A New Hope For US Internet Gambling: 2

As a new era approaches in the United States government due to a new administration taking office in early 2009 the hope is that online casinos will reap the benefits of a fresh outlook. The Bush administration has been accused of sneaking in last minute regulations against the online casino industry. The newest regulations are ones that place a burden on the United States financial system by asking all financial institutions and credit card companies to deny any ‘illegal internet gambling’ transactions. The media has been all over the Bush administration for not being completely clear on what actually constitutes ‘illegal internet gambling’. The current administration is continuing to receive a lot of heat for their decisions that they have made in their last months in office.

A Nevada newspaper reported that Frank Fahrenkopf, the Chief of the American Gaming Association, was interviewed and stated how high his hopes are for the new administration to heave a better outlook for the online casino industry. Fahrenkopf has been an advocate for the legalization of online casinos in the United States since the ban on internet gaming in 2006. He mentioned that they will have to undo any damage that may have been done by the Bush administration to the internet gaming industry. This will not be an easy task to accomplish but it may be possible with the Democratic House and Congress. Fahrekopf said to the newspaper, "Congress has adopted a pay-as-you-go system," he said. "So any Congressman or Senator who introduces a piece of legislation that is going to cost something will also have to show how they are going to pay for it, either by cutting spending in one place or raising taxes in another. So we know under those circumstances, they will be looking around at a place to get additional revenue."

Nevada gaming officials have long had their minds made up about online casino legalization. They know the consequences that it may have on the land based casinos, but online casinos will hopefully encourage people to play their online favorites at a land based casinos. Fahrenkopf finished by saying: "If it were legalized, I know that Harrah's, which now owns the World Series of Poker, would be extremely interested in getting into that market. We know that MGM has been bullish on Internet gaming for a long time. Steve (Wynn)... I don't know what he would do and I don't know what some of the other operators would do."