The Case For Legal Online Poker

In Part 1 of this series, I examined the myriad reasons that online poker legalization has gone off the rails in the US. Here, the focus is on good arguments to change online poker’s fortunes.

In the previous column, How Legalized Poker Went Off the Rails, I wrote, “There is a slam-dunk case for online poker legalization if lawmakers are inclined.”

And I’ll make that case below, so the next time someone pulls out their talking points and says, “There’s no money in poker,” “Online gambling cannibalizes land-based gambling,” or “We don’t need more online gambling,” you can dispute those claims with facts. That rebuttal may not be immediately effective, but it can help chip away opposition.

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The Three Pillars

There are three underlying reasons to legalize online poker:

• To protect consumers. Online poker Is readily available whether it’s regulated or unregulated.

• To generate tax revenue. Online poker can generate direct and indirect revenue for the state and the economy.

• To support existing gambling in the state. Online poker is additive to existing land-based and online gambling products.

Let’s explore each of these more closely.

Reason #1: Online Poker Is Already Widely Available

Online poker is legal in seven states, but only five states offer legal, regulated online poker. However, online poker is available in all 50 states.

Poker players in the other 45 states can still play online, but their only option is to sign up at an offshore black market site.

Like sports betting, offshore online poker sites are readily available to US residents. Registering an online poker account from any state in the country doesn't take much time or energy.

Even in the legal states, many players will still choose an offshore site because the global player pool means more games and bigger tournament prizes.

Let me say that more plainly: States that don't legalize online poker aren’t preventing residents from playing online poker.

What they are depriving their residents of is a safe, regulated online poker industry. And we should be pointing this out relentlessly.

Lawmakers mustered support for sports betting bills by advocating for oversight, telling their colleagues and the public how imperative it was to protect bettors from nefarious offshore operators. Don’t online poker players deserve the same? We had to legalize and regulate sports betting to enhance responsible gambling policies and protect the vulnerable, so why do we turn a blind eye to these commendable goals when it comes to online poker players?

The argument for consumer protections can be deployed in any state that offers mobile sports betting, and doubly so against lawmakers that cited the sports betting black market as a critical concern.

Bottom line: Poker players deserve the same protections as any other gambler. By keeping poker illegal, a state is not protecting its citizens; it’s abandoning them to the black market.

Reason #2: There Is Money In Online Poker

There is one overarching argument holding back online poker legalization: The belief that there’s no money in it.

Yes, you will hear all sorts of reasons for the lack of legal online poker in the US, from social harm to cheating, but at the end of the day, it comes down to money. Money is the conversation starter, and online poker’s paltry performance to date isn’t doing legalization efforts any favors.  

But poker’s inability to generate revenue is a half-truth.