As it stands today, individual states are absolve to prohibit or practice gambling within their borders while significant regulations and limits are placed on interstate and this activity. In recent years, online gambling has seen harsher restrictions. With rtp Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA), it had been not explicitly banned but instead it was online financial transactions that were outlawed. This meant that all online financial dealings from gambling service providers were now illegal which led to numerous offshore gambling operators excluding US buyers from their services.
Existing in this legal grey area, it is no longer a issue of if online gambling will enter into the united states market but when as well as perhaps how. As recently as this month, three states contain legalized online gambling and plan to begin offering bets by the end of this year. Naturally, a gaming company in Las Vegas referred to as Ultimate Gaming was the first to offer online poker but for now restricting it to sole 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 Gambling 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 think that’s what anyone intended, but it is what we’re finding.” This poses plenty of questions and of course concerns for most existing commercial casinos and American policy makers. Will legal online gambling mean fewer persons in brick and mortar casinos? Will this create a new source of 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 offers voiced concern that with all the good this could do to generate income and revenue for personal states there could be problems with a rise in compulsive gambling. There is particular concern regarding social media marketing in america as some locations like Zynga have previously begun taking real-money bets.
Taking in mind the questions and concerns, many resort casinos are already making plans to broaden into online gambling to check their actual casinos. Geoffrey Stewart, general office manager of Caesars INTERNET POKER has said “Like any other business, you’re always looking for what is the next distribution channel.”