Sunday, February 20, 2011

Legalized Online Gambling?

Hi Vegas fans,

Since 2006, online gaming has been illegal. Now that the economy is in a downturn, the government is looking for more ways to make some money, and the online gambling bug is biting. There are, of course, plenty of opponents to this idea. They fear corruption, crime and addiction. All good points.

However, if the government is prepared for these problems, it has a better chance of controlling it. If they eventually decide to legalize gambling, they must set aside money for problems and be sure to have experts help handle them. If the government does nothing, then illegal gaming will continue with all of its inherent problems, and the fed will lose out on some serious revenue potential. There is always a trade off with gaming.

If online gaming does become legal, what does this mean for Vegas? Will visitation go down as people forgo keno for keyboards? Probably not. My guess is that people will continue to visit Vegas for the experience, which you can't get on a computer monitor. They may supplement their trips with online gaming, but for travelers, there's nothing like going to Vegas.

Viva,
Mike

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