Poker News

LEGAL U.S. ONLINE POKER MAY TAKE AWHILE

Source: http://www.bluffed.net


Business ratings firm opines it may be years before legal obstacles are finally removed.

The respected US business ratings service Moody's Investors entered the online poker legalisation discussion this week, commenting rather pessimistically on the recent Department of Justice actions against three major online poker sites (see previous reports).

In summary, the service advised that:

* The DoJ intervention may have disadvantaged current federal attempts to legalise online gambling, but in the future could present opportunities to US companies through the removal of foreign competition.

* The DoJ action may persuade more US states to consider intrastate legalised poker as a source of increased and much needed tax revenues, and to better protect residents.

* At some future point online poker may be legalised at the federal level, but the process could mean that it will be years before US players see concrete benefits from such initiatives.

* That online gambling did not constitute a major competitive threat to established US land casino operators. The majority of the terrestrial casino side of the business rather sees internet gambling as a channel through which a younger demographic can be served, increasing business.

* The service singled out Caesars Entertainment as the land company most likely to benefit from a legalisation of online poker, pointing out that it has a well-known brand presence in both the World Series of Poker and its own right, and that its interactive division is already active in European online ventures with the Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings.com

Moody's clients were advised that the legalisation of online gambling in the United States was a tough undertaking, as the service reported:

"Some politicians oppose it, some states have laws prohibiting it, regulators are concerned about monitoring it, and the Department of Justice has taken a hard line.

"However, there appears to be enough ambiguities in the federal law that many legislators and casino operators are convinced that online gambling legislation can be successfully implemented."

Related News Tags: Usa Legislation, Gibraltar, Wsop, 888, Caesars