BestCraps.com

Senate Support for House-approved Internet Gaming Bill Sought

Posted on August 10th, 2010

News Sponsored by Online Vegas Casino

Rated 5 Stars by BestCraps.com

Read Review

Visit Casino

Download Software

————————————————

A bill supporting internet gaming legalization has the support of three Nevada members of the House of Representatives. However, the pivotal voice that could make or break the bill is not from the three—that support should come from the Senate. Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat Senator from Massachusetts, has introduced a bill legalizing gaming on the internet. This bill was co-sponsored by Democrat Nevada Representatives Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus. The bill has found initial success in the lower house of Congress, with the House Financial Services Committee last week passing it in a 41-22 vote. Berkley admitted that despite this initial victory, the support of the Senate would be crucial, or their efforts in The House of Representatives would be in vain. He has been quoted in saying that Reid, the senate Majority Leader (D-Nev.) is the “linchpin,” “the decider when it comes to Internet gaming.” Senator Reis has been quiet about the issue though.

Internet casino gaming has been illegal with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act ratified by the Congress in 2006. If Representative Frank’s bill would pass the senate, it would effectively overturn the 2006 law, which would provide the cods on legalizing and regulating online gaming. This in turn, according to a congressional analysis done in 2009, would open $42 billion worth of tax revenue in the course of 10 years. Las Vegas casinos have initially supported the 2006 law, as they felt that legalized online gambling would prevent gamers and high rollers from physically coming to their facilities, as they would just play casino games in the comfort of wherever they are. Their current position with the Frank bill is still blurry, although the bill does make the provisions for Nevada casino companies to make money from online gaming.

The current status quo has overseas-based companies accepting bets from citizens of the U.S. Under Frank’s bill, they would not be allowed to be given licenses, while casino companies based in Nevada like Harrah’s Entertainment, owners of the World Series of Poker business, would be licensed and be the leaders of gaming market in the U.S. Harrah’s is one of the chief supporters of Frank’s bill. Rep. Berkley is optimistic that Sen. Reid may lend support and eventually vote for the legalization once it is passed to the Senate.The Congressman has been quoted in saying that the senator’s “position has softened dramatically, but he’s going to need to be convinced” although Berkley also thinks that the senator has moved into a more supporting stance.

A spokesman for Berkley stated that Nevada’s first-rate casinos will not be affected adversely, as the supporters of the bill are aware that the gaming industry is a vital income source to Nevadans. In contrast, it may help the state’s casinos that are interested in diversifying their services by “building an online presence in the United States.” The Republican Representative of the state, Dean Heller, is giving the bill more measured support, as he claims that there are many issues related to online casino gaming that still need to be addressed.

One issue is participation of underage gamers in gaming sites. The chairman of the Gaming Control Board, Dennis Neilander, said that if Frank’s bill were to be passed, their board would have to carry the burden of making sure that minors would still be excluded from online casinos, depending on the definition of each jurisdiction’s definition of minor age. Technological safeguards have to be set in each gaming site to ensure that minors would not be allowed to log in and play. The fact that each state has different legal ages would be another challenge to the board.

Taxing and regulating online gaming is another issue. Gaming officials and lawmakers in Nevada remain in their stand that oversight and taxation of internet sites offering casino gaming should come under the supervision of each individual state. Nellander stated that states have always had the hand in deciding on matters of gaming, including how much they will tax for it and if they want it legal in the first place. He added though, that since the internet is a “unique animal,” its unique mechanism would need some limited regulation in the federal level.