SEARCH NEWS:

 

Gambling Sites Work Around New Bills

"Similar bills have been introduced in Congress before, but none passed both houses in the same session. With increased congressional interest now, the legislation may well reach the president's desk this year.

"Gambling site operators -- many of them American expatriates in the Caribbean or Central America, where gambling laws are more relaxed -- have already begun to make adjustments to the changing environment by shifting their marketing efforts to other countries and devising ways to circumvent new laws.

"…Internet gambling has surged well ahead of most e-commerce categories, reaching more than $6 billion in global sales this year, according to Christiansen Capital Advisors, a gambling industry research firm. Of about 12 million online gamblers, 5.3 million are Americans.

"The new legislation would bar credit card companies, banks and other financial institutions from sending money to online gambling sites at their customers' request. How this would be enforced is not yet known, but congressional staff members said that federal officials would most likely identify gambling sites to financial companies and that those companies would then block users from paying the sites.

"…Asia is another potentially large market, with the number of online gamblers expected to grow from 4 million this year to 7.4 million in 2006, according to Christiansen Capital.

"Not all online casinos have given up on the U.S. market, though. Some, like Golden Palace, still tell customers to use major credit cards to pay for their casino accounts by sending payment through services like NETeller and E-CashWorld. Those companies, and others that are based in foreign countries, filled the void created when PayPal began turning away online bettors, analysts said. PayPal is a unit of eBay.

"…While analysts said the crackdown by financial companies and regulators will continue to hurt online casinos, sports betting sites are likely to fare better. Sports betting jumped again this month at sites like BetonSports.com, MVPSportsbook.com and others because of the NCAA basketball tournament. Some of the growth has also, however, been a result of better marketing.

"…To stay alive, many online gambling companies have had to refine their marketing programs and operational efficiency. The owner of triplecrownracebook.com, which also operates from San Jose, said he now shared technical staff and clerks with other gambling sites based there and had adjusted the maximum payout amounts…"

< Gaming News