加载中…程阳：经济困境下美国互联网彩票的思考
(2012-12-15 04:57:32)
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互联网彩票互联网博彩程阳美国经济低迷 |
分类： 彩票视界 |
www.myillinoislottery.com
Online Gaming In Play Around U.S. – But In Connecticut?
November 13, 2012
Under the whip of political and economic pressures, the federal government and some states are racing toward legalizing online gambling and, on Tuesday, a key Connecticut legislator said the state should re-examine the matter when the General Assembly convenes in January.
"Absolutely, it's something we need to look at," said Rep. Stephen Dargan, co-chairman of the legislative public safety committee, which oversees legalized gambling.
Connecticut lawmakers considered Internet gambling early last year, but didn't act, despite the U.S. Justice Department's December 2011 finding that the 1961 Wire Act prohibits online sports betting, but not other forms of Internet gambling. Since that ruling, other states, including New Jersey, have moved closer to instituting online wagering programs. Nevada is on the verge of starting online poker.
Dargan, D-West Haven, said in an interview Tuesday that he expects his committee to at least consider the matter because Connecticut faces continued state budget deficits at the same time that revenue from the two tribal casinos in the state continues to diminish.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy wasn't enthusiastic about online gambling last year and there's been no change in his attitude, one of his top political lieutenants said Tuesday. "Certainly, it's the legislature's prerogative" to consider online gambling, said senior adviser Roy Occhiogrosso, "but it's not something that the governor has any intention of pushing."
"It's not something he supports," Occhiogrosso said, and "it's not something he thinks the legislature will follow through and send him a bill on." Would Malloy veto a bill if the legislature passed it? That decision can't be made "until you actually see a piece of legislation on your desk," Occhiogrosso answered.
One major obstacle to online gambling legislation in Connecticut is the state's legal arrangement with the two tribal casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Under a state "compact" with the tribes, each operation turns over 25 percent of its slot machine revenue to the state annually — a projected $305 million by the end of this fiscal year on June 30, 2013.
Last year, tribal spokesmen said the state's legalization of online gambling might interfere with that legal arrangement, and there was preliminary mention of how to get around that — including the idea that the casinos might run the online gambling.
State House Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, who will become House speaker when the session opens Jan. 9, said Tuesday that he would not support online gambling legislation that would disrupt the compact between the state and the tribes.
Sharkey said that "the casinos are an economic driver for southeastern Connecticut" and are already threatened by new casinos planned in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and additional slot machine installations at New York racetracks. "We have to do everything we can to protect [the Connecticut casinos], to keep them thriving — for their sake, and for the sake of the state," Sharkey said.
If a bill were to be passed to start online gambling here, Sharkey said, his "litmus test" would be that it be written in a form that's "OK with the tribes." With that criterion in mind, he said, "I think we should keep our eyes and options open to whatever legitimate revenue streams we can develop."
Even though the state gets more than $300 million a year in revenue from the casinos, that figure has been sinking steadily for five years from a peak of $430 million in 2007, with the blame being placed on the economy and more competition for gambling dollars.
Meanwhile On Tuesday, in Washington, D.C., Congress opened a "lame duck session" that's scheduled to run through mid-December. One of the bills being discussed by U.S. Senate and House leaders would legalize online poker nationwide, but ban all other online gambling.
Under the bill, states could "opt in" or out of that nationally regulated program with programs of their own, which the legalized gambling industry favors since it would avoid a patchwork of different programs from state to state.
That federal legislation, if passed, could put a major crimp in states' plans to start online gambling that goes beyond poker. For example, Illinois' state lottery became the first in the country to allow the purchase of tickets online, and other states' lotteries considered the same.
"While we don't know whether the bill currently circulating represents the final version of legislation to be proposed by Sens. [Harry] Reid and [Jon] Kyl," the American Gaming Association "supports the general provisions outlined therein," said Holly Wetzel, the association's vice president for communications.
Up to now, only online betting on horse racing, at websites such as Twinspires.com, has been permitted in the U.S., while online wagering on sports such as football, basketball and baseball has been prohibited. It's been possible, but not legal, to gamble online at offshore websites on various card and casino games, as well as sports. These come and go as law enforcers try to shut them down.
"We know that millions of Americans are currently gambling online," Wetzel said. "This draft would restrict all online gambling with the exception of poker and puts in place necessary controls to strengthen law enforcement oversight and protect consumers."
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Illinois to become first state to allow online lottery sales
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
Updated 3/22/2012 7:31 PM
CHICAGO – Illinois on Sunday will become the first state to sell individual lottery tickets online. It won't be the last.
A Justice Department opinion issued last year cleared the way. It said the Wire Act of 1961, which bars wagering over telecommunication systems across state or national boundaries, applies only to sports betting.
At least 21 states and the District of Columbia are considering online lottery sales or other wagering such as poker, says Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, which represents commercial casinos.
STORY: Illinois Lottery bounces 85 checks to winners
STORY: Lottery jackpots may get bigger
New York and several other states sell lottery subscriptions to residents online but not individual tickets.
The flurry of interest spells trouble for gambling addicts and young people, says Anita Bedell of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems. "It's going to open a whole Pandora's box nationwide," she says.
Fahrenkopf hopes Congress will set standards to protect online customers from fraud and ensure they are adults.
Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores says it has "significant concerns" about the economic effect on stores that sell lottery tickets.
Illinois Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones says online sales could attract 1 million new players when MegaMillion payouts exceed $100 million, increasing proceeds that go to public education. Only 9%-12% of Illinois adults play now, he says.
Starting at 7 a.m. CT Sunday, visitors to illinoislottery.com will be asked to register and enter credit card and Social Security numbers, date of birth, name and address. Sophisticated software should ensure that only Illinois residents 18 and older play, Jones says. Purchases will be limited to $100 a day. At first, only MegaMillion and Lotto games will be offered.
The federal ruling "was a gift of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to any state that wants to do this," says I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor who blogs at gamblingandthelaw.com. "In less than 10 years, we're going to see most of the states moving to Internet gambling."
In Maine this week, a Senate committee approved a bill that would make online lottery sales illegal but could reconsider. "We're moving cautiously," Republican Sen. Debra Plowman says, "and we'll be watching Illinois."
..Illinois to Launch Online Lottery Sales on Sunday
..By Rachel Bogart
The decision to go online has brought criticism from anti-gambling groups that argue it will only be problematic for those with gambling addictions. Here are some facts about the Illinois Lottery and ways in which it has expanded in the past.
* The Illinois Lottery plays a fairly high variety of lottery games compared to other states, including Pick 3 and Pick 4 with midday and evening draws, as well as Little Lotto, Lotto, Powerball, and Mega Millions, noted U.S. Lotteries.
* The Illinois Lottery reported 1,393 people have won a prize of $1 million or more since the lottery began and in 2011, $1.33 billion was paid out to lotto and scratch-off winners.
* About 30 percent of the proceeds go to capital projects, the Common School Fund, and specialty tickets and nearly $17 billion has gone toward funding K-12 public school education since the Lottery began.
* The Illinois Statehouse News added that in January 2011, Northstar Lottery Group was selected to manage the state's lottery games under a 10-year contract
* A survey found about 73 percent of Illinois Lottery players are older than 45 and Northstar has made plans to expand its customer base to include younger players while also developing new online games and expanding retail outlets across the state.
* The Chicago Tribune reported in December that Gov. Pat Quinn announced Illinois was aiming to begin online lottery ticket sales in the spring after the Department of Justice ruled that Internet lottery sales are legal since they don't involve betting on sports.
* The push for online sales began in 2009 when Illinois passed a road construction bill and hoped to use online lottery sales to fund the projects and also help pay back construction loans.
* Even though the Land of Lincoln is slated to become the first state to begin online lottery sales, several other international countries allow for residents to purchase tickets for government-run lotteries.
Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.
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