Casinos and Offshore Gaming Sites Furiously Battle Over Billions in Gambling Revenue

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/casinos-and-offshore-companies-are-furiously-battling-each-other



Las Vegas-based casinos and overseas operators have begun an all-out battle over Internet gambling, which is mostly banned nationwide but carries with it the promise of billions of dollars in additional revenue for casinos and state governments. Three states began licensing online betting last year, and lawmakers are debating online gambling bills in seven others right now. In Washington, meanwhile, Congress is facing increasing pressure to either bar or regulate the fledgling industry federally.

The moves are coming in response to a concerted push orchestrated by a colorful cast of characters, including one of the most prolific political donors of the Super PAC era, an offshore company that only recently settled federal allegations of money laundering and bank fraud and a pair of benignly named groups backed by millions of dollars in casino cash.

In the process, the war over online gambling has created surprising alliances and divisions that are just now surfacing. Some in the industry warn that the practice poses a threat to the casinos’ hold over gambling since customers would no longer need to actually visit a casino. Furthermore, since online gambling has been legal in other countries for years, American casinos face competition from more established online companies based in exotic locales like Costa Rica and Gibraltar.

One casino mogul, Sheldon Adelson, a prominent backer of conservative political causes, has pledged to spend “whatever it takes” to get Congress to ban Internet gambling outright, while industry giants like Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts have taken the opposite tack, banding together in an effort to legalize and control the growing market. Maneuvering quietly in the background are foreign entities, including the Isle-of-Man-based PokerStars, the world’s biggest online poker operator, which so far has been denied a license to operate in New Jersey because of pending federal money-laundering charges against its founder. Along with the Garden State, Nevada and Delaware have legalized online gambling.

[pipoman]

1. I like to go sit at a blackjack table in a busy casino

about once a year. Over the last 20 years I have been up around 25% of the time. The reason I am not a compulsive gambler is in large part because I know that the more I gamble, the less likely I am to maintain that average, and will possibly end up losing on the average. Add to that the element of desperation and the chances are more likely to be in favor of the casino. Some people believe they are different. .A fatal flaw in judgement.

I am increasingly incredulous of the wisdom of outlawing any type of vice. I am leaning more toward licensing, taxing, and regulating all vice. The other piece is socially providing treatment of both the underlying reasons for the participants of the vice, and the necessary health care for the physical results of participation in the vice...

[darkangel218]

2. I didnt know Sheldon Adelson owned casinos.

Which ones does he own, so I won't ever go there?

On edit: I googled him. The Sands and the Venetian.
So anyone visiting Vegas stay away from his casinos.

[madville]

3. I wish sports gambling was legal online

I like to throw some money on a game occasionally, makes meaningless games somewhat exciting if there is some money on the line. Maybe luckily, there's nowhere close to do it legally where I live.

[NightWatcher]

4. Man who owns money printing business wants other money printers closed down

and he's willing to buy as many politicians as it takes to make it law?


And the drug dealers are against drug legalization...
And the big brewers are against craft brewers...

That's not very Free Markety of them, now is it?