Showing posts with label supreme court ruling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supreme court ruling. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

13 Groups work to ban internet gambling nationwide

It was only a matter of time, as there has not been much press about the Supreme Court ruling about online gambling.

"Referring to the Justice Department’s December interpretation of the law allowing in-state Internet gambling, the groups wrote that the decision 'unleashed actions by a growing number of revenue-hungry state governments to turn the Internet into the largest casino ever, and welcoming into homes a greater social cost than any government can handle. This action is undermining Congress’ clear intent when it passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 that online gambling should be prohibited.'”


As of last count 9 states have video poker, 9 have Keno (I suspect it's more), Mega Millions in 43, Power ball in 41 and all 50 have Scratch-offs.  I think it's a tough call and using the "think of the children" argument may not be the best in this area.  The lottery funds a lot of community resources and does bring in huge revenue for the state as it hurts less than 10% of it's players.  I think a better way to go is to make the lottery systems in each state allocate funds for treatment and prevention.  We will see how this continues, but asking for states to stop gambling, when it brings in revenue is not going to work.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

VLT's move to Illinois and Iowa

Fears about Online Gambling - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports


Forget having to leave your house to try and hit it big.  Both Iowa and Illinois are looking into legalizing online gambling.
That easy access to hitting the jackpot has addicts and counselors on pins and needles.
On Monday, a Senate panel approved a bill to legalize internet poker in Iowa, and across the river, Illinois lottery officials hope to start selling tickets online next month.  Supporters of online gaming see it as a way to bring more money into the cash strapped states, but those who struggle with addiction say the move could be dangerous

With the recent Supreme Court riling I suspect we will see more states in desperate financial way jumping on the bandwagon.  On one hand I can see how states see this as revenue and tourist money coming in, but of course i am concerned with the likely hood of people getting "hooked."  I did not see any mention of funding for counseling services, hopefully they will at  least do the 1% of income rule like Oregon.  This would make 8 states with VLT machines.