Business Week's article "Online Gambling Still in the Cards?" is definitely worth a read for those seeking an optimistic take on the events of what is now being dubbed industry-wide as "Black Monday." Contending that online poker has not specifically been outlawed and that payment loopholes will likely continue to exist, the piece includes commentary from multiple corners of the industry including original bill architect Rep. Bob Goodlatte who admits that the language that was passed was far weaker than he'd have preferred. It also features some utterly brain-damaged quotes from conservative nutjob Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, who co-sponsored the bill and arm-wrestled Bill Frist into jamming it through:
"Religious leaders of all denominations and faiths are seeing gambling problems erode family values...If Congress had not acted, gamblers would soon be able to place bets not just from home computers, but from their cell phones while they drive home from work or their BlackBerries as they wait in line at the movies."
The New York Times and the L.A. Times both ran in-depth pieces in their business sections today on the $15 billion Harrah's buyout offer.
MSNBC has the word on how gaming shares did in Tuesday's trading. In a nutshell? Not good.
Around the poker blogosphere and the forums, response to the online gaming legislation has run the gamut from cashout hysteria to sober analysis to well, slightly less sober analysis. Check it out after the jump:
The always irreverent Neverwin Poker forums, while cluttered with "the sky is falling!" posts from online grinders, also has some solid information from site moderator
Bryan Micon (aka the guy who did the "Thriller dance" on the WSOP broadacast) on the current fate of U.S. customers at different online poker sites.
The journalistic triumverate at Up for Poker has some great analysis on the Internet Gambling Bill Aftermath
ScurvyDog adds a new word to the poker lexicon: "Frist-Fucked."
The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King author Michael Craig wonders how Andy Beal would react to this week's events.
Ryan Kallberg at Absinthetics sums it up like this:
Things I learned this week:
1) It’s okay to torture people and hold them indefinitely without recourse to the courts.
2) It’s not okay to play online poker.
And our friends over at Wicked Chops Poker wonder if Bill Frist loves the Taliban.
