As it stands today, individual states are free to prohibit or practice gambling within their borders while significant regulations and limits are placed on interstate and this activity. Recently, online video games has seen harsher restrictions. With the Unlawful Web Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA), it had been not explicitly banned but instead it was online financial transactions which were outlawed. CMD368 This meant that online financial dealings from gambling providers were now illegal which led to various offshore gambling operators excluding US clients from their services.
Existing in this legitimate grey area, it is no more a issue of if online gambling will key in the US market but when and perhaps how. As lately as this month, three states have legalized online gambling and intend to begin offering bets by the finish of the year. Naturally, a gaming organization in Las Vegas known as Ultimate Gaming was the first ever to offer online poker but also for now restricting it to just players in Nevada. NJ and Delaware have also legalized online gambling and so far ten other states are thinking about legalizing it in a few form or another.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Video games Association has stated that “Unless there exists a federal bill passed, we are going to have the greatest expansion of legalized gambling in the United States. I don’t think that’s what anyone intended, but it is what we’re seeing.” This poses lots of questions not to mention concerns for many existing commercial casinos in addition to American policy makers. Will legal online gambling mean fewer individuals in offline casinos? Will this develop a new way to obtain revenue at the state and national level? Think about taxes and regulations? An increase in gamblers?
Many people including Arnie Wexler, former chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling features voiced concern that with the good this could do to create income and revenue for individual states there may 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 all the questions and concerns, many resort casinos are already making strategies to expand into online gambling to complement their physical casinos. Geoffrey Stewart, general supervisor of Caesars Online Poker has said “Like any business, you’re always looking for what is the next distribution channel.”