It doesn’t look like Congress will pass Online gambling regulatory laws this year, the head with the industry’s most important lobbying group mentioned Tuesday, as he cast online wagering hosted by web pages overseas as 1 in the biggest threats towards the casino industry in the United states of america.
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American Gaming Association chief Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. known as on line gambling “the next frontier of our enterprise,” but told reporters in Las Vegas that passing a measure for instance one backed by Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona would need to have quick action in the course of the postelection congressional session.

“We will have to have an abundance of hard function plus a little gambler’s luck to view a federal bill pass this year,” Fahrenkopf stated throughout his annual state-of-the-industry media briefing in the International Gaming Expo. “Obviously, absolutely nothing is going to come about prior to the election. That signifies a lame duck (session) is our last opportunity.”

Fahrenkopf, a former Republican celebration national chairman, said about 85 countries have legalized online gambling, and some estimates say almost $35 billion is getting bet worldwide on the internet each year, which include a lot of millions by persons inside the U.S.

“These are numbers generated with only minor participation by players inside the U.S.,” Fahrenkopf stated, citing figures from an market researcher, H2 Gaming Capital.

That compares with gross commercial gambling revenues within the U.S. of some $35.6 billion for all of 2011.

Meanwhile, casino revenues have increased this year in 18 of your 21 states that allow commercial gambling, Fahrenkopf mentioned, and new casinos are opening in many jurisdictions. The figures don’t contain American Indian tribal gambling.

Regardless of which celebration wins the U.S. elections on Nov. 6, Fahrenkopf promised his association will keep lobbying Congress to create a legal framework for regulating on the internet poker. Otherwise, he mentioned, states will adopt a patchwork of guidelines and regulations that may make oversight tough and place shoppers at risk.

“No matter what Congress does, based on the growth trends … plus the actions in the various states, it’s no longer a matter of if on line gambling will likely be legalized in the U.S., but when, where and how.”

Nevada and Delaware began taking actions to enable online betting following the U.S. Justice Division last December narrowed the application on the federal Interstate Wire Act of 1961 only to sports wagering. Various casinos happen to be licensed in Nevada to provide on line poker to residents within the state. Meanwhile, Illinois has begun selling lottery tickets on the internet.

“We know there might be more states to come,” Fahrenkopf mentioned, including California and New Jersey.

Fahrenkopf mentioned gambling revenues are up about 5.4 percent so far this year at brick-and-mortar casinos in the U.S., and more when revenues from two new casinos that opened in 2012 in Ohio are included.

Massachusetts is establishing a regulatory structure for gambling, he stated, and new properties are opening in other states, like Illinois. Voters in Oregon, Rhode Island and Maryland will choose gambling initiatives Nov. 6.