Adam Silver is awesome

[Eric]

Here is his Op-Ed in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/op...ting.html?_r=0

These are some of my favorite excerpts (the bold font was added):

Times have changed since Paspa was enacted. Gambling has increasingly become a popular and accepted form of entertainment in the United States. Most states offer lotteries. Over half of them have legal casinos. Three have approved some form of Internet gambling, with others poised to follow.

Outside of the United States, sports betting and other forms of gambling are popular, widely legal and subject to regulation. In England, for example, a sports bet can be placed on a smartphone, at a stadium kiosk or even using a television remote control.

In light of these domestic and global trends, the laws on sports betting should be changed. Congress should adopt a federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports, subject to strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards.

[MadMojoMonkey]

It's nice to see a prominent figure (commissioner of the NBA) saying this. It's not the best for poker that he's talking exclusively about sports betting, but I'll take what I can get.

Are we about to hear how this guy's on the take from some casino lobbying or some such?

[Eric]

It's nice to see a prominent figure (commissioner of the NBA) saying this. It's not the best for poker that he's talking exclusively about sports betting, but I'll take what I can get.

Are we about to hear how this guy's on the take from some casino lobbying or some such?

I doubt it. He has cited examples in the UK and Australia where this brings more interest and revenue for the league.

[Keith]

was just thinking ....what a different place the poker world would be now if you'd lost the war of independence.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Probably vastly different.

The exact origins of poker are hard to pin down, but the earliest poker games are characterized by the development of the betting structure familiar to us today. These games were popularized on riverboats moving through the Mississippi river valley (including the Ohio and Missouri rivers), and their popularity thrived among the pioneer settlers that passed through the river towns on their way westward.

***
Poker would be different, because we'd all be speaking French.

***
I know that's not what you meant.

[rong]

What? You guys can't bet online on sports either? What the fuck is wrong with your country? I've happily laid about £3k of bets in the last 2 weeks from the comfort of my own home. I didn't have to leave the house and potentially be dragged further into the murky world of gambling by associating with gambling scum in a bookies, I was able to consume alcohol whilst doing it with nobody needing to be called on to make a decision over whether I was intoxicated (and sometimes I was), I was able to actually read the terms and conditions prior to making a bet or joining a site (and who actually does that in a bookmakers?) and I was able to put sensible daily and weekly limits on how much I could bet, which I' guessing doesn't happen in a face to face environment.

Basically, America hates you! And probably wishes you were dead.

[Eric]

was just thinking ....what a different place the poker world would be now if you'd lost the war of independence.

lol, yeah, online poker would be regulated had we lost.