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Opinion

Online gambling should remain legal

John Arterbury
Opinion Columnist

The pioneers of Texas hold --em started their careers quietly in the shadows. Donning cowboy hats and puffing on unfiltered cigarettes, these gambling enthusiasts traded cash and cards in smoky Panhandle rooms, evading the prying eyes of vice squads, traveling from locale to locale and securing their reputations with seedy nicknames. Fortunes were squandered and legends were forged through this underground gambling culture.

Despite origins of ill repute, over the past few years, Texas hold --em spread like wildfire across college campuses and television networks. Players no longer congregated secretly in bar stock rooms — instead, they organized tournaments in scales unforeseen by the gamers of eras past. Gone were the days of word-of-mouth networks — an obscure poker game had taken on a new life. The game, and many other variants, quickly found an even greater medium for distribution on the Internet. Companies operating outside American jurisdiction, free from American gambling regulations, set up shop and lured in American gamblers in untold numbers.

The arrest of 27 people Wednesday involved in online gambling in four states shows the federal government is serious about enforcing the recently enacted Safe Port Act, which effectively outlaws almost all forms of online gambling where money changes hands. While the perpetrators threw in elements — such as historic sports paraphernalia — into their illegal wagers, these seizures once again bring online gambling to the national forefront. The government has demonstrated its belief that gamers should be prohibited from partaking in their pastime. While prohibiting online gambling may seem the morally upstanding thing to do, the arguments for doing so are often without validity.

The claim that online gambling represents a loss of revenue for the economy is specious at best. Millions of dollars are inevitably sent overseas during these transactions, but if it were legal for online gambling companies to be hosted in the United States, this money would never leave American borders. Americans could stimulate the economy additionally by using it for purchases at home.

Before legislation, overseas Internet gambling provided a possible avenue for illicit organizations to launder their money. While this route is no longer an option for these organizations, money laundering should not be an issue. If online gambling were legalized within the U.S., greater emphasis could be placed on monitoring the users and the exchange of credit. We would not need to cite money laundering as a significant threat; the practice could be eliminated through closer domestic monitoring that would be afforded by allowing these corporations to work within the confines of the American economy.

Legislating against vice requires a holier-than-thou outlook devoid of reason. Moralists and legislators work under the errant assumption that people cannot control their inhibitions. For those advocating prohibition, self-moderation is almost entirely unheard of. 

The vast majority of those engaging in online gambling don--t sign away their life savings in the blink of an eye.

Many people lose significant sums of money, but that is their prerogative. Online gambling is ultimately a matter of personal freedom, whether it--s the freedom to gain fortunes or lose them. 

There are myriad other risky endeavors that are perfectly legal. Tobacco smoking is one such activity. Unlike gambling, tobacco smoking poses no chance of monetary gain; we can only observe a net loss. Because of the risks and addictive nature of smoking, tobacco corporations are obligated to sponsor numerous smoking cessation programs. An analogous system could be instituted for online gambling.

If gambling were legalized, companies could be required to at least partially subsidize gambling addiction rehabilitation programs and public awareness campaigns. A strong, industry-supported treatment infrastructure would go a long way in defraying the costs of gambling addiction on society. Rehabilitation is more reasonable than punishment as a form of negotiating with unsavory practices, and prohibition of online gambling is just that — punishment.

Arterbury, a communication sophomore, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu