Some bad news out of Washington State recently. Players there can no longer play for money on PokerStars. Not a good development, especially considering similar type developments in France, Italy, Belguim etc. I would not be surprised if most or all of the remaining US states also move to shut out Stars, Tilt, UB etc. to favor local poker monopolies.
Maybe it was inevitable that this great thing we had going, our global community of players, would be ruined and shut down by governments around the world.
In Canada I'm not looking forward to the government taking over online poker. This is what us players will have to look forward to in a government monopoly.
Ontario lotto insiders accused of stealing $12.5M ticket
Ontario lotto insider steals $5.7M ticket and gets 1 year jail
Play with other people's money on PlayNow in BC
I expect government online poker will be exactly the same. Self dealing, lax security, light to no penalties for cheating insiders and their accomplices, turning a blind eye to reports of cheating and abuse, "take a number" DMV attitude to service. I'm not looking forward to what looks like the coming era of government monopoly online poker.
