A scenario that I can envision is a bad one for poker all over. As players who do not live close to a legal poker room are unable to play on a regular, convenient basis, a large percentage of online players lose interest in poker and move on to something else. In addition, the sudden disappearance of online sites means the loss of most satellite entrances into high buy-in tournaments. My guess is the playing fields in most, if not all high buy-in tournaments, drop significantly. As a result, the payouts drop significantly, and the glamour of the televised tournaments drops somewhat. Less regular players may also mean less interest in televised poker. I think it's quite possible that poker venues in the US, as a whole, may take a big hit as a result of this legislation. The effect may not be immediate, but I image it could happen.

I have no idea what will happen with sports betting venues.

Just some thoughts.

Michael Siskin