Legal Internet Gambling can Boost Land Casinos Business

Online gambling is an ever-growing industry that is well established in many countries where it is legal, licensed and regulated, providing residents with safe and trustworthy online gambling services.

However in some countries there is an ongoing debate over the legality and benefits of legalizing the online gambling industry.

Countries where online gambling is not legal tend to keep it in this state of no regulation for one of two reasons; either there is some general moral objection to gambling and no form of gambling is offered in the country, except in some cases where a state lottery is in operation.

Other countries prevent the legalization of online gambling within their borders as a way of protecting their existing land-based gambling business such as sports betting shops and brick and mortar casinos.

One such country where the debate over online gambling continues to rage and excite all involved parties is the United States of America.

In 2006 the US passed into law the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that banned all types of online gambling and prohibited money transactions to and from online gambling operators.

One of the main reasons that the law was approved was the extensive pressure that interest groups and lobbyist working on behalf of the US casino industry. They claimed that online gambling will take revenue away from land-based casinos and sports books.

However this week a panel of experts at the iGaming North America, the first Internet Gambling Conference in Las Vegas, stated that they believe the opposite is true and online gambling can actually boost the business of land-based gambling facilities.

The panel included three Las Vegas industry executives that also agreed that the currently held position is not accurate as the average age of people gambling in casino resorts in places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City is 50 years old and the only way of engaging younger clientele is via the internet.