Lots of people rejoiced at the news of the legalization of online gambling except for a few people including Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
Adelson met with the CEO of the American Gaming Association Frank Fahrenkopf and spoke to him about the potential downfalls of legalizing online poker. One of these downfalls, according to Adelson, was the lack of available technology to prevent underage players from gambling online.
The result was in vain because much to his surprise, Fahrenkopf strongly agreed to legalize online poker and he was even a witness in the hearing of the said online regulation.
Although Adelson was reassured by the Senior Vice President of Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Jan Jones, that Adelson has been too much concerned about the issue but there was nothing that could be done. “It is happening now, and it’s totally uncontrolled,” he said.
Caesars entertainment has long looked forward to the legalization of online betting and they were even in the forefront of legalizing it.
Adelson believed that the legalization of online gambling was “morally wrong” but he was considered a minority, meaning, the majority still has the say on whatever’s going to happen. And the majority was composed of the Las Vegas casino operators. To top that off, most casinos in the heart of the city were excited to hear the news of legalizing online poker.
Regarding the issue of underage players becoming addicted to the game, Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling has a proposal to solve this. He said that U.S. states where online gambling will be utilized (mainly for tax revenues) should first do a study on the current state of gambling addiction among youth and gambling adults to see if there would be a spike.
According to Whyte, states were looking at ways to maximize the revenue from gambling, but they [states] should be sure that the social costs were minimalized.
Nelson Rose, Whittier Law School professor and expert on gaming law said that the states will require strict regulations to prevent gamblers to become addicts. He also said that the regulations must cover the minors, preventing them from participating. How or when these regulations will be imposed weren’t mentioned yet.
Other than Adelson and the few people who dislike the prospect of online gambling, some states were actually looking forward to its legalization. Washington DC and Illinois were gearing up for poker while Kentucky is expanding its gambling.
Tax revenue for the states will be 25% and according to Rose, the states can’t raise taxes anymore as well as cut services, so they need to raise money and gambling seems to be a more feasible solution. “It’s money,” he said.
[Source: Casino Affiliate Programs]
