
Originally Posted by
Headshot
Druff - Repost that mouthful on 2+2 and let me know how it goes for you. All those "normally smart" people clearly need to be enlightened.
Given that you still don't get it, I'm starting to think you never will. This has nothing to do with "the law".
Everyone knows that online poker shouldn't be illegal. So it's not that hard to understand why people that like playing online poker are upset they lost another one of their dwindling options by virtue of some big interest bullshit, especially when others committed real crimes on a scale thousands of times worse and nothing happened to them, why is that?
We can agree that Micon was at least partly responsible (even as marketing guy) for running or being involved with an unlicensed site from a highly flawed location.
Seriously though, who gives fuck? Seals didn't steal/scam/cheat anybody. You play and bet sports on other unlicensed sites all the time. Why is that?
Based on the lack of options for USA players, Micon was able to generate a few hundred nerds willing to play for funny money just so they could cash out quickly and have a decent community to play cards.
He went about it wrong obviously but the whole "he made money when I could of" or "omg unlicensed rogue operator" stuff is just retarded.
The lawmakers made a horrendously dumb law for bullshit reasons. While I don't advocate breaking laws and thumbing your nose at enforcement, jail is by no means anywhere near the proper punishment for a guy like Micon.
These "laws" you have such a boner for... are they being enforced uniformly? I have a tee time tomorrow at 2 with Lederer if you're free?
Why is "he made money when everyone else otherwise could if they were also willing to break the law" a retarded argument?
It's absolutely true.
You are punishing everyone who followed the laws/regulations if you knowingly allow those breaking the laws to profit by doing so.
That's why it's absolutely idiotic to claim that Micon should have gone untouched by authorities because "poker should be legal".
Okay, so if we say that online poker should be legal, and even if we say that anyone should be able to run unregulated online gaming sites without consequence, why the fuck does Micon deserve a head start to make money from it when everyone else is waiting for the law to be changed.
It's a basic rule of society. Except in cases of extreme, life-changing injustice, you can't just pick and choose laws which you find inconvenient, break them, and then whine about persecution when you are arrested and prosecuted for it.
If you want to take a chance and offer illegal online poker to US residents (and get personally enriched in return), fine. I have no problem with that, just as I have no problem with sites like Bovada taking that same chance. However, it's retarded to whine about being persecuted when you get caught.
The bottom line is that Micon should not be let off simply because we don't agree with current online poker laws. He used those laws to profit big, and now he has to accept the negative consequences of those same laws.