Poker for Public Profit Proposal

The combination of the Internet and gambling has yielded one of the greatest Internet successes in the form of online gambling. Today, casinos on the Web are as trivial as vegetables in a salad. Therefore, it is not surprising to learn that the gambling community is spreading across the web and can be found at other major intersections online. Take the following story as an example.

The video sharing Website YouTube has hosted a short video of a California resident by the name of Anthony Sandstrom. After receiving permission to air the video from the California Secretary of State, Tuff Fish (that is Mr. Sandstrom's online moniker) has recorded his proposition to allow poker games in the state and use the income to fix California roads.

Justifying online poker as a means to improve local infrastructure and roads is an interesting and convincing spin. It nevertheless does not blur the other side of the coin, part of the motivation for the campaign, stated clearly in the opening sentence of the online petition: "The people of the State of California declare that poker is a great American game with deep roots in this country."

The petition continues and calls for the state government to launch a state-run online poker site as a means of subsidizing fixing the state's roads. He named it the Initiative for Potholes Repair Funded by A California State Owned Online Poker Site. While the name is not catchy or compact, it tells the whole story.

For the initiative to cross from YouTube and the virtual sphere and land on the California ballots for a vote, Tuff Fish must get 430,000 signatures between now and the end of the year. Only then will there be a chance that poker will make its way back onto the virtual sphere, where gamblers can play for their fun, and even public profit.