The End

Friday afternoon - I sipped my coffee, donned my Snuggie, and settled in for my second session of the day. When I tried to sit in at a table, the client informed me that cash games were not available in my area. Thinking it was a glitch, I tried again, but got the same message. I did a few Google searches to figure out what was going on. In the early afternoon only one of the major news services had an article up, but it told me everything I needed to know. Earlier in the days the Feds released a list of charges and rounded up executives from the major US poker sites. Put simply, online poker was over.

Since laws were passed in 2006 restricting the legality of online gambling, the major online sites have maintained an uneasy status quo with law enforcement, working around the laws in ways the government now alleges were illegal. For its part the government chased the money and sometimes shut down third party payment processors, but didn't take sweeping action against the poker sites, until now.

Now there's no going back. There will be a contentious legal battle -- both sides have substantial resources, and neither will feel they can afford to lose. However it turns out, it's hard to imagine the sites ever operating in the US again. If online poker ever returns (which seems likely, given the demand and the incentive to tax it) it will be on different sites, and probably years down the road.

Casual online players have to find a new hobby. Professionals need to turn their lives upside down. In order to keep playing, it will probably be necessary to move out of the country -- not a simple thing to do. There's also the option of switching to brick and mortar casinos, but that involves a big pay cut and lifestyle change. And then, of course, there's getting a real job.

I have mixed feelings. I've been feeling the grind the last few months, so being forced to explore opportunities outside of poker isn't entirely unwelcome. Then again, there's nothing I can do in the short term that will come anywhere close to my hourly wage playing poker.

Anybody hiring?