With the current election season underway, and also being some one that enjoys casual online wagering, I'm reminded that this industry is in some serious need of regulation by the U.S Gov. Knowing that in europe wagering is sometimes a state monopoly, I ask if SRB knows of/or is part of an actual Washington lobbying group on behalf of the industry for Government oversight and legalization of all online wagering?
I believe a high ranking supporter of this cause is Rep. Barney Frank. And I know some of the Islands part of NAFTA have brought litigation against U.S horse racetracks for their monopoly on online horse wagering, seeing that as a NAFTA anti-trust violation of sorts... Having read many threads in this forum regarding many different issues- I appplaud SBR for being the only reputable OVERSIGHT this industry can count on!!!
American Gaming Association spent $800,000 in first quarter to lobby on Internet gambling
June 6, 2008 - 5:37 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The American Gaming Association, a trade group that represents the casino industry, spent $800,000 in the first quarter to lobby on Internet gambling legislation and other issues.
The trade group lobbied on several online gambling measures, including a proposal that would mandate a federal study to look at the licensing, regulation and taxation of Internet gambling, as well as on a separate proposal that would license companies that accept online bets.
The AGA, whose members include Bally Technologies Inc. and MGM Mirage, also lobbied on a measure intended to attract more tourists to the U.S., and rules governing the taxation of employee tips.
Antigua and WSEX is probably the closest thing to it. There are other group's like sofun posted about but most aren't ambitious enough to include sports betting. Casinos, lotteries, poker and bingo will all have to hatch in the US before sports betting is tackled.
Those poker players have some sort of movement and have pressed things in DC but they are mostly out for their own interests, if they had it their way we'd stay stuck in the mud and they could play poker all day legally.
There is some truth to that. A lot of what you hear from poker group reps is that it is a game of skill and therefore it should be the exception. Ironically the online poker industry was probably the reason the sports betting industry was hit at that point in time.