Where are the victims? Does the cost to investigate this case justify the ends? Imagine for a moment that today there is an international hot dog eating contest. Imagine further that each participant from every nation participating must pay an entry fee that is used to fund the event and the prize. Is that not gambling under the definition the FBI and Justice Department appears to be using in the online Poker case?The current world champion, Joey Chestnut, will participate, but his entry fee is paid by sponsors; so, he has no personal stake at risk. Is there a chance you could beat him if you studied the event and properly trained? If winning required training, doesn’t that imply a skill as a necessary underpinning to your chance of success?

In poker, many hands are won or lost without the deal every being fully executed. Players evaluate their cards, they evaluate not just the bets, but the size of the bets and their timing. They integrate their knowledge of their opponents past betting patterns and risk taking tendencies, and only then, do they choose to bet and continue, or to fold and wait for a better opportunity. How is betting under these requirements be any different than hitting a baseball that could come as a curve ball, a fast ball, a sinker, a cut fast ball, a change-up, or any other variation of a ball thrown at any point in a pitching count?

Aren’t people who see themselves as prospective ball players taking a risk with their bankrolls and their futures when they choose to gamble on the chance that they may or may not be chosen in a draft or as a walk on? Aren’t student athletes taking a similar gamble on winning a professional career by dropping out of school to declare eligibility? What is the difference from leagues where players buy in to participate in a prize driven sporting event or league that pays out best performers in particular categories and for placement? Is this multi-million dollar “investigation” of an adult activity the sort of thing our taxes should be paying for, or should the government stay out of our business and allow us the full exercise of rational free choice to pursue our goals, dreams or interests?

If this is about tax collections, then, maybe the government should use our tax monies to figure out how to close loopholes and create structures whereby the earnings of companies such as Full-Tilt, PokerStars, Absolute Poker, etc. can be tracked and properly taxed on their profits. Why is the government not trying to stop hotdog eating contests in this age of our so-called national obesity crisis when participants such as Mr. Chestnut consume as between 16,000 calories and 28,000 calories per event? Is that next? Goodbye Nathan’s? Goodbye Coney Island?

Nah…you hot dog lovers need to fear not for now (unless you are in Boston and the hotdogs are moistened by a sugar based drink). This looks like it may be next:

“I haven’t had a glass of soda in two years,’’ Menino said during a press conference at City Hall announcing the measure. "If I can get this skinny, so can you."

For the record, I hate playing poker!