Iowa USA Looks To Regulate and Legalise Online Sports Betting

According to a report from the Sioux City Journal in Iowa The House State Government Committee is planning on having a hearing on a proposal to legalise and regulate online sports wagering and maybe even other forms of internet gambling.

Omitting betting on colleges in Iowa, Democrat Brian Quirk, told the newspaper that the proposal may expand the sports betting sector approved by a Senate committee to include legalised betting on collegiate sports. Mary Mascher, State Government Committee Chairwoman, has voiced stiff opposition to the proposal, threatening to remove any referral to the proposition from any gambling bill that comes before the committee. Quirk who as member of a seven person bi-partisan committee told the Sioux City Journal, "The time for debating whether Iowa is a gambling state is long past. Either we're a gambling state or we're not, and with seventeen casinos I'd say we're a gambling state."

The state's monetary shortfall may persuade lawmakers to consider the proposal even though the opposition is very strong against expanding gambling in Iowa. Quirk has explained that a possible 80,000 people already play poker online. The idea is that the customer registers for an online account at a licensed land based casino gets a password and is able to play games from a home based computer. Deposits and withdrawals of funds would have to be done in person at the registered casino, ensuring compliance with federal laws regarding financial transactions for online gambling.

Republican Representative Jeff Kauffman, is a staunch opponent of gambling expansion and said that it was unlikely that legislators who have consistently voted against gambling expansion will change their position. The USA is on the verge of making internet gambling a complex issue as the various states start to make their own rules justified in the need for tax dollars.