Online gambling

I'm not as upset to see online gambling be done in the United States as a lot of other people are.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the government over regulating our lives and having the states turn into a true big brother type society. And the ease of a game almost anytime is great. As is the fact that you don't need a lot of money to play, and can in fact play for free some spots.

But if the Absolute Poker scandal from a few years back taught us anything, it's that these sites should be monitored and have some accountability to its players. I do eventually see the US starting online poker again, after all demand is too high for the government to just keep sites, but when they come back they will have policies in place to make sure everything is on the up and up.

But for me the internet also takes away a big element of the game in sitting around a poker table and chatting with your buddies, or complete strangers, not to mention learning how to read players and understand thoughts and strategy. Yes there are internet stars who have made millions just online, but not a lot translate to the real game. Tom Dwan comes to mind. But it is also well known Dwan was playing underage on poker sites as he learned the game and started raising his bankroll. The underage gambling is one of the big concerns of the government, and I completely understand that.
Dwan made the transition because he didn't change his style much but also doesn't change expressions much. Internet players often have a hard time realizing that although their style may be the same in a real game, their body language is different.That all-in bluff you make at a crucial point of an online tournament may go well because that player on his computer doesn't see your small grin, etc.

But back to the point, poker is a game to be experienced, not just played. In a way it's kind of like the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles deciding to play a football game on an XBOX instead of the field.
To play it at the casino is the way to experience that. The problem of course is that not all casinos have real low limit games or small buy in tournaments you find online, and you don't find a tournament starting every minute. But that's not always a bad thing. That by itself forces gamblers to follow a rule every pro from Doyle Brunson to Dwan reiterate...follow a schedule or plan. "I will play for two hours before taking off 8, etc." and never gamble more than you can afford to lose. Going to a casino pulling out a $100 and losing it makes that seem a lot bigger reality than sitting online and losing it, and pressing rebuy.

Internet poker will be back, and a few people who finally decide to step into a real casino in the meantime, may be better off in the long run when it does.