Not Looking Good for US Online Gambling, Says Cabot

Written by Haylie | Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Last week at the International Masters of Gaming Law conference in Amsterdam the well-respected online gambling legal expert, Tony Cabot, had a lot to say about the future of online gambling in the US. He appears quite pessimistic in terms of the legitimacy of legal online gambling being a reality in the US, especially concerning the legislation put forth by Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Barney Frank.

“Nothing is going to happen this year,” Cabot predicted. “Barney Frank has already pushed his [legislative proposal HR 2267] back, and once we get into next year we will be into an election cycle. The Democrats in particular are under a lot of stress at the moment and the last thing the Democrats want to get involved in is an unpopular fight because the Republicans would be all over it.”

He went on to predict that there is about a 5% chance that this bill will ever pass. Furthermore, he suggested that this is an issue for the state governments to address, not the federal government. However, recent attempts made by California and Massachusetts legislatures have not shown much more improvement than is being seen at the federal level.

Sen. Menendez’s proposal includes proof that many online games do in fact have an element of skill, like backgammon, poker, and bridge; however, Cabot does not seem to believe that neither his nor Con. Frank’s bills have the support of the Democrat Majority Leader, Harry Reid.

Cabot stated, “There is a lack of consensus. The senior senator from Nevada (Reid) will not budge until there is a clear consensus on the issue, and this is not present. Harrah’s wants to push this hard because they own the World Series of Poker. [But] Steve Wynn… has hired lobbyists to go against it.”

He went on to suggest that online poker giants, Full Tilt and PokerStars would be better off not having legalized gambling in the US because they would ultimately be denied licensure and be faced with the competition of those that were allowed to operate on US soil (i.e. Harrah’s), especially after they deliberately ignored the UIGEA.

“We have the conservative republicans and the Ralph Nader Democrats who oppose the bills – so it doesn’t even break on party lines. And one thing we know about the United States is that it is a lot easier to kill something than what it is to get something passed,” he concluded.

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