POKER, PUBLIC POLICY, INDIANS AND HIGHER EDUCATION

By now, you know the back story: The FBI has closed down the major online poker sites. Seizures and arrests are happening as I type this. Everybody is going to lawyer up and this thing will shake out in about three years. In the meantime, this raises some serious policy questions:

1. First, this is obviously going to drive the poker players back to brick and mortar games. What are the Indians going to do with all that extra money? This is a true redistribution of assests, from the Carribean to the Reservation.

2. The impact of this on campus cannot be overstated. What are the guys who can't get a date now going to do on weekends?

3. I can't wait for the next "Freakanomics" book to come out. The analysis of the use of resources here and the likely unintended consequences should be very entertaining.

4. It's kind of interesting that a source of banking business is being tubed while the Gov't is telling banks to get their cash balances up--after all, it was banks who made this gaming possible.


Anyway, it'll be a while before we see the River Card on this one.