So, you like to play all sorts of video, computer, and online games with your friends. Well then, perhaps you belong to a couple of online gaming communities too. Sure, it’s exciting and fun, and in Washington DC they want to recruit you to play online, perhaps even play for a little money too, and if you think you are too old for such things, think again, because the games they are talking about are geared towards serious adults.
In fact, there was a great article recently in the UFABET Wall Street Journal by the great writer Alexandra Berzon titled “Nation’s Capital Bets Online Poker is Lawful – Washington, D.C.’s Budget Lets Lottery Operate Gambling Website in Challenge to Federal Government’s Effective Ban” which was published on April 8, 2011. Apparently, the city council voted approval for the Government’s Lottery website to offer online gaming and poker gambling to help shore up the budget, which is rather interesting because currently it is illegal to gamble online in the United States.
Indeed, all this kind of reminds me a little of that silly bumper sticker, the one that reads “Don’t Steal, the Government Hates Competition” – and although I am not quite that cynical, I am fascinated by the predicament that this approval has put the Federal Government in. In the above mentioned article the poker players alliance stated that it wouldn’t be a viable business anyway, as the pool of poker players around DC is only about 600,000 people, but it could help the budget.
If I were a betting man, well, I’d bet Steve Wynn in Las Vegas is happy to hear about this, as he’s just invested in a major online poker website and has been lobbying heavy to get the Nevada Gaming Commission to allow the online gambling in Nevada. It’s hard to say if other jurisdictions and lottery commissions will also try such a thing, perhaps budget ridden California might attempt to do the same thing to shore up its budget, as Jerry Brown has now come to town, and he has sworn he will slash the budget and he’s not clowning around.
Looks as if Washington DC is all in, and others will soon follow. What was once considered illegal may soon be a way to drive revenue to the poorly funded government coffers at both the state and federal level, and who knows maybe some counties and cities, or perishes might also get in on the action? Time will tell, but if I were a betting man, that’s where I’d lay my cards. Please consider all this and think on it.