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1. thejerseydevil
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   I complained to the Isle of Man that Pokerstars does nothing to prevent a child from gambling online, and that they have a responsibility to verify ID at the time of registering a real money account. I received the explanantion below. You can interpret this however you like -- I read it as "we wouldn't mind doing something to keep kids off our member sites as long as it doesn't cost the sites any of their gambling customers or us any of our regulation customers."

   Players who arrive at a site want to start playing as soon as they can. If they are slowed down by a registration process that is harder than an unregulated site, they will simply switch to the unregulated site where they can start playing faster. That means more players playing on unregulated sites and no incentive for companies to seek licenses and that’s bad for players. So the issue of up-front registration is a fairly complex one and up-front verification will never stop a minor with access to his dad’s passport from playing.

   Posted 2 months ago #

2. Big Jim Slade v2.0
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   It is an interesting interpretation you have created to explain The Isle of Man's answer. I can only presume this is a direct communication to you from the Lord of Mann, who is also known to others as Queen Elizabeth II. Or perhaps this proclamation came from Tynwald, while a small concern to the world at large, it is in fact the oldest continuous Parliament in the world.

   Not that I care, but who sent you the message?

   You speak of a concept known to some as Secure Authentication. It is a complex issue. I recall once being subjected to an extreme form of this type of verification. Six months later, after interviews by FBI agents, I still had yet to pass and be approved. I was told another year of investigations were in order. As the (presumed) Master of Tynwald has told you, players will just go elsewhere. Well, I did.

   Anyone in the industry (of secure authentication) knows you cannot prove identity, or age verification to an absolute certainty. How secure do you want this to be? That is the question.

   You have, Mr. TheJerseyDevil, framed an alledged problem. Minors playing on online sites. You say the sites should be required to do more. The (alledged) Master of Tynwald said

   So the issue of up-front registration is a fairly complex one and up-front verification will never stop a minor with access to his dad’s passport from playing.

   I can't argue with what he said here. What exactly are you proposing the online sites should be doing?

   Posted 2 months ago #

3. thejerseydevil
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   Wow Jim, does any of that first paragraph pass as an attempt at humor where you're from? The answer to your question, without naming names, is the supervisor of the original person who responded to my email sent to gaming@im.gov.

   In response to your last question, gosh, how about they just do something. At the moment the 16 year old kid who mows your lawn and gets paid by check has enough information to sign up for an account in your name and start gambling. For that matter, i'm not entirely certain that in the event that kid sends a deposit by Western Union cash Pokerstars wouldn't permit him to gamble under the name Santa Claus.

   If Uncle Sam gets involved these sites will most definitely be required to make reasonable efforts to verify identity -- why can't Pokerstars simply have the decency to do it on their own accord? How is it that the Isle of Man holds themselves out to be a "regulator" and places the interests of expanding business over the interests of protecting children from gambling sites?

   I think it is an absurd arguement to claim that as neither the Isle of Man nor Pokerstars can achieve absolute 100% certainty in efforts to verify identity that they should be permitted to not make any effort at all. Credit card name/address verification, a copy of a drivers license or passport or even something simple like a phone call to the number provided are all simple things that these sites should be doing but aren't.

   Society's interests in protecting children from predatory websites far outweigh the concern that gambling sites may lose some new business. If we disagree on that point "Big Jim" I'm afraid your values are even more screwed up than your sense of humor.

   Posted 2 months ago #

4. PokerPro111
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   Hey thejerseydevil,

   Here's an idea, talk to your kids and keep an eye on them and parent them yourself instead of asking PokerStars to do it. Just a thought.

   In case they're not your kids, relay my message to who ever kids they are because you cannot expect a BUSINESS to WANT to have more expenses and less profits. IT IS BUSINESS, not charity. Yes they have a responsibility to be ethical, but you CANNOT expect them to incur HUGE losses to profits and hire THOUSANDS of people to man the phone lines when people call in, not to mention all of the business they will lose by doing what you propose.

   Posted 2 months ago #

5. Nick Maiorana
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   Hmmmmm, lets look at it this way. It costs more for McDonald's to make sure my burgers are not contaminated, but instead of them taking the hit on profit for it I should just inspect the meat before I eat it.

   Posted 1 month ago #

6. TheEngineer
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   Thejerseydevil,

   Did you write to PokerStars? It seems they'd be the appropriate ones to address your concerns.

   Posted 1 month ago #

7. RickRobards
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   Mr. Obama,

   Since the implementation of the port security and internet gambling act (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-109publ347/content-detail.html), Americans have been forced to play online poker on only two unregulated sites, Pokerstars and Full Tilt.

   Everybody knows that the internet gambling portion of this act was a farce. What possible association did online poker have with funding terrorists any more than say EBAY. It was a congressional coup to create a monopoly of tax revenue generating interests (Pokerstars and Full Tilt).

   Now that they are generating taxes at an extreme amount Congress is obvously hesitant to regulate this industry (15 Billion). As a result, your administration is inheriting a windfall that will soon cease to exist.

   The failure of Congress to regulate this extremely viable taxable industry has resulted in fraud. Both Pokerstars and FullTilt have no oversight and they have a monopoly in American interest in online poker. They have no competitors and they know Congress loves the tax income.

   Prior to the port security act, I personally played online poker at a dozen sites...even using sophisticated math to ...break even. After the port security act, my analysis clearly shows that Pokerstars and FullTilt (without oversight) have agressively pursued profits, paid their taxes, and cheated unconditionally. Both Sites measure and ensure the maximum of hands played per minute and have included their supposed ramdomization algorithms to ensure such at the loss of true randomization.

   On behalf of all poker loving Americans I submit:

   1. The Port Security act was a greedy lie by Congress to steal from Americans playing online poker.
   2. Without Congressional oversight and wihtout free market competition, PS and FT have manipulated their software.
   3. This industry will most certainly move underground without executive action.

   Posted 1 month ago #

8. RickRobards
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   Both Sites measure and ensure the maximum of hands played per minute

   Posted 1 month ago #

9. Skallagrim
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   While I suppose there is value in the notion that one should check things out for one's self, It is wrong to state and believe, as some of the posts above do, that PokerStars and FTP are "unregulated" and/or "unaccountable." Both sites are highly regulated in their home jurisdictions, the Isle of Man, and Aderney. These jurisdictions are both part of the UK, and sites from these jurisdictions have the highest clearance from the UK gaming commission.

   Do you think these sites only rig their games for US players? How would that even be possible? If its not possible then UK players must also be experiencing these rigged games. Is no one in the UK smart enough to complain about them?

   Bottom line: FTP and Stars do not rig their games. If they did the Europeans who have a clear ability to sue and/or shut them down would already have done so.

   The US is not the only developed country in the world.

   Skallagrim

   Posted 1 month ago #

10. Nick Maiorana
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    I believe no one can say if their games are rigged or not. Random outcomes are generated electronically and it would be very difficult for anyone to say how legitimate their games are. Full regulation would require not only outside software testing, but outside server management and software deployment.

    Why? Because even if their software is certified by an independent 3rd party, someone has to make sure that the ONLY the certified software is used to run the games at the site. For instance, a self managed, fraudulent company may have their software certified, but only run the certified software on 10% of it servers. The other servers could have a modified version of the software that promotes site favorable outcomes at a higher percentage than a statistically correct game.

    Just thinking outside the box here.

    Posted 1 month ago #

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