As it stands nowadays, individual states are absolve to prohibit or practice gambling within their borders while significant rules and limits are placed on interstate and this activity. Recently, online gaming has seen harsher restrictions. With the Unlawful Net Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA), it was not explicitly banned but rather it was online financial transactions which were outlawed. This meant that online financial transactions from gambling service providers were now illegal which resulted in many offshore gambling operators excluding US buyers from their services.
Existing in this legal grey area, it is no more a problem of if online gambling will enter the united states market but when as well as perhaps how. As recently as Agenhk , three states contain legalized online gambling and plan to begin offering bets by the finish of the year. Naturally, a gaming organization in Las Vegas referred to as Ultimate Gaming was the first ever to offer online poker but also for now restricting it to sole players in Nevada. New Jersey and Delaware also have legalized online gambling and so far ten other states are considering legalizing it in a few form or another.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association has stated that “Unless you will find a federal bill passed, we are going to have the greatest expansion of legalized gambling in the United States. I don’t believe that’s what anyone intended, but it is what we’re finding.” This poses a great deal of questions and of course concerns for many existing commercial casinos and American policy makers. Will legitimate online gambling mean fewer people in brick and mortar casinos? Will this develop a new way to obtain revenue at the state and national level? Think about taxes and regulations? A rise in gamblers?
Many people including Arnie Wexler, former chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling provides voiced concern that with the good this could do to generate income and revenue for unique states there could be problems with an increase in compulsive gambling. There is particular concern regarding social media marketing in the US as some areas like Zynga have already begun taking real-money bets.
Taking in mind the questions and concerns, many resort casinos are already making strategies to broaden into online gambling to complement their actual casinos. Geoffrey Stewart, general office manager of Caesars Online Poker has said “Like any business, you’re always searching for what is the next distribution channel.”