Washington Online Gambling Delayed

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The news on the Washington DC online gambling initiative is getting to be a regular roller coaster. The news is positive one day and negative the next day. In the last week of June a hearing was convened by Finance and Revenue committee chairman Jack Evans to clear the air on some of the issues. By all accounts the concerned persons had given their thumbs up and it was expected that DC Lottery officials would proceed as planned to roll out the online games by the September 8. The idea was to start with online gaming at private homes and a few commercial sites. On July 11, The Washington Post reported out of the blue that the officials have claimed that the launch of the online casino has been delayed at least until October. The report also cited a cryptic statement from Jack Evans, "It could be October, it could be November, it could be next year." The controversial council member Michael A. Brown, who was instrumental in getting the legislation passed, insisted that the Washington DC online gambling would start this fall. However, the credibility of his assertions is in doubt.

During the hearing some concerns were raised and DC Lottery officials have released plans to address the issues. A citywide listening tour will be initiated that will have stops in each ward. Here opportunities will be provided to residents, community associations and Advisory Neighborhood Commissions to voice their apprehensions and offer their suggestions. Another step that DC Lottery will have to take as per the rules framed is to notify 60 days in advance all commercial or public locations from where residents will be allowed to access the District's planned online gambling site. This is so that the Washington DC residents can review the suitability of these locations and register their objections if any. The DC Lottery's proposed online gambling site, igamingdc.com, is already up and the complete rules can be accessed there.

While an element of uncertainty has been introduced in the Washington DC online gambling initiative, snail pace progress has been reported on Joe Barton's federal online poker bill, HR 2366, introduced last month. Three new co-sponsors' names have been added. They are Democrats Jim Moran, Jared Polis and Rob Andrews. With these three attaching their names to the bill, the total number of co-sponsors has risen to 14. Other co-sponsors include John Campbell, Peter T King, Ed Perlmutter and Barney Frank. Last week Frank Fahrenkopf, chief of the American Gaming Association (AGA), said that his organization would not support Barton's bill. The AGA will be bringing its own online poker federal bill, which will be materially different from HR 2366 in some ways.

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