As it stands today, individual states are free to prohibit or practice gambling within their borders while significant rules and limits are placed on interstate and this activity. In recent years, online games has seen harsher regulations. With the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA), it was not explicitly banned but rather it had been online financial transactions that were outlawed. This meant that online financial dealings from gambling providers were now illegal which led to numerous offshore gambling operators excluding US consumers from their services.
Existing in this legitimate grey area, it is no longer a concern of if online gambling will enter the US market but when and perhaps how. As recently as this month, three states include legalized online gambling and intend to begin offering bets by the end of this year. Naturally, a gaming organization in Las Vegas known as Ultimate Gaming was the first to offer online poker but also for now restricting it to only players in Nevada. New Jersey 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 Games Association has mentioned that “Unless there exists a federal bill passed, we will have the best expansion of legalized gambling in the usa. I don’t think that’s what anyone intended, nonetheless it is what we’re witnessing.” This poses lots of questions and of course concerns for many existing commercial casinos together with American policy makers. Bonanza777 Will lawful online gambling mean fewer folks in brick and mortar casinos? Will this develop a new source of revenue at hawaii and national level? What about taxes and regulations? An increase in gamblers?
Many people including Arnie Wexler, previous chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling features voiced concern that with all the good this could do to generate income and revenue for specific states there could be problems with an increase in compulsive gambling. There is particular concern regarding social media marketing in the US as some places like Zynga have already 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 actual physical casinos. Geoffrey Stewart, general office manager of Caesars INTERNET POKER has said “Like any business, you’re always searching for what is the next distribution channel.”