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The Future of US Internet Gambling - Legalization and Mobile Gaming

By: Mike Davis

The murky legal status of online gambling may soon be resolved if HR 2267 is passed into law. The bill, formally known as the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, would set up an Internet Gambling Licensing Program that would allow the Secretary of the Treasury to grant licenses to online casinos so they can operate in the US, protect the rights of players and impose taxes on Internet gaming.
Although land-based casinos have staunchly opposed legalization of online gambling in the past, their stance may be softening as they realize the huge revenues that can be earned from Internet casinos. According to one estimate, Las Vegas casinos earned some $13 billion in 2009, down from $15 million in the previous year. By comparison, offshore gambling sites earned $6 billion from US-based players. This represents a huge untapped market that casino owners are eager to exploit: some analysts have said that the online gaming industry will expand by over 50% over the next five years. If indeed HR 2267 becomes law, expect to see an outburst of growth in the US Internet gaming industry as Vegas casinos rush to open their own online gaming sites.
But the legalization of Internet gambling may also have positive effects for the US economy in general. A recently released study revealed that if the US started to regulate Internet gambling, 32,000 new jobs would be produced over the following five years and $57.5 billion in tax revenues would be collected from gambling activities. If sports betting were excluded from legalization, however, some 25,470 jobs would still be created and $30.8 billion in tax revenues would be generated.
The possible legalization of Internet gambling is not the only exciting development on the horizon for the gaming industry. There is also the increasing acceptance of mobile gambling, or gambling done on an Internet-enabled mobile device such as a smartphone or an iPad. This allows players to gamble anywhere they want where there is WiFi or an Internet connection, boosting the profit possibilities for online gambling. Although this sector of the Internet gaming industry is still in its infancy, some analysts have already estimated the value of the mobile gambling market at $20 billion by 2010, with the sector poised for further growth as awareness of mobile gaming grows and the use of Internet-enabled mobile devices becomes increasingly widespread. In fact, a recent study estimated that one in four smartphone users already play in mobile casinos.
Mobile casinos offer some of the most popular games played in Internet casinos, including Keno, blackjack, roulette, video poker, slot games and baccarat. All you have to do is download the necessary software and you can play any game you want on your mobile device. However, the most exciting trend in mobile gambling is the introduction of online poker to these mobile platforms. Online poker is Internet gaming's biggest success story of the past decade and it is expected to become even bigger once people can play it on their cell phones and Blackberries.

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