While maybe 20 percent of the public has played online, a majority were just play sites and not for money. It is true that over half the population has played poker at some point, but it doesn't mean every one of them will get upset if it isn't available anymore.

Only a poker manager with his head in the sand wouldn't acknowledge online poker rooms have created “found” money for his operation. One can't fly to Vegas without hearing people in their 20s talk about how they are heading to the poker rooms.

These people didn't come to Vegas as often before they had online options, nor did most of the others now playing along with them. If we ever needed a spokesperson to attest to the true economic benefits of offshore gambling, we should have called upon World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. He has to admit the WSOP didn't get to where it is now just because Harrah's did a better job of managing the brand.

No, this is a case of monopolistic practices endorsed and enabled by our government. Nothing really shocking, but we have lost this battle in getting the right message out to the public. We have wasted our time telling our elected officials what we want. Unless we have enough backing to kick them out of office, our desires never will amount to much.

The new tact we should take is simple. Just say “yes sir” to your representatives. Everyone in the industry should practice this simple phrase. Say it for awhile and Congress will go away. They will think they have done their jobs, even as the evidence of a growing industry smacks them in the face.

Quietly, we all will go back to the happy existence we had a few years ago before we had David Carruthers and Nigel Payne out telling the world about our hobby and livelihood.

If the result of all this is to shut down the publicly traded companies and leave the business where it was a few years ago, will it be that bad? Neteller might have some issues, but the publicly-traded shares are probably the issue there. If Neteller can't effectively skirt the regulations, some other company will because there is demand.

We all need to go back to the cottage industry days, only better. Everyone now knows there are ways to play online. The learning curve is over for the general public.

The genie is out of the bottle and can't be stopped. Let's all pretend it can be with our lawmakers and then go about doing what we want to do. Trust me, they aren't really paying attention.

October 3, 2006