Not too long ago, Congress voted on measures to make it illegal for payment processing companies to accept payments for online gambling - everything but off track betting, which is a bit of a strange hypocrisy.

I haven’t really heard of it being enforced anywhere, aside from the American arrest of the British director of Sportingbet/Paradise Poker in September, but I did hear about the thousands of players in the US who suddenly dropped out of online play. I was among them, less because of the new laws than the fact that I started TechKnowMe at about the same time and found my schedule rapidly booked.

Before the law passed, I received a ton of emails from the sites I played on - Bodog, Full Tile, Party Poker and, my favorite, Poker Stars. I also was on a couple of mailing lists for advice on better play strategies and such. It seems all that dried up in September and remained pretty low key and quiet. At least until the Democrats took back Congress.

Suddenly, Bodog is reminding me that I have cash in my account. Poker Stars is trying to get me involved in several free rolls. Roy Rounder has begun sharing his expertise with me again. In short, the defeat of the Republicans last month appears to have sounded a charging bell for the online poker rooms. The law has not been repealed as far as I know, but it sounds like these guys are betting that it will be soon.

That would ultimately be a good thing. The argument that online gambling should be illegal because it leads to addiction rings extremely hollow in a country where cigarettes and alcohol are freely distributed. Laws banning online gambling actually hurt the US economy by allowing US money to flow out to the foreign nations where it’s perfectly legal. The Internet has a way of erasing physical and cultural boundaries, so it’s unrealistic to assume that making it illegal in the US will keep US players from using foreign sites. Instead, it should be completely legal to run gambling sites in the US to keep that money onshore and provide a boost for those plucky entrepreneurs willing to take the risk of running an online casino.

I hope the poker guys win their bet on this new congress. I have never been a fan of governments that legislate morality, and the Democrats do have a record of supporting the personal liberties of US citizens. Here’s hoping that continues under the new regime.