Australia

In the continuing and ill-advisted attempt to control the Internet, the new Labour government in Australia is proposing a "Clean Feed." The technically retarded bureaucrats led by prime minister Kevin Rudd are seeking to increase control and censorship of the Internet by regulating Internet Service Providers.

Rudd’s plan is to "require" ISPs to provide “clean feeds” that are free of porn and online gambling sites. Supporters of the plan assure that only sites on a (presumably government authored) blacklist will be blocked, and that citizens can opt-out if they wish.

“The Rudd Government campaigned on a platform promising to speed up Australians’ access to the worldwide web by rolling out broadband around the country, the blacklist enlistment of ISPs would have the opposite effect."

Yet another example of a government with no understanding of personal freedom, much less an technical concept of how the infrastructure of the Internet functions.

We all hear the common reasons behind the "Poker Boom". The Cranky Olde Coot even wrote an article about them a couple of weeks ago. We all tend to be jingoistic about our lives, which means we think what happens where we live is the way it is everywhere else. That, of course, is not true. By example let's look at how the Poker Boom played out in Australia.

In January 2006, I covered the Aussie Millions poker tournament in Melbourne. I want to thank several Australian friends for talking with me about the whole subject of poker and Australia. Their assistance for this article was essential.

Television is the most often cited reason for the poker boom and in particular the hole card cam. But while the poker boom in the US is often pegged to the Chris Moneymaker win in 2003, the televised version of big poker tournaments didn't even hit down under until 2004 when the World Poker Tour began showing itself on cable television.

Casinos in Australia began to notice an increased interest in poker in 2004 but the real explosion came in 2005 when Australian Joe Hachem won the main event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Anyone connected with poker will tell you that of the recent WSOP Champions, Joe has done the most for the game. In Australia he did everything.

If a casino didn't have a poker room when Hachem won the WSOP, they had one open by the end of the year.

Some people play cricket for a hobby; others collect butterflies. There are always those who prefer to do it a little differently from the rest. The fourth Extreme Poker tournament where players combine extreme sports and challenging locations with a game of cards, made its debut in Sydney, Australia.

This completely bonkers idea has been growing in popularity around the world; last week it took place over the cliff of Sydney's North Head.

Six Australian players were playing poker on a table placed onto a steel platform constructed 90 metres above the ocean with waves crashing against the rocks below. And the only way off the table for losers was via a quick dip in the water, plunging down the cliff on a flying fox cable.

Only the winner got the right to walk off the platform on solid land.

This year’s prize is a trip for two to compete in the Extreme Poker Underwater Final on the Caribbean island of St Kitts later this year.

Extreme Poker games have also been held at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, in the Arctic Circle and flying 30,000 feet above the Las Vegas desert.

Spin is a pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favor of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by commentators and political opponents, when they produce a counter argument or position. [Wikipedia]

We all know that the assault on poker comes from a anti-gambling mentality. Whether is it the government seeking favor (and votes) from the public or individuals who personally distain the game we all play, the key to there story is deception based either on ignorance, fear or lies. Here is an example in a press story from Melbourne, Australia.

My comments are in bold.

From the Herald Sun newspaper.

HEADLINE: TEENS BECOMING HOOKED ON POKER

Popularised by blockbuster movies such as Casino Royale, Texas Hold'Em tournaments and games around the kitchen table are sparking concerns that poker could soon rival slot machines as a source of problem gambling.

Question: Are slot machines a source of problem gambling? Who says they are? What is the data to support such a claim? What is the link between a slot maching and poker? Or between poker and other legal forms of gaming, like horse racing?

Ever heard someone talking about a topic in a way that was completely different than the way you saw it. I mean not just 100% opposite of you but in another world completely. Well that is exactly my response when I read this article from New South Wales.

Sydney, Australia - New South Wales will be the first state in Australia to introduce cashless poker machines which will force gamblers to leave their machines to collect winnings. The winnings will be dispensed in the form a ticket which can be redeemed from a booth.

At first I thought this had to be an article written by some staff reporter who knew nothing about gambling or video poker. Why on earth would anyone think that coinless machines were anything but a way for the casinos to streamline and modernize the gaming process. Automation means less employees are needed to redeem coins and pay jackpots. The introduction of coinless machines has nothing, repeat NOTHING! to do with problem gambling.

However, some checking showed that the "problem gambling" argument was used before the various gaming control boards in Australia and several other countries to get the cash-less video poker machines approved.

Strange logic indeed, almost upside down in fact.