Editorial

Monday, 10 November 2008 02:22 Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 February 2009 05:47

After months of campaigning and right up to the nail biting finish, the US elections have captivated the populace more than it has done in decades. With voters sending the first ever black candidate to The Whitehouse in America’s history, the dust is now settling on what promises to be a new dawn in American politics.

Which is all well and good, but the question on the minds of millions of American gamblers is, “What will the new Democrat administration with Barack Obama at the helm mean for online gambling in the United States?”

Many online poker players, online gamblers and online casino owners alike are wondering what impact the political shift in power will have on their own small corner of life in the Land of the Free. 

It appears that the immediate impact in the markets has been positive, which would suggest that investors certainly believe the result of the elections will elevate the potential for legal, regulated online gambling in the US.

The Obama victory is already being hailed in some sectors as the beginning of a movement which will result in more open markets in the United States. Merrill Lynch has been quoted as saying that they believe it could ultimately pave the way for regulation rather than prohibition for online gambling. This bold assumption is based on recent Democratic moves to repeal the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), an unpopular and restrictive act that was introduced in 2006 with a remit to prohibit the transfer of funds to Internet gambling sites from financial institutions. 

There have also been several separate acts attempting to legalise gambling on the Internet, particularly those that are deemed games of skill such as poker. With a Democrat president backed by a congress dominated by Democrats, it is much more likely that such legislation will be passed.

From an online poker standpoint, the Democrats don’t actually need to do anything to improve its position. They simply need to stop doing some of the things done by the Bush Justice Department. There are high ranking people in there who want to put an end to online gambling. But these people who have been issuing indictments and fines to all and sundry could find themselves out of a job on 20th January. Their replacements could well have entirely different priorities and agendas, so we could see a complete about turn in the fortunes of online gambling in the United States as a result.