America’s biggest threat: online poker

Wednesday, July 13th, 2005

LAS VEGAS

HERE IS MY fear about the poker nation we are creating, part one: One day, while tens of millions of us are holed up in our bedrooms or dens — shades lowered, computers whirring — playing four screens of Texas hold ’em simultaneously, Soviet troops will roll into New York and bring America to the brink of collapse.*

(* I know some of you are saying, "What do you mean, Soviet troops? There is no Soviet Union anymore." Poker players don’t know this — they are too busy trying to make a flush on the river.)

Here is my fear about the poker nation we are creating, part two: With college students spending dozens of dormitory hours weekly at Internet sites, and young professionals wasting away their down time losing the mortgage money online one house drop at a time, a decade from now Gamblers Anonymous will have more outlets than Starbucks.

For the past few days here at the Rio Hotel and Casino, 5,619 players have gathered to chase the $7.5 million first prize in the World Series of Poker Main Event. It is a stunning spectacle, a testament to the rising popularity of poker.

But there is a dark side. Poker’s growth is fueled mainly by television and the Internet — TV always worries me; the Internet worries me more.

I love playing the game and, now, as an analyst on ESPN, I love talking about it. And I’m certain that much of the newfound interest emanates from people playing on the Internet.

Still, I’m struck by a notion — online poker is great for the game and lousy for the greater good of America.

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