As it stands right now, individual states are free to prohibit or practice gambling within their borders while significant rules and limits are placed on interstate and this activity. In recent years, online gambling has seen harsher restrictions. With the Unlawful Net Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA), it had been not explicitly banned but instead it was online financial transactions that were outlawed. This meant that online financial transactions from gambling providers were now illegal which resulted in countless offshore gambling operators excluding US customers from their services.

Existing in this legal grey area, it is no more a problem of if online gambling will key in the US market but when and perhaps how. As recently as this month, three states contain legalized online gambling and intend to begin offering bets by the end of this year. Naturally, a gaming firm in Las Vegas known as Ultimate Gaming was the first ever to offer online poker but also for now restricting it to just players in Nevada. NJ and Delaware also have legalized online gambling therefore far ten other states are thinking about legalizing it in some form or another.

Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association has mentioned that “Unless you will find a federal bill passed, we are going to have the greatest expansion of legalized gambling in the usa. I don’t believe that’s what anyone intended, nonetheless it is what we’re discovering.” This poses many questions and of course concerns for many existing commercial casinos along with American policy makers. Will lawful online gambling mean fewer people in offline casinos? Will this create a new way to obtain revenue at the state and national level? Think about taxes and regulations? A rise in gamblers?

Many people including Arnie Wexler, ex – chairman of New Jersey’s Council On Compulsive Gambling has voiced concern that with all the current good this could do to generate income and revenue for unique states there may be problems with a rise in compulsive gambling. There is particular concern regarding social media in america as some places like Zynga have already begun taking real-money bets.

Taking in mind all the questions and concerns, many hotel casinos are already making ideas to grow into online gambling to check their real casinos. Geoffrey Stewart, general manager of Caesars Online Poker has said “Like any business, you’re always looking for what is the next distribution channel.”