U.S. Online Gambling Laws: Stupidity in the Making
How many companies would form a business presentation talking about how an online gambling site could increase their profits? And, before you laugh, consider that many companies often use Flash games to attract people to their websites. The days of simple banners have long gone. The Cartoon Network and even Lifetime for Women are examples. So, why would it be so far-fetched to use gambling to entice people?
Well, aside from general perceptions, there’s another more serious issue. In the U.S. there are laws against online gambling. Companies cannot take or give monies if they relate to gambling transactions. So, basically, an industry that brings in over $40 billion every year cannot be used online, even though it is perfectly legal in brick-and-mortar form.
And that’s the ultimate hypocrisy in this whole thing. How can politicians demonize online gambling as new casinos are being built all over the country? The same people that vote against online gambling seem to have no problems legalizing brick-and-mortar casinos in non-gambling jurisdictions. To me this is actually much worse, as offline gambling brings in traffic and unsavory characters. Online gambling eliminates these issues because all of the casinos are virtual.
Yet, what about the concern over gambling addiction? Surely, if you make gambling that easy, you’ll have thousands of people glued to their computers spending away their life savings– right?
Wrong! In fact, the rate of gambling addiction in the U.S. is actually worse than many countries that don’t have the online gambling laws. Consider the UK, a country that has legalized online gambling. Only 0.6 percent of their population has a gambling addiction. In the U.S. this stat is 2.7 percent.
It should also be noted that most of Britain’s problem gamblers developed their addiction with offline betting venues, especially in relation to horse racing.
Ultimately, if politicians want to stop gambling addiction, they really need to get their running shoes on and close down offline venues, because that’s where the problem originates. But they’re never going to do that because offline gambling brings in $40 billion a year.
And, ironically enough, that’s also the reason why they will continue to deny online gambling. In their minds, online gambling could jeopardize offline venues, many of which they have an economic interest in. Morality is only used as a smokescreen, because if they really cared about that gambling would be illegal PERIOD.
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