I’m not really betting woman, normally - but I do like a good game of poker or blackjack. I’m pretty decent at both games and usually don’t regret any game I’ve ever sat in on. My gambling moments were usually kept for those visits to Vegas, or Atlantic City - - or even the Indian gaming casinos here in Wisconsin.

I can drive down the highway for about 30 minutes and find a casino.. walk in and sit myself down to a game of poker or blackjack anytime that I want. Not that I ever find the time to do so, but I could, if I wanted to. It’s perfectly legal. I could spend and lose my life savings if I wanted to, as well - I’m sure there are folks who have.

What I cannot do, anymore, is login to any online casino and gamble from my computer. My government has told me that it’s in my best interest not to when they outlawed online gambling for US citizens.

So, I can gamble down the road from my home - but cannot gamble from my home on my computer. What’s the difference? I would imagine the difference is a few things:

1.) Not all online casinos are on the up and up. (big shocker there)

2.) The money is flowing out of the country, instead of in.

3.) Because all the online casinos operate outside the US, our government can have no control or employ any system of watching and regulating business practices.

4.) Because there seems to be a problem with underage gambling online. (shouldn’t the problem with underage drinking lead to a ban on alcohol? Wait, no - alcohol tax makes too much money no matter what the age of the consumer.)

“Once this is clear, in some years Congress will legislate and tax it. In 2010 online gambling might be worth over 24 billion dollars. You can’t eradicate it,” Joseph Kelly, a law professor specialising in gambling at Buffalo State College in New York, stated.

Once, almost exactly a year ago, I won $2,000 in one 50-dollar hand of “Let ‘Em Ride”, which was pretty awesome, of course.

Sigh. It seems that, at least for now, my online gambling days are over. At least until the US government finds a way to regulate (and tax) online gambling - - I guess my cash will have to stay where it really belongs in the first place… my bank account. Because my government is interested in protecting my money, right? Because my government says it’s for my own good. Because my government says gambling is bad - unless you’re in Vegas, cuz what happens in Vegas…. wtf ever.