In the true spirit of blog-dom, here’s a story about a story that, for me, is more interesting than the original story. The State of Nevada has recently approved wireless gaming in casinos, and I think that the industry might be interested in hearing the reaction from a gamer’s website. While these aren’t your hardcore gamblers, they probably do represent a more tech-friendly demographic than average.
From 1up:
The New York Times reports that Nevada has passed a law allowing gamblers to use handheld devices in public spaces to play Blackjack and slot machines. While internet gambling is still illegal, these wireless devices manage to sidestep the issue by being locally connected.
The units are manufactured by Cantor Fitzgerald LP of London; Joe Asher, the managing director of the Nevada affiliate of the company, is quoted in the above article commenting: “Think about a swimming pool…Casinos spend a lot of money to build them, but when guests are there, swimming, the casino isn’t making any money.”
First of all, the quote that casino aren’t making money is a little ridiculous. I’m not being subjective, either: this pdf from the Gaming Control Board shows that, last October, Nevada casinos won nearly $1 billion–about half of that came from the Strip, where the swimming pools are supposedly filled while the blackjack dealers wait for customers. Sure, they had lots of expenses (those pools don’t fill themselves), but I think that the casinos are doing all right for themselves.
The comments on the story were interesting because some reacted with hostility, viewing the wireless approval as another move by “greedy” casinos to get more money, while others thought that this should mean that Internet gaming is legal.
As I’ve said before, legal Internet gaming in the US is coming. Like any form of gambling expansion in the past 50 years, it will be difficult to argue against, because with gambling so widely available, we’re no longer talking absolutes.
For example, visitors to Strip casino resorts can play blackjack in the casino or keno in any restaurant; they can even track the keno results from their rooms. What’s wrong, then, with letting them play casino games elsewhere on casino property? They’ve already made the decision to go to a gambling establishment.
If guests, then, have the right to gamble anywhere on casino property, why not let them take wireless devices off-site? As long as they’re in Nevada, gaming is still legal.
If people don’t have to be physically at a casino to gamble, why can’t they do so in any state where casinos are legal? As long as betting is not specifically a crime, then, gambling over a wireless or wire device should be legal.
I’m not saying I endorse this argument; it just seems that, over the past several years, the spread of gambling has accelerated because of this reasoning. Once state governments decide there is a percentage in taxing online gaming revenue, I think that they will pressure Congress to officially legalize it. That happened with both horserace simulcasting and multi-state lotteries, so, if the past is any guide, Internet gaming will be legal.