Pro Poker Player Daniel Negreanu on the number of poker players in the US:

What journalist hears a man say there are 70 million poker players in the U.S., and then tries to argue that by saying only 23 million people played online poker last year? Then goes on to basically insinuate that D’Amato is a liar. Mr. Kriedler, don’t you see the holes in your article? Did D’Amato say that 70 million people play online poker, or did you make a boo-boo? Which is it, because based on what you wrote, you come off though you really don’t have a clue what you are trying to say?

70 million! That’s a lot. There are an estimated 80-100m gun-owners, for reference. And politicos fear the NRA. Poker players would be dangerous to politicians if they managed to get organized. They cost one man his congressional seat in the last election cycle. Negreanu also notes:

Just like liquor, in other words. Well, drinking, gambling, you get the idea. Try to ban card games online, and they’ll only start playing poker in somebody’s living room late at night, buying their own chips or using makeshift materials like pretzels and M&Ms as token “money.” Where will the madness end?”

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What Mr. Kreidler fails to understand is that online poker isn’t going anywhere. There will always be ways to fund online accounts, so while they can make it harder to play by putting pressure on companies like Neteller, they won’t put an end to online poker in this country. In fact, the bill that was passed doesn’t make playing poker on the internet illegal for the player.

Indeed. I have noticed that in my small hometown, many home games are cropping up since the ban.

Posted in Poker on March 7th, 2007 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |