Support for US Online Gambling

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This week the moves to push for legalization of online gambling in the United States received support from two quarters. The first was from many delegates attending the land gambling expo G2E running in Las Vegas. The second was in the popular investment publication Motley Fool.

Delegates from all over the world attended G2E and the consensus seemed to be that the United States is behind the times as far as online gambling is concerned, mainly due to political interference. One of the most vocal voices was that of Aegir Saevarsson of Betware Iceland. He said, "Everybody here is losing business if they don't have an online presence." He pointed out that today it is not practical for the player to go to the casinos but the casinos should go to the players. Millions of players outside America are wagering via the Internet from home using laptops and even when on the move with mobile devices such as the iPhone. Gaming analyst Bill Lerner said that American land casinos need to create an online presence, even if they have to do it from outside the United States and even if they cannot cater to American players. He pointed out the land casinos were established and trusted brands, which means that even after a punter's trip to Vegas land casinos, money can still be earned by developing an online continuation of service. The American Gaming Association (AGA) is the nodal body of the American land casinos. The CEO of the association, Frank Fahrenkopf, told delegates that the land casino operators were now even more pessimistic about a full economic recovery taking place in the next two years. The association has shifted from its earlier negative position on online gambling, but has not openly backed any of the bills that are trudging along in the Congress. Fahrenkopf was of the opinion that there will not be any movement on online gambling bills during the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress.

The article in Motley Fool looked at the issue from the perspective of the government. It pointed out that with the states struggling to meet their budgets, the lawmakers need to be more positive about the legalization of online gambling. Whereas the land casino operators may lose some business to online gambling, they will more than make up from their own online gambling offerings. The article says, "Like other online operations, virtual casinos have little overhead, easy scalability, and potentially high profit margins. Casino operators could even offer benefits and rewards tied to their brick-and-mortar properties, driving additional traffic there." Harrah's has already launched its online casino from the United Kingdom. The Foxwoods Development Company is partnering with an online gaming company.

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