Betting Sports Forum: Gaming Analyst Says Online Casinos Will Have to Wait on Congress

Betting Sports Forum: Gaming Analyst Says Online Casinos Will Have to Wait on Congress

The buzz has been building among Internet gambling operators that the problematic ban of online casinos by the U.S. will end soon. But a gaming industry analyst for a major investment firm says any changes in online gambling laws will not be reviewed by Congress until more pressing issues are addressed and resolved.

Joel Simkins of Macquarie Securities wrote in a client note that he did not consider Internet gambling to be an area of short-term promise for potential investors. Simkins thinks the economy and other issues that affect a far larger number of people than online gaming will receive preferential treatment.

"Given the more pressing economic concerns of industries that currently employ considerably more potential voters than online gaming ever will, we think the odds are very slim that online gaming will be supported on Capitol Hill," Simkins said.

However, Simkins revealed a flaw in his reasoning when he said the will to overturn the Federal Wire Act does not exist in the legislature. The Wire Act has,in fact, been interpreted by the courts to only apply to sports gambling, not casino games.

The law which most impedes Internet casinos is the UIGEA, which attempts to prevent payment to online gaming operators. This law is currently under siege in court, and will soon face the challenge of a new bill from Barney Frank.

The U.S. Department of Justice does act as if the Wire Act restricts all online gambling, but casinos would be happy to attack that view in court, especially with the precedents set limiting the bill to sports betting.

Simkins does think intrastate online gambling may expand in the absence of federally regulated and licensed Internet casinos. He also notes the shifting political position of the American Gaming Association, which had lobbied ferociously against regulating online casinos, but now takes a neutral viewpoint as more land-based operations consider adding an Internet arm.


Betting Sports Forum: Gaming Analyst Says Online Casinos Will Have to Wait on Congress