Legalized Online Poker in the U.S. Could be Sooner Than We Think
November 18, 2007
This past Thursday the Global Gaming Expo took place in Las Vegas and a former Senator, Alfonse D’Amato, who is the chairman of the Poker Players’ Alliance, stated that he believes the legalization of online poker in the United States will happen within the next 18 months. He stated this during the State of the Industry: Internet Gambling at the Crossroads keynote session during G2E.
Other speakers at the session stated that pending sanctions by the World Trade Organization that are due to the United States policy toward Internet gambling could be the force needed to make online gambling legal. It is believed that non-gaming corporations will pressure Congress to make changes because they will be affected by the sanctions.
Speakers present during the session included J.Terrence Lanni, chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE, Gary Loveman, Chairman,CEO and president of Harrah’s Entertainment,Inc; Ander Wilsenach, CEO of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and of course D’Amato. They all were in agreement that online poker would most likely be legalized before other online casino-style games.
They also believe that underage gambling can be prevented and players can be protected online. They said that because of the ban in the U.S. for reputable payment processers players may be using payment options that are not as safe. "I am afraid the U.S. customer today is very exposed - there's no player protection," Andre Wilsenach said.
Loveman talked about Harrah’s want to research possibly expanding the WSOP to an online market which would have to be done overseas. Loveman stated along with Lanni that they do not want to explore places where the laws are unclear and business would only be done where it is clearly legal.
Lanni and Loveman also stated that they would want internet gambling to be regulated by a state level instead of a federal level. It was stated that added to the burden of Congress would make no sense.
We will see in the upcoming year what changes will be made whether for the betterment of online gambling in the U.S. or for the negative. Hopefully the panelists are right and it will not be long before online gambling in the U.S. will be legalized.
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One Response to “Legalized Online Poker in the U.S. Could be Sooner Than We Think”
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A lot of things could happen in 18 months. Some gambling sites might be close when that legalization happens.