Will ban end Internet gambling? Don’t bet on it

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Online poker will make its case
Oct. 13: A trio of poker experts discuss how the new law signed today by President Bush outlawing online gaming will affect their industry – and how they will try to get around it – with "On the Money" anchor Dylan Ratigan.

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The same is true for many companies that process financial transactions for the gambling sites, though industry leader Neteller has so far only said that it is studying the legislation.

“The company is very respectful of the U.S. legal system and is awaiting developments,” spokesman Seb Hoyle said this week.

But even if Neteller follows Firepay and other e-transaction services in exiting the U.S. market, experts say it won’t be long until replacements appear.

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Dreifach said he expects European banks to develop similar electronic transaction services that are more diversified and can be used to fund not just for gambling but for entertainment and retail services.

“There are mobile payment systems, smart cards, cash payment systems … systems that offer something similar to gift certificates that are encrypted,” he said. “To the extent they are products offered by European banks, there is very little that U.S. regulators can do about it.”

And there are plenty of other gambling Web site operators, including nearly all those based in the Caribbean, eager to fill the void created by the withdrawal of the publicly traded European companies from the U.S. market.

The continued presence of such sites and the difficulties in creating an airtight method of stopping U.S. players from engaging in online gambling all but ensures that serious American gamblers will continue to find the action they crave.

Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance, said that many of those who consider online betting a harmless diversion probably won’t put up with the hassle.

“It’s the casual player who enjoys the game responsibly and on a casual basis who is most likely to be impacted,” he said.

His organization is pinning its hopes on winning an exemption from the ban as a “skill game” from a card player in a position of power – President Bush.

Bolcerek cited a February 2004 article in “American Thinker” magazine that reported, “By reputation, the president was a very avid and skillful poker player when he was an MBA student” at Harvard University in the early 1970s.

“We’re talking about an American tradition that is 150 years old … and is now mainstream,” he said. “We’re hoping that an old poker player would appreciate the wisdom of that argument.”

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