"Unlawful Gambling?

A couple of months back I heard about something that got my blood boiling: The US was going to ban online poker! To go further in depth, the bill called UIGEA which stands for Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act aka bullshit-that-doesn't-make-any-sense law, will put an end to playing poker online with real money by punishing the credit card companies that make you do so. According to some media outlets, this law has been pushed since 2006 and will be in effect by June 2010 (if it isn't delayed). Now I can understand if you don't give a rat's ass about this law (especially if you don't play poker), but allow me to explain how this piece of shit legislation makes absolutely no sense whatsover. The funny thing is I always complain about the Naija system and how corrupt it is, now I'm going to complain about the US lawmakers and how outrageously stupid they are sometimes.

First of all, I've been playing poker since I was 15 (I'm now 20), and I've got to say it's a wonderful game. I often played poker back in high school during lunch time with half a dozen Mexicans. Honestly, those were some of the most memorable moments I had in high school. Talking shit, joking around, making fun of each other while politely snatching their lunch money, even Nate Dogg would say we were "living that boss's life." Not only was there the fun that is derived from playing the game, I actually used that poker money to pay for my PSAT exam in my junior year. We even wanted to build a poker club at my school (so we wouldn't have to go off campus to play), but my principal didn't even wait for us to finish the proposal before saying no! And that's the annoying part of people; they tend to hate anything that's different or that they have no clue about. That's why it's the same people who have no clue about the game that often throw dirt on it and claim it is gambling in a condescending manner. The funny thing is poker isn't all gamble. It requires luck but it's mostly strategy and skill, that's why there is a term called "professional players" who know how to play the game (because they've mastered the SKILL of it). You don't have to call every hand you get you can always fold (decide not to bet on your hand), call (bet) or raise (set the stakes higher). It involves psychology, and reading your opponent, knowing whether he or she is bluffing or is for real. The aspect of reading your opponent actually makes me good at figuring out whether someone is lying or not (regular gambling won't teach you that). Another argument for their illogical law is that people get addicted to gambling and some even go to rehab. I mean c'mon, if you gamble to the point where you're homeless and still have the urge to gamble, then you really don't need rehab. You need school. You need an education, maybe a crash course in Common Sense 101 at that. These people who tend to "lose it all," because they were gambling have two problems; over-optimism and over-confidence. Poker isn't a game for optimists and pessimists, it's a game for realists, people who know their odds and play with it. If you invest all your paycheck money into gambling, then you're obviously not a realist. Like I said earlier on, this is a game that requires strategy and if people don't realise that then they're at a higher risk of doing something as stupid as "losing it all" to poker. However, regardless of these facts people will always jump into false conclusions about this game and frown upon it, yet you will see these same judgemental people at Save Mart trying to buy lotto ticket. Imagine the fuckerey. Like Wande Coal would say, "Na who born the maga?" They (including the US govt) have the guts to say the poker is "Unlawful gambling," yet they are the ones sponsoring and buying the "Mega million dollar lottery." If poker is gambling, I'm curious to what they will call the lottery. The lottery requires absolutely no skill, strategy or psychology, all it is is 100% random luck. And that isn't scrutinized as much as poker? Why the double standard? Is it because one is taxed and the other isn't, so therefore you must demonise the untaxed? And besides why is gambling as a whole frown upon? Do people even know what gambling is? For those who don't lemme give you a conventional definition of the word from freedictionary.com

gam·ble
play_w2("G0027900")
(gmbl)
v. gam·bled, gam·bling, gam·bles
v.intr.
1.
a. To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
b. To play a game of chance for stakes.
2. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
v.tr.
1. To put up as a stake in gambling; wager.
2. To expose to hazard; risk: gambled their lives in a dangerous rescue mission.
n.
1. A bet, wager, or other gambling venture.
2. An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk

Now lemme ask you a question, doesn't almost everything you do in life fit that definition? Businessmen are gamblers because they invest their money (or bet) into something that has an uncertain outcome (their business). Stock sharers, bonders, and holders are the same: The invest in something that they have uncertainties to the outcome. Unless you see the future, every futuristic investment you make is a gamble. You're gambling when you spend money on your education, because what if you spend all that money and the economy flops and no one hires you? Drivers, when you drive your car and commute you're gambling with your life because they is an uncertainty or risk that you may never reach your destination alive. In a sense, everything is a gamble, and Lil' Wayne put it best when he said "Life is a gamble and I'm all about my poker chips." My peeps, make una think about it and tell me what you think.