US States Examine Online Gambling Opportunities - 01-02-12

January 2 - The holiday season hasn't stopped individual US states from considering their options in light of the dramatic opinion paper published recently by the Department of Justice, in which it surprisingly reinterpreted the Wire Act of 1961.

In a nutshell, the DOJ now believes that the Wire Act - which has been enforced for many decades - only encompasses sports betting, where once casino, poker, bingo and lottery gambling were also deemed to fall under the Act.

States such as Florida and New York are already celebrating these changes and are considering how to take full advantage of them.

Rep. Joseph Abruzzo, a Democrat from Florida who has fought many years for the introduction of regulated intrastate online poker in his state said: "I had a strong feeling that this day would come. It's very important to me that we have internet gambling."

Among those looking at the US states' online gambling opportunities, a spokesman for the New York lottery said that although the state was still examining the reversal statement, plans were already being made to expand the lottery so that extra revenue could be harvested.

Some of the plans being considered by the New York lottery include a new computer system that would allow residents to purchase tickets online, and fetch them at a physical location.

Opposition to Online Gambling by Tribal Groups

But while the introduction of online lotteries and poker could be seen as a good thing for states, they would still need to circumvent the issue of tribal groups and their rights on gambling in individual states.

Rep. Abruzzo of Florida believes that the introduction of online gambling in the state would not violate treaties signed with the Seminole Tribe, although the tribes feel differently.

Yet, the fact that annual online subscription sales for the Florida lottery could generate over $10 million for education a year, is not a fact that anyone, including the Seminole tribe, can ignore.

A spokesperson for the California state lottery, Russ Lopez said that they were reviewing the ruling, and the Illinois state lottery said that by the second quarter of 2012, they expected to test the online sales of top-selling lotteries such as Mega Millions, Powerball and Lotto tickets.

States won't be stopping at online lottery only. According to the American Gaming Association chief, Frank Fahrenkopf: "It's now clear that not only can lotteries sell tickets online, but also games that look like slot machines and poker. That's where the states want to go."