As it stands today, individual states are free to prohibit or practice gambling of their borders while significant rules and limits are placed on interstate which activity. Recently, online game playing has seen harsher restrictions. With the Unlawful Net Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA), it was not explicitly banned but instead it was online financial transactions that were outlawed. This meant that all online financial dealings from gambling service providers were now illegal which resulted in countless offshore gambling operators excluding US buyers from their services.
Existing in this legal grey area, it is no more a dilemma of if online gambling will enter in the US market but when as well as perhaps how. As recently as this month, three states possess legalized online gambling and intend to begin offering bets by the finish of this year. Naturally, a gaming firm in Las Vegas known as Ultimate Gaming was the first ever to offer online poker but also for now restricting it to sole players in Nevada. NJ and Delaware also have legalized online gambling therefore far ten other states are thinking about legalizing it in a few form or another.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gambling Association has said that “Unless there is a federal bill passed, we will have the best expansion of legalized gambling in america. I don’t believe that’s what anyone intended, but it is what we’re seeing.” This poses many questions and of course concerns for many existing commercial casinos in addition to American policy makers. Will legitimate online gambling mean fewer folks in offline casinos? slot Will this create a new source of revenue at the state and national level? What about taxes and regulations? An increase in gamblers?
Many people including Arnie Wexler, former chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling has voiced concern that with all the good this could do to generate income and revenue for particular states there may be problems with an increase in compulsive gambling. There’s particular concern regarding social media in the US as some places like Zynga have already begun taking real-money bets.
Taking in mind the questions and concerns, many hotel casinos are already making programs to extend into online gambling to check their bodily casinos. Geoffrey Stewart, general office manager of Caesars Online Poker has said “Like any business, you’re always looking for what is another distribution channel.”