Steve,

The main premise of your post is that poker is "a game associated with gambling" and as a result, should not be on RC.

While I certainly appreciate your opinion I have to say I do not agree with it. More to the point, it doesn't hold water.

Football, baseball, basketball, golf and many other sports are "associated with gambling" and to such a large extent that most Vegas casinos have enormous sports betting parlors. Do you not allow your children to watch baseball, football, hockey, basketball because there are billions bet on it each year? What about the super bowl? THat is one of the most heavily bet on events of the year so if your association to a "game" is what makes you guilty we need to stop kids from watching sports.

Any parent who views our site and decides to limit their child's access because we have a poker-style giveaway misses the mark completely. It is up to parents to educate their children so they know the difference between gambling and games. If the parents don't know the difference, I would expect them to ban their child from all of our information and services simply because there is a poker game. But an informed parent who has taught their child about what gambling is -- namely: risking something of value in a game of chance for a possible reward -- will realize that gambling can take many forms and that the game of poker is not inherently evil or something worthy of censorship.

I also offer this: If a child has never been exposed to poker before and finds our game, how in the world can they "associate" it with gambling? They can't! Only mom and dad can because that has been their experience. So how is the child harmed?? On the other hand, if the child HAS been exposed to gambling, it's not our free game that is going to turn the kid into a gambling addict or junky. No -- it will be the real gambling sites that do the damage. In either case, it's incredibly naive to think that neither parents nor kids are able to distinguish gambling from a simple card game.

We created this game because sweepstakes and other giveaways are typically boring. Poker is a game of luck AND SKILL. It's also fun. I'm sorry you don't see it that way. But regardless of how you see it, our game is hardly the scourge you make it out to be.

marc