[MW Forums]

PartyGaming has released a real money client for Mac OS X users looking for an online poker gaming experience. more

[lhudd]

Online gambling is illegal in the United States so the sites can't advertise here. Nice to see MW doing their advertising for them.

[owenink]

Actually, the legality of playing poker online for money in the US remains questionable. The courts have not definitively resolved this issue. In the meantime, online poker remains an extremely popular activity the world over.
Macworld is merely pointing out that Mac users now have another choice when they want to play poker online for real money.
At present, PartyPoker, FullTilt Poker, and PokerRoom all support the Mac, but the latter does so only through Java, not a downloadable Mac OS X client app.

[lhudd]

Yeah, it's illegal. If the federal government says it's illegal, it's illegal until the courts say otherwise. They currently attack legality through the telephone and wire statute that makes placing bets over the phone illegal. Believe me, if a court struck down that interpretation (vis-a-vis the internet), the a new law specifically banning interstate internet gambling would be drafted and passed in record time.
The tricky part about internet gambling is enforcement. Most of these entities are outside US territorial borders, so there's no jurisdiction to grab them. However, those inside the US (i.e., the gamblers) are subject to us law. Nobody wants to be the first example. Just ask the guy that owns betonsports.com that got arrested the moment he set foot in the US.
When the government, THIS government, is hell bent against you betting online... .it's best to not mess with them. Personally, I am of the belief that gambling of all sorts should be allowed and regulated. I don't approve of morality laws, but when they are in place... i obey them.

[Nobody]

Quote:

---

Personally, I am of the belief that gambling of all sorts should be allowed and regulated.

---

In other words, allow the government to take their cut from it in return of their blessings, making it one of the most regressive form of taxation... it's the latter part that concerns me (I include state sponsored lottery in the same category).

[owenink]

Just because a prosecutor is willing to bring a case against someone doesn't mean they have violated the law. That's up to the courts to decide. The jury is still out on the legality of online poker. Visit http://www.playwinni...ne/poker/legal/ for more info.
You are right, however, that nobody wants to be the test case and take on the US government on this issue. That's why all the online poker sites are based overseas.
Getting back to the issue at hand, I think Macworld is doing its job in reporting the availability of the new Mac client for PartyPoker. Would you like them to censor themselves and not report news? After all, Macworld is read by people all over the world, and many of those readers aren't subject to US law and can freely play online poker without violating any laws.