Well, I suppose it should come as no surprise, but it’s always interesting to hear this form the “horse’s mouth”.
Analysts in the run up to this year’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas (September 24-26, just in case you are thinking of heading over), are forecasting big growth in the US market over the coming years – especially if all of the legal hurdles can be overcome. We find that a bit “stating the obvious”, but there you go.
A report found that 61% of survey respondents see the US online gambling market heading north of $10 billion over the next couple of years years. 28% of respondents believed that online poker would be legailised within three to five years.
The results all come from the 10th G2E Future Watch survey, a research project which publicise their findings at the annual
G2E online gambling conflab. This year’s survey involved 18 long serving gaming industry executives, regulators and analysts, asking them a number of in depth questions about their forecasts for the future. Online gambling in the US took centre stage (once again) in the survey.
Interestingly enough, only 6% of the experts US legalization of online poker within the next year, so we have a bit of time to wait before it all kicks off.
The ban is all mixed up in the 1961 Wire Act, which prohibits gambling ‘over wires, which the US Dept of Justice has enforced time and time again with regard to online gambling, even though it’s relevance is somewhat grey.
Offshore online casinos have demonstrated the difficulty in applying the Wire Act, which came into law in a time when there was no Internet.
Tthe global gaming industry continues to lobby for the repeal of the 1961 act to bring US law into line with the rest of the planet.
Will they succeed? Well, the momentum is definitely picking up, as online gambling becomes legal on a state by state basis, but the waters are still pretty murky. We reckon this could pan out for quite a few years yet, as there are some powerful bodies lobbying against any repeal.
What’s Happening with Online Gambling in Nevada and New Jersey
State-by-state legalization of online gaming has already started. Within a week of each other, Nevada and New Jersey legalized online gaming and have started to work on the finer details.
Will the action of the states spur federal action? When will punters be able to start playing, and which states will follow?
These are all questions that are being asked, and the liklehood is that we’ll see a system of inter-state compacts being set up, rather than see a solutions at a federal level. Alot like the European model in other words.
It was never going to be simple!
