeptical?

I challenge any other of these gambling avenues to show me a track record more predictable and consistent than my track record of over 25,000 online tournaments:

Sharkscope.com -  chicubbies07 (Full Tilt Poker), deuceflopalo (Poker Stars)

Officialpokerrankings.com - chicubbies07 (Full Tilt Poker), deuceflopalo (Poker Stars), muckitforme (Party Poker)

In conclusion, poker is gambling, but (like it or not) the right to gamble with our own money is what has created the American Dream!

And yes... there were some losers along the way.

Henry Ford knew how to make cars. I know how to play poker. Can I have my company back?