North Dakota Poker Bill Needs Your Support

Published: Friday, March 04, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

SUPPORT AT BISMARK

The North Dakota Poker Bill needs your support

Last month InfoPowa reported on the progress of an important Bill in the state legislature of North Dakota that seeks to legalise online poker, and we're happy to inform readers that the proposal is making good progress.

The Bill was sponsored by Representative Jim Kasper and passed the state House on February 16. It now moves to a hearing in the state Senate in the regional capital Bismark on March 8. If it passes, it will position North Dakota as a leader among American state jurisdictions, regulating the industry to protect players and generating important taxes. It could set a precedent and open the door for the first time to online poker operations based on U.S. soil, with positive effects for local economies. Given the huge popularity of poker in the United States particularly, where a reported 50 million citizens enjoy this skilled game the potential is significant.

Gambling regulation has traditionally been the prerogative of individual states in North America, a right that has been jealously guarded despite occasional interference from the federal government. The governor of this progressive state is reported to support the Bill, but various legislative and constitutional hurdles lie ahead before the Bill can become effective, and Representative Kasper has asked for industry support for licensed, regulated and taxed online poker at the hearing on March 8 in Bismark.

The legislators were probably influenced by the comments of industry luminaries such as Frank Catania, In January he testified before a meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. The former director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and a current independent director of self regulator eCOGRA, observed that 82 jurisdictions worldwide provide some form of regulation for various types of Internet gaming.

He said, "The ability to do real time auditing makes regulation easier and more efficient than the systems currently used by the terrestrial casino regulators. State-of-the-art technology, combined with proper operating procedures, has proven effective in preventing minors from gambling online and in combating money laundering. "This form of gambling cannot be stopped, but it can be effectively regulated and taxed. State legislators in Illinois and Georgia recently introduced bills to permit the online sale of lottery tickets.

"At the local level, many government officials can see that attempts to thwart the rapidly growing Internet gaming industry are not doing anyone any good. Consumers are not receiving the regulatory protection they need, state and local governments are losing a source of tax revenue, and American companies are being deprived of opportunities in a global market, whose revenue for 2004 was estimated by Christiansen Capital Advisors at $7.5 billion."

The Interactive Gaming Council has come out strongly in support of the North Dakota initiative, urging its members and the gambling public alike to voice their approval for legalised and regulated online poker