While certain politicians and even casino executives continue to keep a finger in the dike that protects Americans from — gasp! — gambling online, the dike is fast crumbling around them. Nevada is the latest state to join the jailbreak. Just minutes ago, the Las Vegas Sun‘s Jon Ralston (left) posted the text of a bill, the creature of PokerStars.net, that would allow online casinos to set up shop in Nevada. The lengthy document has already been heavily redlined and amended, so there’s clearly been active behind-the-scenes debate over its contents. At first glance (and scarcely more than a glance), it talks of creating interstate — and potentially international — compacts with other jurisdictions that permit online wagering.
That’s a good deal more ambitious than what New Jersey lawmakers voted to do. Ditto a proposed, intrastate poker-only bill currently facing long odds in Iowa. By contrast, the Nevada law would encounter a head-on collision with the Federal Wire Act, a venerable statute that has successfully stymied online gambling in the U.S. for near upon two decades. If other states follow New Jersey’s and Iowa’s lead, it’s only a matter of time before some cash-strapped state governor signs it into law (or gets overridden). At which point, Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman‘s predictions of imminent federal legalization of online poker might actually come true, as Congress tries to corral some of the revenue stampede for itself. They’d better get on it quick, though. Right now, congressmen and senators look like ranch hands watching the horse escape and making no effort to close the barn door.
Rose online. Among those certain to be poring over the Nevada ‘Net-bet bill today is gaming-law expert I. Nelson Rose, who has recently joined the blogosphere. In his first installment, Nelson examines what you might call a “truth gap” (in the same way we once spoke of a “missile gap”) that undercuts Gov. Chris Christie‘s rationale for vetoing New Jersey’s online-gambling bill. This seems to be part and parcel of a bad Christie habit that now extends to gaming policy.
