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Welcome to the News desk. |
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Internet Gambling Coming to WASHINGTON D.C. |
15/04/2011 |
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Associated Press |
Internet
gambling will soon become permissible in the District of Columbia.
WASHINGTON Internet gambling will
soon become permissible in the District of Columbia the first U.S.
jurisdiction to allow online gaming, the Associated Press reports.
District officials are uncertain
when gaming would commence, but D.C. lottery officials said they were in talks
with their vendor and expect more details in the coming weeks.
The gaming is set to be operated by Intralot and
would be available only to gamblers within borders of the District. While
states have contemplated legalizing online poker, the District would be the
first jurisdiction to actually do it.
While a 2006 federal law bans
Internet gambling, prohibiting banks and credit card companies from processing
payments, other details of the law are murky, with enough
uncertainty to allow D.C. to wade into the venture.
There was
really no clear law that said we could not do this, said D.C. Council
Member Michael A. Brown, adding the hope is to generate revenue to offset
budget cuts while helping social services programs.
The D.C.s
chief financial officer estimated Internet gambling could generate up to $14
million through fiscal year 2014.
Others remain skeptical of the
revenue estimate, maintaining players are unlikely to migrate from their
favorite site to a new one operated by the District.
Players are
really loyal in this industry, said Jeff Ifrah, a lawyer specializing in
online gaming companies. You really have to ask yourself what is the
incentive a player is going to have to leave a trusted site with global
competition to play in a site thats untested and kind of unknown and
doesnt offer you the same level of play.
Other State
Internet Gambling News A gambling bill on Thursday cleared the Senate
Ways and Means Committee 9-6, but the bill would no longer make Iowa one of the
first states in the nation to legalize Internet poker.
Instead, Senate
File 458 would now have the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission produce a report
that would look further into the issue and what it would mean in terms of state
regulation, additional gaming and underage gaming.
It does not
legalize online poker play, said Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, the
bills floor manager. It just asks for a report.
Backers of legalizing Internet poker said about 150,000 Iowans are
taking part in Internet poker illegally every day and the revenue is currently
benefiting offshore Internet gambling companies.
It is not going
away. Every time you turn on ESPN, you can see the advertisement for Poker
Stars, Full Tilt poker wearing them on their hats, their shirts,
Dotzler said. That is an illegal website everywhere in the United States
and theyre advertising to Iowans every time they watch that. Thats
what the real problem is, theyre playing online poker illegally and we
really dont have any control over it.
Overall, gaming
lobbyists said Thursday they are pleased that the bill is moving forward,
despite the action coming just two weeks before the projected end of the
legislative session.
Were happy its moving.
Obviously, a work in progress. We have a long ways to go and not a long time to
do it, said former state Rep. Frank Chiodo, a lobbyist for Riverside
Casino and Golf Resort, The Rasmussen Group and U.S. Digital Gaming.
Yeah, were happy. We live to fight another day.
Also Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank and
California Republican Rep. John Campbell have introduced the Internet Gambling
Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (H.R. 1174), which would
permit Internet wagering with federally-licensed operators. The bill was also
sponsored by Colorado Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter and New York Republican
Rep. Peter King.
The bill was referred to the House Committee on
Financial Services. It is the same as the bill reported out of the Financial
Services Committee last August but never considered by the full House.
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