With over a dozen states in the U.S. now aggressively seeking passing legislation that would allow their residents to gamble legally online, the list of individuals and companies lining up to cash in grows larger every day. And it is probably no surprise that the big names in the brick-and-mortar casino business are climbing on board, trying to position themselves in front of what they hope is guaranteed online gambling legislation passage sooner than later. But some of the proposed partnerships may just catch you by surprise, and one such proposal matches a real world casino giant with its equally as formidable online social gaming leader.
Casino
Winds of Change Blowing Internet Poker into the Windy City
The discussion of online gambling in the United States has been increasing in volume and frequency across America ever since December of 2011. That is when the United States Department of Justice casually reversed their opinion on the legality of online gambling in America. In the past they simply said any online gambling activity based in the United States was illegal. Now, after the DOJ change in attitude, they have decided to allow each of the individual United States to police and regulate their own online gambling legislation. Most recently, Illinois moved forward as possibly the leading contender to be the second state to pass online gambling legislation since the new DOJ position was announced last year.
ECGC Presesnts Online Gambling State of the Union
The East Coast Gaming Congress (ECGC) was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey this May 16 and 17, and this is the 16th annual get-together to discuss online gambling legalization in the United States. Also referred to as the United States Gaming Congress on Online Gambling, ECGC invites only proven leaders in the online gaming community to get together for a two-day roundtable to discuss the past, present and future of online gaming in the United States. The hottest topic is year was the “federal versus state” online gambling legislation position.
Delaware Advances Online Gaming Bill
It’s okay to be a step or two behind the leader, as long as you are ahead of the rest of the field. To that end, Delaware moved past the vast majority of the United States and sidled one step further towards offering some type of regulated, legal online gaming and gambling legislation for their constituents. Nevada has already passed online gambling regulation in that state, and just this week at a special assembly of their gaming commission stated online gaming licenses would be available for purchase in 30 to 60 days.
New Jersey One Step Closer to Online Poker after Bill Approved
For the 600,000 New Jersey poker players already playing online, and state government officials anxious to add what would definitely be another fresh and substantial flow of money into the state coffers, legalized online poker and casino gambling in the Garden State just moved one step closer to fruition. On May 10 a bill was approved by the Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee for passage onto a vote by the full Assembly. That could be the very first step to making New Jersey the first of the United States to allow their constituents legalized real money gambling on online poker, roulette and other casino games.
Pending Marriage Between Online Gambling And Social Media
At the recent Global iGaming Summit and Expo (GiGSE) in San Francisco held April 23-26 this year, two of the biggest topics on just about everyone’s lips were social gaming and online gambling. No matter who chimed in, and regardless what organization they represented, most of the 680 delegates who convened to discuss the emerging iGaming market in the USA agreed on one thing … online gambling is headed to the social gaming market. With twice as many attendees as 2011, the discussion of online gaming and gambling is heating up at the highest levels.
Bovada Enters USA Gambling Market
Bovada is the new USA online gambling platform for Bodog, and was developed for USA players exclusively. Bodog began alerting business affiliates that they intended to separate their USA and non-USA player traffic in the fall of 2010, with their new Bovada brand launching towards the end of December. Previous USA Bodog customers found that their accounts had been seamlessly moved over to the Bovada brand, and all they had to do was log in and it was business as usual. Another thing that remained the same is the banking suite, which features the same USA friendly deposit methods that Bodog offered, including Visa, Money Transfer, Rapid Transfer and MyPaylinQ.
Doj Modifies Interpretation Of Wire Act
Well it seems that even the DOJ can get into the holiday spirit as they gave the online gambling arena a rather nice gift on Christmas Eve in their decision to redefine precisely what type of gambling is prohibited by the 1961 Wire Act. The previous and long standing position of the DOJ regarding the Wire Act was that it prohibited all types of online gambling, including online poker. They have recently changed that position, and have determined that the Wire Act only prohibits online sports betting. If you had a quiet moment on Christmas Eve, you may have heard the delighted online gambling enthusiasts expressing their excitement, bringing the United States one step closer to legalized online gambling laws on a federal level.