Germany punishes own citizens

Author: Simon Dexter

Germany finally decided to make online poker illegal from the January 1 2008 but how will it really affect the millions of German gamblers who regularly crowd the poker rooms around Europe?

In a word (or rather two) it won’t. It seems that the ban is primarily aimed at stopping new players from joining poker websites. The affair has similarities with the situation in the US. Over the pond there is little problem in players getting a game online once they’ve registered, proved who they are and got on with the business of depositing money.

The whole ban in various countries has the side effect of stopping someone beginning to play poker on impulse with some arguing that although poker is a very simple game it can take a few hands to begin to understand its nuances and therefore stopping a few amateurs who believe the game to be easy is no bad thing.

Still, I spend a lot of time in Berlin and there is nothing I like doing better than firing up Littlewoods Poker when bored in a hotel room and playing a sit n go or an mtt.

It has been my performances in mtt’s that have pleased me of late and now for the first time I am regularly reaching final tables and while not always walking off with the top prize, I’m holding my own and with a bit of luck and patience I win my fair share of these tournaments.

More on my strategy in lower stakes mtt’s in the future but returning to Germany’s ban, the whole situation is really to protect state monopolies in sports betting and the lottery.

The bottom line is that the government makes so much cash from gamblers that any erosion due to fair competition would put a fair dint in each state’s coffers. So great is the flood of money that income taxes would need to raised - the last thing any politician wants to do.

If you want to experience the best in UK online poker then Littlewoods Poker has you covered. We’ve got poker tournaments and tables to suit all levels, so you’ll feel right at home.