As it stands today, individual states are free to prohibit or practice gambling of their borders while significant restrictions and limits are placed on interstate and this activity. Recently, online video games has seen harsher restrictions. 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 all online financial dealings from gambling service providers were now illegal which led to countless offshore gambling operators excluding US buyers from their services.
Existing in this legitimate grey area, it is no longer a dilemma of if online gambling will enter in the US market but when as well as perhaps how. As recently as idn poker , three states have got legalized online gambling and intend to begin offering bets by the end of the year. Naturally, a gaming company 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. NJ and Delaware have also 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 Video gaming Association has stated that “Unless you will find a federal bill passed, we are going to have the best expansion of legalized gambling in the United States. I don’t believe that’s what anyone intended, but it is what we’re seeing.” This poses a lot of questions not to mention concerns for most existing commercial casinos together with American policy makers. Will legitimate online gambling mean fewer people in brick and mortar casinos? Will this create a new source of revenue at hawaii and national level? Think about taxes and regulations? An increase in gamblers?
Many people including Arnie Wexler, past chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling has voiced concern that with the good this could do to generate income and revenue for specific states there could be problems with a rise in compulsive gambling. There is particular concern regarding social media in the US as some places like Zynga have already begun taking real-money bets.
Taking in mind all the questions and concerns, many hotel casinos are already making programs to develop into online gambling to check their physical casinos. Geoffrey Stewart, general supervisor of Caesars INTERNET POKER has said “Like any other business, you’re always searching for what is another distribution channel.”