Quotes

With all of the governmentally debate about regulating both online and live poker around the world. I have been collecting some notable and infamous quotes from elected officials.

"I spend a lot of time protecting the people from the perpetrators of fraud, polluters of the air, and other types of ant-social behavior. I have no energy left to protect people from themselves."

US Congressman

"We must find a way to levy a tax on internet gambling. It's our job, I couldn't care less about regulating how they gamble."

UK Minister

"The government will decide what is and is not legal and acceptable to the French Republic."

French News Reporter quoting high ranking Commerce Official

"The principle is fallacious that if something is abused by some or might be abused by others, you should ban it for everyone."

US Congressman

"Why exactly is horseracing or the National Lottery more moral than blackjack or poker? This is not a rhetorical question; is there a legal reason why we have exemptions in this law?"

US Congresswoman

I was covering the WPT Championship yesterday at the Bellagio in Las Vegas when one noted professional made a particularly risky bluff and got caught. He not only got caught with his hand in the cookie jar; he had made continuation bluff bets on the flop, turn and river and got smacked so hard on the river, he couldn't even make a crying call.

(Don't you love poker jargon.)

Well as the big pot was pushed to his young (internet) opponent, he sighed:

"You know if you can't be nothin' else, you can always be a bad example."

So cue up the gramophone and put on an old scratchy vinyl record of "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" and check out this decision by the government of South Africa.

As reported by the South Africa Herald:

“If you can’t beat them, join them . . . or at least regulate them. That is the attitude that the government has adopted towards the rapidly expanding online gambling and online poker industry. Having learnt from the United States that outlawing online gambling and online poker does little to solve the problem, the government is now on course to legalise online casinos."

With poker metaphors being used everywhere from business to child care, its nice sometimes to see that the references about life sometimes have meaning for poker too

"Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win."

-- Robert Heinlein

From all available sources, it does not appear that among his many "other" interests that Robert Heinlein gambled.