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Despite the fact that in Europe the online poker business enjoys an enviable health, in the United States the restrictions on online gambling are much more restrictive. Among the causes that originated the cessation of gambling in North American territory is the enormous weight of the face-to-face gambling industry in the country or the great dependence of the North American gambling sector of great promoters such as Sheldon Adelson on physical betting, known in Spain for being the promoter of the failed EuroVegas project.
The restrictive US legislation on online poker
Until three years ago, when in May 2018 the US Supreme Court declared the so-called PASPA Act unconstitutional, online gambling was banned in many countries and its activity was merely residual. Since then, more and more states have been legislating in favor of the online poker sector, with more and more followers and which has in Europe and Asia a loyal legion of followers.
In Europe, casinos and the gaming sector in general have never enjoyed the same popularity as in the United States. This has allowed, with the passage of time, the online poker sector to make its way in the continent in a natural way and without coming into conflict with other sectors as it does in North America. This can be attested to by the trajectory of Habwin, one of the sector’s major firms specializing in hosting online gaming services, which today enjoys an enviable health, both among expert players and beginners.
The PASPA Act was passed with the intention of protecting amateur sports and avoiding the purchase of games, very frequent at the beginning of the 90s in the university environment, but the truth is that it encouraged the prolongation in time of the monopoly of the physical gambling sector, especially in states such as Nevada, which has in Las Vegas the epicenter of physical gambling in casinos and betting houses.
However, the unconstitutional declaration of the PASPA Act does not automate the approval of online gambling, but rather lifts the prohibition and judicial consequences of engaging in online gambling. Thus, the final decision to legislate in favor of online gambling will be up to each state, and since 2018, laws have been passed to decriminalize and even incentivize online poker.
The four pioneer states in the approval of online gambling
Nebraska, New York, Connecticut and Kentucky are four of the states where laws in favor of online gambling are being promoted the most. Although the pandemic generated by the coronavirus has postponed the approval of certain amendments to limit the scope of action of policemen and judges in the online gaming sector in Nebraska, state senator Justin Wayne has intended to legalize all economic activities related to online gaming, even categorizing it as a game of skill. The bill is expected to come out later this year if the health emergency subsides.
New York has been another of the states that has taken forward the elaboration of a specific bill to regulate all activity related to online gambling. Although it has been one of the territories hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the truth is that it has a very advanced bill that only needs an improvement in the social and health panorama to be approved.
However, New York, as is the case with other states, has to face a double problem: it has acknowledged that online poker is in the approval phase, but the priority is to provide an outlet for Internet gambling in general, with casino games duly legislated. The conflict comes with the hotel sector, which predicts a substantial loss of income due to online gambling houses. In addition, the celebration of online tournaments is a lure for hundreds of players from all over the world, which reduces the room for maneuver of these establishments.
But the reluctance of the hotel sector is not only based on the loss of affluence and income to which they are permanently exposed with the flourishing of online tournaments. According to the highest representatives of the North American gaming sector, online gaming is exposed to vulnerabilities that open the door to the use of computer engineering techniques to cheat during the game without the supervision of specialized personnel, as is the case in a conventional casino. In addition, the CFR+ algorithm is another aspect that raises more suspicions among those who are against the regularization of online poker because it presents some potential risks for future games, as the experts of Informática10 comment in this specialized article published in their digital portal.
CFR+ is an algorithm developed by a group of researchers from the University of Canada that is virtually impossible to defeat. It is a software that analyzes and studies all possible moves to beat its rivals, and to date it remains undefeated as it has not been defeated by any human player, something that raises even more reticence among the traditional gambling sector, which frowns upon the development of new technologies applied to the gambling sector.
Connecticut has found itself in a very similar situation to that of New York, with a draft bill that has been delayed due to the conflict generated with the hotel sector. Although Cathy Osten, Senator of the State of Connecticut, as well as other political leaders recognize that it is a matter of time before all activities related to gambling end up being covered and regulated under the same legislation, as of today, the consolidation of online gambling and the repercussions it will have on the viability of macro hotel complexes such as those in Las Vegas, New York or Connecticut itself are still generating doubts.
The case of Kentucky is more worrying, and reveals the need to regulate the online gambling sector due to a lawsuit filed by the state itself against a firm of the stature of PokerStars, which has resulted in a firm resolution in favor of the state of Kentucky. PokerStars has been ordered to pay a million-dollar settlement in excess of one million dollars. This situation is in contrast to a decade ago, when in 2008 the authorities seized more than 141 domains hosting online gambling services. However, in 2018 Attorney General Andy Beshear pushed for several measures to regularize online gambling activities, including poker and other gambling.
Online poker, an economic engine worldwide
The income generated by online gambling is beginning to far exceed that of the traditional face-to-face casino sector, one of the reasons why these centers are reluctant to pass a law approving online gambling.
In Europe, the regularization of bookmakers puts more focus on their physical location and on the respect of the minimum age to access these services, although this is limited to sports bookmakers and physical casinos, not to the hosts that host online gambling services.
In South America, the local media have recently echoed the forecasts for the online gaming sector, where it is expected that this year the online betting houses will be considered a parallel economic power due to the increase of players that host these web pages, especially in countries such as Chile.
Faced with this expansionist panorama, where the main references are Europe and Asia, and in which Latin America is beginning to gain an important place due to the delay in the approval of North American laws in favor of online gambling, the United States intends to make a move in order not to remain on the sidelines of a business that moves millions of dollars every year while trying to minimize the damage caused to the traditional gambling sector, deeply rooted in states such as Nevada, which hosts the world capital of gambling.
