Online Casino Edition – Casino News News about online casinos and gambling

According to most religious traditions that include the concept of a god, gambling is considered a deadly sin. This belief stems from the notion that the gambler is committing crimes of hubris in trying to bypass the will of God. In some countries that have very strong fundamentalist religious beliefs gambling is still prohibited as morally wrong. In our western folk literature the gambler has been seen as an outlaw, a mischief-maker. The activities around gambling have been seen to take place in dark and shady circumstances. Criminal activity and gangsters have been associated with the dark world of the casino. Legal prohibition against gambling derived from the same source as prohibition against alcohol.

What’s new is that gambling laws have been liberalizing very rapidly in North America. The increasing public perception is that gambling is recreation. Ideas about responsible gambling have been promulgated in the press much as ideas about safe and responsible alcohol use have shown up in the media and advertising. Gambling casinos have been coupled with some of the best entertainment venues in the nation adding to the perception of gambling as a wholesome pastime.

Part of what happened, of course, is that governments have discovered the tax revenue potential of gambling and gambling casinos. Gambling is seen as a painless tax, enabling governments to raise revenue without instituting real taxes. In many cases gambling has enabled state and municipal governments to move out of what had seemed inescapable deficit. Gambling has also been a boon to charitable organizations who often sponsor gambling events, no longer limited to Bingo as they once were. New casinos are opening in Atlantic City, New York, Maryland, Ohio, North Dakota and elsewhere. Kentucky lawmakers are working on an expansion of gambling in their state.

Although the liberalization of gambling laws continues apace, the fight goes on in many places as well. Saratoga, New York recently took a stand by passing a resolution to keep gambling casinos out of their county in spite of the New York State law that permits gambling. Part of Saratoga’s motivation, of course, is to prevent casinos from competing with Saratoga’s very profitable horse race gambling business. Pennsylvania casinos have seen a decline in revenues for the first time since 2006 when the state opened up casino gambling. Other jurisdictions such as Ohio and Florida have seen a leveling of gambling revenue.

What’s really new is the increased liberalization of on line gambling. A few governments such as Washington, DC., Nevada, and Kentucky are set to institute large scale on line gambling. Online gambling does pose special problems because minors and youth can not easily be barred from it. As online gambling expands, much concern has been expressed about gambling addiction among youth. Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling estimates half a million teenagers have gambling addiction problems in the United States. Whyte advises that as states join the liberalization of on-line gambling laws they should be conducting studies of the effects on youth gambling addiction. As governments maximize revenue from gambling, Whyte says, governments should take steps to minimize social costs.