Should Armenian gambling Sites be welcome to Circle.Am or not?

[Avetis Avagyan]

I’m not sure if gambling Sites (Casinos, poker clubs, etc.) should be permitted to join Circle.Am or not. Our Terms of Service state that Sites with ‘adult’ content are not welcome, but previously it was used to filter out Sites with ‘nudity and similar’.

Here is an example: http://www.erevanpoker.com

I would appreciate learning your views on the subject.

[[ Xelgen ]]

Well, that's a bit tricky.
If circle.am will list gambling websites, personally I'll be OK with that.
But if I were on your place, I'd try to list them separately, or show their statistics if visitor came from circle.am counter from gambling website, but I'd hide them from general list of websites, when visitors come from other places, or come directly to circle.am.

Circle.am is public resource, not requiring registration/personal info to view results, otherwise, I'd show results only to users older then 18 or even 21.

[Avetis Avagyan]

Thank you. I'm not sure that listing few gambling Sites worth such changes... especially if general public is not going to benefit from it. And you know, if general public is not going to see it these gambling sites will not benefit much from being on Circle.Am.

[Vanand]

I am new to this forum and found it because I get google alerts for "erevan" and for "poker". "Adult" only refers to porn. It never refers to gambling, and for sure not to poker. There is an ongoing debate around the world if poker is gambling. Some countries acceptng it as a game of skill or even a sport. If ErevanPoker.com or any other site is catering to Armenians interested in gaming and gambling, I don't see why circle.am should exclude them. I doubt that this is a proper way to keep Armenians "pure".

[Avetis Avagyan]

Thank you Vanand. The idea is not to keep Armenians "pure", but to keep circle.am children-safe. I checked again definitions for 'adult' and indeed it is rather for porn and similar. In the same time this particular site tells "18+", which probably means "adult content".

For the moment I have received more comments favoring gambling Sites than opposing them (incl. http://www.computer.am/2010/03/09/sh...welcome-or-not). My wife and I are rather opposing the inclusion. I would definitely prefer seeing some more comments from others.

P.S. Another possibility is maybe going case-by-case when reviewing submissions trying to figure out if content is children-safe or not. I know this may be not so easy.

[voter]

How about sites doing nothing else than propagation of non authorized video, audio materials?
Do circle.am feel good to have such a ones in ratings?

[erevanpoker]

First of all, children cannot play at www.erevanpoker.com for real money.
Poker, although played often in casinos, is not gambling. This has been recognized by many countries and Armenia will get there as well.
Erevan Poker, although based in Vienna, Austria, and licensed in EU, is the official cardroom of Armenian Poker Federation. APF is a member of the International Poker Federation, which belongs to Mind Sports Association. To participate in world championships organized by these bodies we need good players. How do we get them? Where can Armenian poker players hone their skills? Considering the difficulties with getting visas and cost of travel, there is no better place to play against strongest international players but online.
We are creating Team Armenia to play under the Armenian flag against the best players of the world at WSOP, EPT and other competitions. If we can beat them in Chess, we’ll be able to do it in Poker as well. After all, bluffing is a major weapon in poker and who’s a better bluffer than the Armenians? We bluffed the history and survived, didn’t we?
And I am not even mentioning all the opportunities Erevan Poker provides to support different charities, free press and the Armenian Cause.