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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

June 12, 2009

Solving the Off-Shore Poker Problem

The 2009 World Series of Poker is well underway, and the number of entries per tournament has most observers surprised. Many thought there'd be a giant drop in attendance, and they were disappointed and surprised. Many thought there'd be an increase in attendance, and they were happy and surprised. It's true. After a long run as the most popular money making game that doesn't require a lot of physical training, poker still reigns as king (and queen).

What is not surprising is that poker is no longer an American game; it's world wide.

The winner of Event No. 2 (Vitaly Lunkin) is Russian; Thang Luu, who won the third event (defending his 2008 title), is a Vietnamese American; Event No. 4 saw Korean born Steve Sung take the crown. American Jason Mercier took the title for the fifth event while Freddie Ellis of Brooklyn won the stud tournament and Nebraska-born Travis Johnson won the seventh contest. Americans Phil Ivey (who pulled in the title for the eighth contest) and Ken Aldridge of North Carolina (winning Event No. 9) tilted the geographic population in favor or North America. When event No. 10 ended, the title went to a Saudi Arabian named Rami Boukai and No. 11 went to Anthony Harb of Michigan. Finland's Ville Wahlbeck took a bracelet for No. 12 and Kevin Stammen of Ohio grabbed a trophy for the thirteenth contest.

Those were the only completed tournaments at the time of this writing but based solely on the winners circle, it's a mixed crowd of people from near the Rio (where the tournament plays out) and far. Delving more deeply into the money winners brings a bigger foreign talent pool into the picture.

Most of these players likely came from the online arena where they happily and easily deposit money into a poker account and step up to the digital table.

Interestingly, with a big crowd at this year's tournament, many of the American competitors also came from wins off online events. What one wonders, however, is how long this will last.

See the U.S. is now freezing any offshore poker accounts, doubling its effort to save Americans from becoming digital gambling addicts. Under the guise of calling these dollars money laundering, the government is looking for a way put some teeth into the unlawful gaming act that sneaked into effect as a smear on the port protection bill in 2006.

I guess the government has some worries about this money laundering thing but instead of looking for a way to regulate and tax off-shore gambling, the plot is to try to stop it. I don't suppose anyone remembers what happened when a similar move called the Eighteenth Amendment tried to stop Americans from drinking the hard stuff. Talk about American ingenuity and money laundering! And those guys never bluffed when it came breaking the law.

I don't really care much about playing poker online. I can take it or leave it. But I absolutely believe the U.S. government should get involved only so far as it does with other activities.

Here's my solution.

First, go into a bargaining position with off-shore gaming entities and work out a method whereby the U.S. can identify and track (if necessary) American players.

Second, set up a licensing agency for players much like a driving license. This license will be used to record deposits and withdrawals, wins and losses, all of which will be taxable.

Third, require the gaming entity to provide tax documentation to the IRS on wins over a preset amount.

Fourth, have funding agencies (banks, credit card companies, etc) require a player show the license before being allowed to deposit money in an off-shore account.

Fifth, allow these records to be scrutinized by whatever agency thinks there might be some money laundering afloat.

Sixth, let us have our freedom to spend our money offshore whether we are there physically or virtually.

There you have it. A solution to the off-shore poker problem, which most of us don't identify as a problem. It looks simple because it is. The fewer strings attached the fewer places the plan can break down.