The absurdity of gambling laws in the US leads to such silliness as:
- In 2007, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! paid millions in penalties for placing gambling ads, something they haven’t done since they were told to stop in 2004.
- Yahoo! can quote prices from intrade, but can’t link to intrade.
- Google can’t advertise for intrade/tradesports, but can place AdSense ads on intrade.com and tradesports.com. In other words, Google can’t sell eyeballs to gambling sites, but can sell eyeballs on gambling sites.
Laws are enacted and enforced in a capricious manner so as to support certain interests. Just as Connecticut made women criminals if they baked mince pies but left it perfectly legal for men to buy and posess them, we now have ancient views on gambling enforced in a manner that supports state run lotteries or certain ‘bricks, but not clicks’ gambling. I’m sure Seattle’s ‘Betcha’ would have been left alone if Indian tribes were running it or atleast deriving revenue from it.
Thanks FoolsGold. Couldn’t agree more that the system is awash in contradictions and hypocrisy.
Just as there are efforts afoot to replace ‘hunch and tradition’ with ‘Evidence Based Medicine’ we need efforts to create Evidence Based Laws.
But try finding the evidence? Want a stadium in a municipality? You can find ‘pro’ experts and you can find ‘con’ experts but there are no disinterested, neutral experts.
Gambling? Brick casinos may not object too much to the competition from Click casinos but only if those Brick casinos can themsleves expand into cyberspace.
Indian tribes may have problems with local impact complaints but in general Indian tribes carry considerable political clout.
Betcha not only tackled the laws of Washington State but also the political clout of all the tribal casinos. Ofcourse Betcha lost!
We have archaic laws based on archaic views of the legislature formally proclaimed eons ago but now such views are clearly obsolete.
I’m an outsider to the gambling industry. Is there any U.S. legislation which prevents brick-n-mortar casinos from promoting games on their website?
I wasn’t think about online gambling but free-play versions of their table games. The only reference I can find on the topic is a passing remark from a podcast interview with Lou Ragg of the MGM/Mirage group where he said that they stay away from marketing and promotion their games via the internet.
Robert, that’s a good question. I am not sure either. This report seems to suggest that it is legal. So perhaps the casinos themselves self regulate to a degree.
In response to Robert Eng’s question: Is there any U.S. legislation which prevents brick-n-mortar casinos from promoting games on their website? …I wasn’t think about online gambling but free-play versions of their table games. ………………………
Many casino sites have free-play table-games on their websites but don’t actively promote the links. Usually the casino has an education page and from there one can reach a ‘play for free’ site for the table games. The free play page usually displays the casino logo and the exit button usually takes you to the casino’s Hotel Reservations page.
Two ‘brick casinos’ in Nevada sell scrip which can be used for online play for money.
All casinos seem to have a link to a Problem Gambling page on their websites. I’m unaware of any legislation mandating this, however.
Thanks for the replies. FoolsGold, do you know what casinos offer the scrip gaming?
>>>Two ‘brick casinos’ in Nevada sell scrip which can be used for online play for money.
>Do you know what casinos offer the scrip gaming?
I have been searching both my organic memory bank and my electronic one but have failed to dredge up the two small casinos whose websites indicated they were hosting online games that could be played only by people who had physically purchased scrip in their casino. It struck me as significant at the time I saw it but I apparently failed to save the information.
In my personal opinion bans to gaming advertising will not help to fight game addiction. People will always find a way to play with or without advertising.
Overzealous and ill thought out legislation seems to be what characterises governments both in the US and the UK. Parliaments pass all sorts of legislation without using common sense, it appears to me. Either gambling is legal or illegal. Surely the best policy is to keep it legal but put safeguards in place to prevent the vulnerable being exploited?