As it stands today, individual states are free to prohibit or practice gambling within their borders while significant regulations and limits are put on interstate and this activity. In recent years, online video games has seen harsher regulations. With the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA), it was not explicitly banned but instead it was online financial transactions which were outlawed. This meant that online financial dealings from gambling providers were now illegal which led to countless offshore gambling operators excluding US customers from their services.
Existing in Jun 88 , it is no longer a problem of if online gambling will get into the US market but when as well as perhaps how. As just lately as this month, three states have got legalized online gambling and plan to begin offering bets by the end of this year. Naturally, a gaming organization in Las Vegas referred to as Ultimate Gaming was the first to offer online poker but for now restricting it to only players in Nevada. New Jersey and Delaware also have legalized online gambling therefore far ten other states are thinking about legalizing it in some form or another.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Game playing Association has stated that “Unless there is a federal bill passed, we will have the best expansion of legalized gambling in the usa. I don’t believe that’s what anyone intended, but it is what we’re seeing.” This poses lots of questions and of course concerns for most existing commercial casinos and American policy makers. Will legitimate online gambling mean fewer persons in brick and mortar casinos? Will this develop a new source of revenue at the state and national level? Think about taxes and regulations? A rise in gamblers?
Lots of people including Arnie Wexler, former chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling offers voiced concern that with all the good this could do to create income and revenue for specific states there could be problems with an increase in compulsive gambling. There’s particular concern regarding social media marketing in the US as some spots like Zynga have previously begun taking real-money bets.
Taking in mind the questions and concerns, many resort casinos are already making ideas 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.”