Looking ahead

It looks like Internet gambling might be safe for the time being. Two senators apparently objected to anti-gambling provisions being attached to a defense bill, but Internet gambling opponents say they will continue to fight for a prohibition before the Nov. 7 general elections.

This is the only substantial link I found from Google News on the subject, so take this news with a grain of salt. 2+2 didn't have any additional information as of this writing.

Meanwhile, online poker is thriving.

Today at about 10:30 p.m., I sat at a 2/4 NL table with two players from Vietnam and two from Russia, according to the Party Poker's country tag that it puts on players. Maybe this isn't new, and of course it's anecdotal, but I'm glad to see that poker continues to expand.

I used to wonder where all the international poker players were. Online poker seemed to be dominated by United States players, and I wanted the rest of the world to catch on. New players, new blood, new fish. A larger player base is good for the future of the game.

Perhaps the growth of poker in other countries helps explain why the late night games remain loose. Even when the number of players on Party drops from prime time highs of around 90,000 to lows of about 20,000, the tables are still playable.

What gives? Is it that in the wee hours of the morning, people are chasing their losses? Are winners reluctant to end their sessions? Or is it that looser players in different time zones are gambling it up in the daytime halfway across the world?

For whatever reason, even though there are fewer tables at night, it seems like just as many of tables have two or three bad players sitting in. I don't know why.