Death of poker in America (text of Caro 2006 speech)

Rio in Las Vegas / July 28, 2006

Mike Caro address to the Poker Players Alliance at its public launch

United States congress had just passed a bill restricting its citizens from participating in online poker


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Let’s fill in the blank: In order to operate our business, we will need ____. (A) employees; or (B) parents.

The answer is (A) employees. Employees are the people who work for us. Parents are the folks who tell us what to do when we’re children.

Employees

The United States is traditionally thought to be a beacon of freedom in an increasingly uncertain world. It has a government of the people, which means we hire employees to help us live free and happy lives, and we don’t pay parents to repress us.

Some of our employees in the House of Representatives temporarily forgot why they were hired. They became confused and acted as unreasonable parents. And so, because we care about them — as we care about all our good employees — we must counsel them and make sure they understand that we are not China.

You see, many of these same employees in the House have criticized China for denying its citizens free access to the ideas and activities on the Internet. Now they have passed a bill that would threaten American access to poker — our traditional card game.

Heritage

At a time when the world is bonding with us online through poker — a game that is at the heart of our heritage — are we going to leave empty chairs at those online tables, showing the world that we are repressed, that our parents have sent us to our rooms?

In counseling our employees in the House of Representatives — employees we may choose to hire again — let us remind them that repression isn’t part of their job description, that poker is our game, that we’re proud to share it with the world, and that we are not China.

END OF MIKE CARO ADDRESS TO PPA

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Mike Caro

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Known as the “Mad Genius of Poker,” Mike Caro is generally regarded as today's foremost authority on poker strategy, psychology, and statistics. He is the founder of Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy (MCU). See full bio → HERE.

 

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  1. Mike- How rapidly is heads-up poker advancing? It seems to me that heads-up in small casinos is a difficult situation – one reason is that the house cannot find or hire enough dealers. Here is what might happen in the near future- Poker tables will be designed to accept only 2 players and the poker table will be electronically designed. IE., there will be no dealer, no cards, and no chips. What say you? Let me clarify my position- I have never pokered in a casino, and have never played on line.  The best – Nelson.

    1.  

      Hi, Nelson –

      I agree with promoting electronic tables for heads-up and other short-handed games that are less economical for assigning real-world dealers.

      Straight Flushes,

      Mike Caro

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