Fighting the Good Fight

There has been a huge activity in the legal world of online gaming in the U.S.A. as of late.Barney Frank has introduced a new bill that is designed to freeze current UIGEA restrictions and give U.S. residents the right to play poker online.Barney Frank the current Massachussets representative is introducing a bill that will halt current UIGEA restrictions and give the Department of Treasury the licensing and regulating authority, and provides for the consumer, protections the gambling ban does not offer, including age and identification verification, responsible gaming systems, and measures against money laundering and cheating.Of course we knew all along as soon as the government could make a buck on it,we stood to see a change in the laws,and this bill also allows tax on winnings, players used to pocketing winnings on a regular basis without reporting them to Uncle Sam will now find their take a little lighter. Frank includes clauses that require the online gambling operator to set aside taxes against winnings before paying patrons.The bill will adress age verification issues and,and fair gaming practices along with measures against money laundering and cheating.Now as to the how n why outside countries should feel the need to be licensed and governed by an outside authority,remains to be seen...i imagine the the profits of allowing U.S. residents to gamble far outweighs the any hinderence to the casino,but will this further open a door where all countries will expect the same courtesy...this remains to be seen...to me it seems unfair that a land based casino in Monte Carlo{for instance}doesnt have to get any kind of licensing from the U.S. but if the same casino opens an online casino suddenly the U.S. expects to get revenue and have a say in licensing...whats next state and local licensing also?Though i agree we need strict regulations and fair practices in online gaming,i also feel the approach is narrow in its view of looking at it thru the eyes of only the U.S.,instead a consortium of countries needing to ban togather and form an alliance and create a world wide commission,that has a focus on gaming licensing and regulations on a global context.As for taxing...this i knew would soon poke its ugly head,but i,m wondering if they will do the right thing and allow us the right to also claim losses...if the governments wants part of the players winnings they should also take in to account the losses the player incrues in getting his wins,and since the amount could easily be tracked..i feel this should be a major concern,as its not like the untraceable amounts a player gets in placing his cash in a land based casino...on the contrary,this also shows through deposits exactly what the player wins and losses are. So the player should not be taxed on the winnings of say $1000.00 win,without being able to claim the losses he has incrued also....taxing winnings without being able to offset the overall investment made by the player is short sighted and out of date.....if your going to tax winnings then its only fair that a player be allowed to write off his losses,in my humble opinion.What do you think?