As it stands nowadays, individual states are absolve to prohibit or practice gambling of their borders while significant regulations and limits are put on interstate which activity. Recently, online game playing 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 that were outlawed. This meant that online financial dealings from gambling providers were now illegal which resulted in numerous offshore gambling operators excluding US buyers from their services.
Existing in this legitimate grey area, it is no more a query of if online gambling will enter the US market but when as well as perhaps how. As recently as this month, three states possess legalized online gambling and plan to begin offering bets by the end of this year. Naturally, a gaming firm in Las Vegas known as Ultimate Gaming was the first ever to offer online poker but for now restricting it to just 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 Gaming Association has explained that “Unless there is a federal bill passed, we are going to have the best expansion of legalized gambling in america. I don’t think that’s what anyone intended, nonetheless it is what we’re witnessing.” This poses a lot of questions and of course concerns for many existing commercial casinos and also American policy makers. Will legal online gambling mean fewer men and women in brick and mortar casinos? Will this develop a new source of revenue at hawaii and national level? What about taxes and regulations? A rise in gamblers?
Many people including Arnie Wexler, ex – chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling provides voiced concern that with all the good this could do to create income and revenue for particular states there may be problems with an increase in compulsive gambling. There’s particular concern regarding social media marketing in the US as some areas like Zynga have already begun taking real-money bets.
Taking in win168 and concerns, many resort casinos are already making strategies to expand into online gambling to complement their real casinos. Geoffrey Stewart, general manager of Caesars Online Poker has said “Like any other business, you’re always searching for what is the next distribution channel.”