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Some groups have been trying to legalize online gambling for years. Recently proposed bills have them convinced that legalized gambling soon could become a reality online.
You know that phrase "strike when the iron is hot?" Well, people who want to legalize online poker say the iron is definitely warming up. "Whether it's next year or five years from now, I think it's going to happen very soon," said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance.
Pappas says lawmakers in Washington, D.C., as well as in the state of California, have introduced bills legalizing online poker. He says all they're asking for is regulation over an industry that already exists.
"Internet poker has been around for over 10 years, but it's primarily been operated by companies who operate offshore, out of the jurisdiction of the United States," Pappas said.
Of course, some people say they worry that minors could access these sites. Pappas says he believes poker sites would do a far better job at keeping kids of their sites than the porn industry has done.
"There is no benefit for some child to steal their parent's credit card, gamble, lose money, and then that site has to give all that money back," he said.
Pappas says software already exists that can ensure someone under the age of 18 can't access other pay sites, and that could be used for online poker.
Another concern people have is giving problem gamblers a new place to feed their addiction. But American Gaming Association communications director Holly Thomsen says there are ways to deal with that, too.
"If you have a computer that's set to say ‘I don't want to bet any more than $100 in this session,' when you hit that mark, you're not allowed to gamble on that site anymore," she said.
However, Thomsen says her group is stopping short of endorsing legislation making online gambling legal. She says they've remained neutral on all Internet gambling bills, except for supporting a study on whether it could be regulated.
But the group is debating whether its neutrality could change. "We expect to have an announcement early in the new year," she said.
Thomsen says there are some members of the organization who want legislation on a federal level, while others want states to regulate it, and others don't support Internet gambling at all.
"We're trying to reconcile those viewpoints, if possible. There may not be a solution that reconciles them," Thomsen said.
She says regulators don't think current laws against online gambling really do much to stop people from going to an offshore gambling Web site.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
