More Calling for Clear Online Gambling Regulation

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In between Sheldon Adelson scaring us all with his promises to ban online gambling “whatever the cost” and various anti-gambling bills proposed at the federal level, there is some reason for optimism over the long run. There’s a small but unmistakable trend calling for better regulation of online gambling.

Regulation is the key word there, and it has a distinctly different definition than prohibition.

If we remember back to November of last year, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver penned a surprising op-ed in the New York Times calling for the legalization and regulation of sports betting. He didn’t specifically address online gambling, but the opinion piece serves as a nice example of changing attitudes.

More recently, a study published by Michigan State University noted that the online gambling industry stands to benefit from sensible regulation. The study notes that today’s US gaming laws are complex, contradictory, poorly written, misunderstood, and sporadically enforced. Whenever we get a clearer picture of gaming laws, publicly traded gaming companies grow in value.

The MSU study noted that when the DOJ gave the go-ahead for individual states to legalize online gambling within their borders, the value of publicly traded gambling firms rose by 3.5%. There’s a natural feedback loop there. Effective gambling regulation results in better results for the firms, which gives them more money to throw at more positive gambling regulation.

If you follow US gambling industry news, you may also notice an uptick in op-eds that call for legalization and regulation. Pennlive.com published an opinion piece just a few days ago in which John Payne and Nick Kotik (Pennsylvania state reps) lay the case for legalization and regulation. As you might suspect, they argue that online gambling is already happening whether legal or not.

The state might as well regulate the industry, tax it and enact protections for players.

It doesn’t take much research to find similar opinion pieces published in newspapers around the country. Sure, there is still plenty of opposition, but the number of pro-gambling pieces we see today is something we never would have imagined just 10 years ago.

However, the best indicator of good things to come is the ever-increasing number of bills being proposed to regulate and legalize online gambling in the USA. In just the past few months, we’ve had a number of state-level bills that are still active as of this writing:

• California AB 431: Legalize and license online poker in CA
• New York S 5302: Legalize and license online poker in NY
• Pennsylvania HB 649: Legalize and license online poker and gambling in PA
• Kansas HB 2155 (enacted): Clarified that online fantasy sports contests are legal in KS
• Louisiana HB 475: Seeks to legalize online fantasy sports in LA
• Iowa Senate File 166: Seeks to legalize online fantasy sports in IA

This is just a small sample of the many bills that have been introduced, discussed, and either enacted or tabled over the past few years. Although most online gambling efforts stall out before becoming law, it is heartening to see actual lawmakers introducing pro online gambling legislation. As the saying goes, they’re throwing a lot at the wall and seeing what sticks.

It wouldn’t be wise to ignore the serious threats posed by the likes of Sheldon Adelson and his crony DC allies, but he and his ilk won’t be around forever. Gambling attitudes are slowly shifting even at a basic societal level. There was a time when even a mere mention of sports betting was enough to make people look at you like some kind of degenerate. Now, ESPN and mainstream news anchors gleefully report on the “Vegas line” in the lead-up to any high-profile sporting event.

Online Gambling is Already Here: What do we do about it?

Those against the legalization of online betting do have legitimate concerns. It would be unfair and unproductive to just handwave those concerns aside. The most often quoted concern you’ll encounter is the worry about gambling addiction and its harmful effects on society. Gambling gets people into financial trouble, and people in financial trouble turn to crime. Families break apart and so on.

That whole “let’s protect people for their own good” angle comes off as more than a little disingenuous when its biggest proponent is Sheldon Adelson, a man who built a billion-dollar fortune off the backs of gamblers at his brick-and-mortar properties. While on one hand his “moral standard compels” him to speak out on the issue, he meanwhile sits in court and tries to explain away his connections to organized crime in the Chinese gambling industry.

Here’s the kicker: online gambling is alive and well in the US right now. It happens all across the country. All someone has to do is visit one of the many online betting sites hosted overseas and they’ll be betting in no time. Prohibition is tough enough to enforce in the real world. Enforcing a prohibition on the internet is an exercise in futility.

If you’re worried about the social impact, it’s already here. Anyone who wants to bet online can do so. The worst part of all is that these people have no protection. If a betting site decides to close shop and run off with everyone’s money or refuses to enact age verification, there’s nothing stopping it from doing so.

We need to legalize and regulate the industry to bring into the fold of the law. We can already see how effective regulation has been in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. Players there can play on state-sanctioned betting sites that are licensed, fair and subject to the law. Trying to enforce some toothless prohibition does nothing to help those who need help the most. If people are going to bet online, we might as well give them a platform that is safe and regulated.

Furthermore, whatever happened to personal liberty? If Joe Blow wants to bet $20 on the Chargers, whose business is it what he does with his money from the privacy of home? Furthermore, why is it legal for him to place this bet in Vegas but suddenly it’s some kind of scandal if he decides to stay home and place that same bet online?